In the Courts

The U.S. Supreme Court

     The U.S. Supreme court ruled 7-2, in April, that Congress extended Indian tribes' sovereignty to include the ability to prosecute non-member Indians. The court also ruled that prosecution in U.S. federal court following a conviction by a tribal court does not constitute double jeopardy. The case involved Billy Jo Lara, a member of the Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa charged by federal authorities with assaulting a federal officer on the Turtle Lake Tribe's reservation, after pleading guilty to the same act in tribal court. The authority to prosecute non-member Indians for minor crimes had been taken from tribes by the Supreme Court in the 1990 Duro decision on the precedent the Oliphant decision that ruled tribes can lose sovereignty if the Supreme Court finds its exercise "inconsistent with the tribe’s dependent status." But when the Duro decision created a jurisdictional no-mans-land that made it impossible to prosecute non-member Indian miscreants on reservations, Congress, passed the so-called "Duro fix," restoring tribal authority over non-member Indians. (As a result of the Lara decision, Navajo Nation, which had dropped its assault case against Russell Means for fear of loosing jurisdiction over non-tribal member Indians, when Means appealed in Federal Court, has restarted it prosecution of Means).

     On March 1, the Supreme Court refused to hear a group of appeals allowing circuit court decisions to stand holding that pull-tab gaming machines are legal gambling devices allowed by the states of Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wyoming, allowing tribal casinos in those states to use them without first acquiring state permission. In April, the high court let stand, without hearing argument, the denial of parole for Leonard Peltier, In December the Supreme Court up held, with out comment, the Circuit holing in American Federation of Employees v.U.S., 03-359, upholding he authority of the Defense Department to bypass regular contracting procedures to contract with Native American contractors.

Lower Federal Courts

     On April 13, federal District Court Judge for the District of Columbia, Emmet G. Sullivan, ruled that a Navajo Nation $600 million lawsuit against Peabody Coal can proceed under RICO, the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, which provides for as much as triple damages. Sullivan found that the Supreme Court, in March 2003, had settled only the tribe’s lawsuit against the United States, leaving open the possibility of a suite against the energy corporation. The case involves the following history. The Navajo Nation sought to adjust its coal leases in 1984, as provided for under the terms of leases on their 20th anniversary. The nation had ascertained that its royalties from Peabody proceeds fell well below the 12.5 percent of gross proceeds established by Congress, in the 1977 amendments to the 1938 Indian Mineral Leasing Act, as a minimum for coal mined on federal lands. Don Hodel, then Secretary of Interior, delegated the area office of the BIA to contact Peabody with an opinion letter boosting the tribe’s royalties to 20%. Peabody then filed an administrative appeal against the rate increase and hired a friend of Hodel’s from the energy industry as a lobbyist. Peabody representatives met with Hodel in 1985, without the tribe’s knowledge or presence. The rate hike to 20%, was then dropped in favor of a return to the negotiating table, according to a memo unknown to the tribe until 1993. Navajo  Nation contends that the lower rate has cost it $600 million, and that Peabody’s activities leading up to the coal lease agreement fall within RICO’s definitions of racketeering and organizational corruption.

     A three judge panel of the 9th Circuit court of Appeals, in April, upheld the finding of the district court that Blaine County, MT's now discarded method of electing county commissioners at large violated the voting rights of Native Americans, as it resulted in white residents voting as a block, preventing the election of an Indian. Under the new district system, Delorus Plumage became the first Indian elected to be a commissioner.

     The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March ruled that Mille Lacs County, MN and the First National Bank of Milaca had no have standing to sue and have not shown that any one has been harmed by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe claim that 61,000 acres of land that the Band used as security for bank loans is part of its reservation.

     The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, in April, that it did not have jurisdiction to intervene in a housing dispute at Oneida Nation in New York, upholding the lower court's decision. Plaintiffs contend that the Oneida tribal government is condemning and tearing down the houses of tribal members who criticize its leadership, without providing new housing or other compensation. The tribal government says it is removing unsafe structures. The Plaintiffs say they will ask the Supreme Court to hear their appeal.

     The 10th Circuit Court of appeals ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must pay $48,318 in legal fees and costs to Joseluis Saenz, a Chiricahua Apache, who won an eight year legal battle to have his eagle feathers and other religious objects returned to him, under his right to practice his Native American religion.

     The state of Connecticut asked a panel of judges in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in late April, to overturn the federal recognition of the Eastern Pequots, two years ago, reversing the April 2003 dismissal of the state's suite on the grounds that the federal court did not have jurisdiction to decide whether the BIA violated its own policies during the tribe's federal recognition process.

     A three judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld a district court decision in the Kennewick man case, in February, deciding scientists could study the remains, as there is no substantial evidence that the 9300 year old remains are Native American as defined in the Native American Graves Protection Act, and there is no evidence "that Kennewick man and modern tribes shares significant genetic or cultural features." Attorneys for the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Yakama and Colville Tribes say that the court panel erred in its decision and asked the 9th Circuit to rehear the case with a larger panel of judges.

     The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, in December, that the Federal District Court in San Francisco had been correct in deciding that California's tribal gaming law does not violate any federal law. The Seventh Circuit Court, in April, upheld the lower court in upholding the authority of the Governor of Wisconsin to block three Chippewa tribes' effort to open a casino at a closed race track in wisconsin, outside the Twin Cities in Minnisota. The Interior department gave permission for the casino, but Governor Scott McCallum blocked it.

     The 9th Circuit court of Appeals agreed, in February, reconsider its rejection of the Skokomish Tribe's $6 billion claim against the city of Tacoma, WA, contending that construction of two dams on the Skokomish River interferes with its treaty-based fishing rights.

     U.S. District Judge Alan Kay, in November, threw out a challenge to the admissions policy of the privately financed Kamehameha Schools‚ in Hawaii, which gives preference to Hawaiians, saying the policy does not violate a federal anti-discrimination law so long as it has a narrowly defined, legitimate justification. The school's admissions policy seeks to address cultural and socio-economic disadvantages that have beset Native Hawaiians since the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. Kay found that a special trust relationship exists between the federal government and Hawaiians, and that as recently as 2002 Congress endorsed the school's efforts, via the Native Hawaiian Education Act, which calls upon Kamehameha to redouble its efforts to educate children of Hawaiian ancestry.

     Federal district courts in South and North Dakota (September 30 and October 1) ruled that states have a right to 100% federal Medicaid reimbursement for services provided to American Indian Medicaid recipients by non-Indian Health Service providers, pursuant to a Contract Health Service referral from an IHS or tribal clinic. The cases of State of South Dakota v. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, CIV 02-3042, and State of North Dakota v. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, No. A1-03-028, involved the states suing after requests for reimbursement were denied. Only states will directly gain financially from the decisions, though tribes may realize indirect benefits.

     U.S. District Court Judge G. Thomas Van Bebber decided, in at the end of March that the Shawnee Nation of Oklahoma's claim to the site of the closed U.S. Army Sunflower Ammunition Plant, near DeSoto, KS, is without merit, on the grounds that an 1854 treaty extinguished any such rights.

     A U.S. District Court ruled, April 23, that land on which the Cayuga Nation wishes to build a Casino is sovereign ground, and not subject to zoning laws of three New York municipalities.

    Arlo Looking Cloud was convicted of the 1975 Murder Annie Mae Pictou Aquash in Rapid City, SD, on February 6. At that time, John Graham was in Vancouver, BC awaiting extradition to Rapid City for trial as a second person indicted in the Aquash homicide.

     The second-degree murder trial of Carlos Herrera, in November in Denver, CO, raised the question of whether Native spiritual leaders have the same immunity from being forced to testify about statements made to them in confidence as priests and ministers, when the defense moved to have the defendant's confession thrown out on the grounds it was obtained after learning that an Apache medicine man had spoken with authorities.

     The American Civil Liberties Union brought Suite against the State of South Dakota, on behalf of Indian voters, in Federal Court, in April, claiming that the state's 200l legislative redistricting denies Native Americans the opportunity to impact elections in the South Dakota House, by placing as many Indian voters as possible into legislative district 21 (including the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations), diminishing their electoral influence elsewhere. The ACLU is asking for a new district (and a new House seat) to be created that would likely increase the number of Indians in the house.

     The Quawpaw Tribe signed an agreement, in February, with the Department of the Interior to cooperate in discovering who owns the land and mining tailings at the Tar Creek Oklahoma Superfund site, and to join in the law suite against the mining companies accused of seriously polluting the 40 acre site on land held in trust for the tribe. Also in February, the Northern Cheyenne Nation filed suite against the Bureau of Land Management, claiming that the BLM violated the Historic Preservation act by failing to consult with the tribe about the impact of allowing an energy development firm to drill 85 coal-bed methane wells on federal leases near Decker, MT might have on the tribe. Picuris Pueblo, in New Mexico, filed suite against Ohio based Oglebay for mining mica on culturally sensitive lands, in February. The Fort Belknap Indian Community Council, in Montana, filed suit, January 29, against the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Bureau of Land Management to force clean up of two abandoned gold mines, near Malta, MT, claiming that the two open pit mines have violated the Clean Water Act and that pollution from them continues to flow into their reservation. The Hannahville Indian Community, of the upper Peninsula of Michigan, filed suite in federal court, in January, against the University of Notre Dame and the U.S. government, claiming that the band owns a piece of land on the university's campus on the basis of an 1826 treaty.

     The Mohawk Nation filed a law suit with the U.S. District Court in Albany, in March, asking for an order delaying the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, on the grounds that ice breaking could cause petroleum or chemical spills and other serious environmental damage, after a tribal letter on the matter to Canadian and U.S. Seaway authorities was found without merit.  The first ship passed through the Seaway on March 25.

     A member of the Tunica-Biloxi tribe of Louisiana has brought a suit against the state in federal court claiming that he, and other Indians making similar purchases, should be refunded state sales tax paid on a mobile home bought off reservation, but delivered to and installed on reservation.

     A suite was filed in Federal District Court, in Los Angeles, March 31, on behalf of Billy Soza Warsoldier, a member of the Cahuilla Tribe, claiming that Adelanto Corrections Facility officials have no authority to cut his hair, following from his First Amendment right of freedom of religion, as his faith requires his hair only be cut if there is a death in his family.

State and Local Courts

      The South Dakota Supreme Court, in late April, upheld tribal jurisdiction in a criminal case, ruling that state law enforcement could not engage in free pursuit onto reservations to make an arrest without first negotiating an agreement permitting it to do so. Thus the high court upheld a lower court ruling against the state in the original case of South Dakota v. Cummings. In January, the South Dakota Supreme Court decided that the state must repay improperly collected taxes on gasoline to tribal members and entities at tribally owned gas stations for the last 15 months, with the improper tax having been imposed since 1923. Meanwhile, the Oglala Sioux have made a compact with the state to continue to collect the $.22 a gallon tax, and then be reimbursed 96% of what it has sent the state.

     Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles D. Field, stated, on April 19, that American Indians have a right to due process of law, and that "the notion of due process trumps tribal law," without ruling, at that time, on a motion to dismiss a law suite filed by 11 former members of the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians
Indians, who claim their removal from membership of the gaming nation was illegal. One problem in this, and other rights cases, in California, and to a lesser extent elsewhere, is that most California Indian nations have councils to make decision, but no independent tribal courts to adjudicate conflicts.

     The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in May, struck down a key portion of a gaming compact allowing the Forest County Potawatomi to offer Las Vegas style gaming. Wisconsin Governor, Jim Doyle, claims the 4-3 decision will not affect the nation's right to offer such gaming, on the grounds that the issue is a federal, not state matter, and that the BIA had approved the contract. However, the decision puts in doubt compacts by 10 Wisconsin Tribes to run 17 Casinos, and $200 million in tribal gaming revenue the state was to receive in the current two-year budget.

     Alaska superior court Judge Peter Michalaski, in November, upheld the authority of an Alaskan Native village to banish a resident, by refusing to dissolve his 2001 injunction supporting the banishment of a Perryville Village, an Alutiiq community, resident, holding the petitioner would have to have the Village's permission to return, for the injunction on his going there to be lifted.

     A three-judge appellate panel of the New Jersey Superior Court, in April, upheld preservation of a historic campsite where there is clear evidence of 10,000 years of occupation by the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape, which had achieved last-minute entry on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. The township of Vernon had appealed the listing by the state Department of Environmental Protection, which blocked plans to raze part of the site for a town park and ball field.

     In Sacramento Superior Court, California officials insisted, in January, that they have the right to regulate an Indian tribe that sold an inexpensive version of workers' compensation insurance to hundreds of California businesses. The Blue Lake Rancheria of Humboldt County established an employee-staffing firm, Mainstay Business Solutions of Roseville, that sold a cheap workers' comp alternative to more than 350 clients across California. Mainstay said its workers' comp program was 25 percent cheaper than traditional coverage. In November, the state temporarily closed nine pancake houses in Sacramento and Fresno insured by Mainstay, on the grounds that the businesses lacked proper workers' comp insurance. The restaurants reopened after switching to traditional coverage. The tribe sued the California Insurance and Industrial Relations departments, claiming that the state had no power to regulate Indian business affairs. (See legislative action on this below).

     52 members of the Havasupai Tribe filed a $25 million lawsuit against Arizona State University, in Coconino County, AZ Superior Court, in February, claiming that more than 400 blood samples taken from them between 1990 and 1994, with their consent for diabetes research, were used without their consent to study inbreeding, schizophrenia and theories about ancient North American population migrations.

     Argument was made by the Montana Indian Education Association, in a school funding case before the Montana District court in Helena, in January, that the State of Montana has failed to live up to the state constitutional requirement to educate all Montana students about the unique cultural heritage of the state's Indians.

Tribal Courts

     A Walker River Paiute judge dismissed a defamation suite, February 9, against a tribal member who criticized members of the tribal council in the course of e-mailing tribal members to support a recall petition. Ponca Nation of Oklahoma Tribal Judge Terry Mason Moore, in January, made permanent a restraining order against protesting losers of the December 20 contested tribal election, thereby settling that the challengers to those in office had won, and that the nation has new Chair and set of council members.

States, Localities and Indian Nations

     The New Mexico Legislature has established the Indian Affairs Department, with a cabinet-level director, make New Mexico the only state to give American Indians a position at the table when the governor convenes his cabinet. The new department will replace the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs and will administer approximately 200 capital outlay projects worth more than $20 million and conduct 14 community-based special projects for the 22 tribes and pueblos in New Mexico. In March, Governor Richardson appointed Derrith Watchman-Moore (Navajo) as interim secretary.

      The Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs (TCIA), abolished during the Governor Sundquist's administration, was revived by the state legislature in its last legislative session. However, in February, it was enjoined from meeting by a court order obtained in Carroll County by the Cherokee Wolf Clan of Yuma, TN, a controversial group, whose Native Americanness has been questioned.

      In March 4, the Indiana House passed Senate Bill 337, establishing a Native American Indian Commission.  The action overturned a veto by the late Governor Frank O'Bannon last fall, when the bill was originally passed. The Governor had vetoed the bill on the grounds that it only allowed representation of federally recognized tribes, excluding the Miami Nation and other Indiana nations without federal recognition, He established a Native American Indian Commission by Executive order that was the same as that required in S 377, except that it included representation of non-federally recognized tribes (see description in the fall issue of this publication). A state wide Indian coalition lobbied for the bill for three years and worked for the veto override. believing that the commission needed the permanence of legislative authority.

     The South Carolina legislature passed a measure, in May, empowering state officials to recognize Indian tribes, on the basis of tribally submitted documentation. A South Carolina recognized tribe could not support any form of gambling or sue the state over land claims.

     Following a proposal by governor Mike Rounds, the South Dakota Department of Education is establishing an Office of Indian Education, to "reach out to Native educators" and provide greater inclusion of Native American students in the federal governments No Child Left Behind program. News From Indian Country reported March 22 (p. 12) that in South Dakota the announcement is "being met with guarded optimism by Native American teachers who question the ability of both the state and local government to fully comprehend the needs of Native American Students."

     In February, the South Dakota Senate Judiciary Committee voted out a bill to create a commission to review how well the state is meeting the requirements of the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, after witnesses had testified that child placement cases involving Indian children are frequently not transferred to tribal court by state courts, and that often  tribal offices are notified in Indian child placement cases when there is little time left to find Indian homes in which to place the young person. (See Carol Tebben, "Wisconsin Compliance with Indian Child welfare Act Mandates: Some Preliminary Research Observations," below for experience in that state). The Denver Indian Family Resource Center reported, in DFRC News, in April, its collaboration with county departments of human services, tribes, partner agencies and other culturally responsive service providers, including a memorandum of agreement with the Denver Department of Human Services, account for the agencies success in keeping Indian families together and in increasing the uniting of Indian children with their families in the face of the overrepresentation of Indian young people in the Colorado welfare system. In 2003 the number of Native American children who were united with their families or placed with family members nearly doubled from the total of previous years. DIFC, itself developed as a result of a 2000 collaboration amongst Denver Indian Health and Family Services (3749 S. King St., Denver, CO (303)781-4050), the Denver Indian Center (4407 Morrison Rd., Denver (303)986-2688, www.denverindiancenter.org) and Native American Counseling (6000 E. Evans, Denver (303)692-0054). Form more information, contact Denver Indian Resource Center, 393 S. Harlan St., Ste. 100, Lakewood, CO 80226 (303)871-8035, www.difrc.org.

     The Governor of Michigan, on May 12, signed an accord with the state's 12 federally recognized tribes requiring state officials to meet with tribal representatives twice a year to collaborate in cleaning up pollution and eliminating non-native species in lakes and waterways. The State of Idaho and the Nez Perce Tribe have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in wolf management, dividing the duties between the tribe and the state with the Nez Perce managing wolves in the McCall and Clearwater River Drainage areas. The agreement contains a disclaimer stating that it did not affect the tribe's jurisdiction within the boundaries of its traditional homeland. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribe and Power County, Idaho signed a memorandum, in January, agreeing to work together for economic development, including meeting quarterly to discuss issues such as economic opportunities, planning and zoning. The American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce held the first in what is to be an ongoing set of meetings and collaborative economic development planning, in Tulsa in December.

     Tribal leaders joined Governors from Western States, leaders from Canada and Mexico, corporate executives, environmentalists, researchers and other experts to chart an energy future at the "North American Energy Summit" put on by the Western Governors Association in Santa Fe, NM in April. The goal of the meeting was to, "develop clean energy plans for the West to help meet out national energy needs and strengthen our economies".

     On November 7, New York State announced a temporary delay, until at least March, in collecting taxes on cigarettes and gasoline sold to non-Indians by tribal businesses, in the face of strong objection from the state's Indian nations, particularly by Seneca Nation leaders. Seneca Nation leaders were also considering filing a federal lawsuit, along with writing directly to President Bush to put pressure on the federal government to intercede on their behalf. In May, Seneca Nation released an economic study prepared by the American Economics Group., Inc, showing that the proposed taxes would cause a loss of over $100 million in wages and $400 million in sales to businesses in New York, while generating only $27.1 million in taxes. Seneca tobacco businesses, with a high percentage of sales via the internet and 51% of sales out of state, now employ 1037 people, and retail stores employ 54. Supplier industries add 1081 indirect jobs, according to the study. Spending of these wages supports 600 additional jobs. As of mid-May Governor Pataki was continuing the moratorium on attempting to collect sales taxes. For more information, contact www.wkbw.com.

     A bill proposed in the California Assembly by Assemblyman Bill Maze, in February, would allow Indian tribes to offer workers' compensation-type coverage. The legislation would set criteria for tribes that want the state's blessing to provide benefits for injured employees. Maze said he was asked to introduce the measure by a constituent, the Fort Independence Indian Tribe in Inyo County, which is under investigation by the California Department of Insurance for offering workers' compensation-like coverage. Maze states that the bill would help the isolated tribe generate much needed revenue while assisting California companies facing premiums that have doubled since 2000 for coverage from a limited number of insurers. Maze said that Tribal coverage is 20 percent to 30 percent cheaper than available commercial products. California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi  has stated that any such legislation should require tribes offering insurance to be licensed insurance companies, and if tribes want to self-insure they should be required to meet California self-insurance requirements. Maze's bill would allow federally recognized tribes to obtain a "certificate of consent to self-insure against employee work-related injuries."

     The California Assembly, in February, passed AB 858, that would make it illegal for all public schools in the state to use the name "Redskins" in any context, for any reason. The Guilford, NC School Board voted, in February, to require two district schools to stop using American Indian team names and images.

     The California State Fish and Game Commission unanimously approved a proposal authorizing the 650 member non-federally recognized Wintu of Shasta County in Northern California to harvest a limited number of fall run Chinook salmon in the area just down stream of Keswick Dam.

     In January, the Agua Calliente Band of Cahuilla Indians offered a proposed agreement to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has complained that gaming tribes do not pay their share of revenues to the state, calling for a new ballot initiative that would have tribal casinos pay to the state general fund as much as corporations are taxed by California (8.84%), in return for tribes being able to have as many casinos as they want on their reservation and offer roulette and craps. Currently, tribal payments to California go into a fund for non-gaming tribes and a fund to repay localities for casino related costs. The Mescalero Apache Tribe signed an agreement with the State of New Mexico, in April, settling a long-standing dispute over the tribe's casino. The nation agreed to pay the state $254 million in back gaming payments and sign an agreement,  under which the tribe will pay 8% of gaming revenues to the state. The agreement leaves Pojoaque Pueblo as the only New Mexico nation that has not signed a gaming contract with the state. Talks between the other nine New Mexico gaming tribes and the state on renegotiating their 2001 compacts were stalled, in March. In March, Oklahoma passed SB 553, which allows class II gaming at horse race tracks, some of which are Indian owned, and the state a larger cut of tribal gaming revenues and more gaming auditing authority. In general, larger gaming tribes supported the bill, but smaller ones did not. The Mohawk Nation of New York agreed with the state's governor, in November, to share up to 25% of gaming profits in return for the authority to have slot machines at its Akweasne Mohawk Casino, if the state legislature ratifies the nation's 1993 compact with the state. The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma said, in January, that they would drop potential claims of up to 27 million acres in Colorado in return for a small reservation east of Denver, where they could build a casino and cultural center. As of January 1, eight of Oklahoma's 13 federally recognized tribes had signed formal agreements with the state under which the tribes will pay 25% of the state's tobacco tax (as in previous agreements), and 50% of any future tobacco tax increase will help finance education, health care, and other services that benefit tribal members.

     Local Chumash tribal leaders, in March, called for Santa Barbara County 3rd District Supervisor Gail Marshall's resignation, along with public and written apologies, for comments she made about the tribe in a book published last year, and are threatening to sue the county if Marshall does not step down. A report being evaluated by the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights concludes the Coast Miwok Tribe of California, also known as the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria,  experienced "indirect prejudice" in published comments of area residents objecting to the Nation's seeking a casino. The human rights panel was expected to vote on accepting the report on March 15. On a "pyramid of hate," Indirect prejudice is the lowest level.

     The Eureka, CA City Council unanimously approved a resolution, in May, to return 40 acres, comprising the northeastern tip, of Indian Island to the Wiyot Tribe, which has always considered the Island a sacred site. For more information, contact: Maura Eastman, Wiyot Tribal Administrator (707)733-5055.

     The Nez Perece and two other Northwest tribes are opposing the building of a subdivision on 62 acres near the grave site of Chief Joseph, in Wallowa county, OR.

     Five of 12 bills proposed in the South Dakota Legislature this year by American Indian lawmakers were passed, dealing with such issues as the welfare of Indian children, potential racial profiling and eliminating a possible financial barrier for absentee voters. South Dakota's four Indian legislators are: Rep. Jim Bradford, D-Pine Ridge; Rep. Paul Valandra, D-Mission; Rep. Tom Van Norman, D-Eagle Butte; and Sen. Michael LaPointe, R-Mission.

     Navajo Nation and Farmington, NM have been making some progress in their cooperative effort to reduce chronic alcoholism. The city and the nation have collaborated on several programs including Totah Behavioral Health, which in its first 18 months contacted 565 of the estimated 700 local Dine alcoholics, getting 76 of them into long-term treatment, off the streets and into a new life. Several Alaska native groups, including the Hoonah Indian Association are collaborating in developing an alternative Indian minimum security half-way house in Hoonah, operating following Tlingit traditions. As of December, the group was seeking an arrangement with the state to send appropriate Indian prisoners to the center when it opened, this spring. The White Earth Chippewa Reservation Tribal Police concluded a new collaboration agreement with the Mahnomen County, MN Sheriff's Department aimed at improving law enforcement, including fighting gangs and drugs. In early February Navajo Nation and the Apache County, AZ Sheriff's Department agreed to bolster their agencies' forces by sharing personnel and resources.

     The Durango, CO city Council gave unanimous approval, in January, to Southern Ute Tribe's Terre Group conceptual development plan for Mercy Medical Center's new hospital in the Grandview area, to be annexed by Durango, on land donated by the Southern Ute Tribe, with Terra Group environmentally friendly housing (with a central school site) and business development around the hospital, and parks, open spaces and trails on the 682 acres of the $782 million project, to be developed with joint planning between the Terra Group and the city.

     The Jicarilla Apache signed an agreement with the state school board, in August, becoming the first New Mexico nation to take advantage of a new rule allowing a tribe to certify who is competent to teach their language.

Tribal Developments

     A study in the November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, examining alcohol dependence among two culturally distinct northern plains and southwest tribes, reported that only a minority of people in the two tribes met the criteria for alcohol dependence, a finding that refutes stereotypes about the use of alcohol by American Indians." "While rates of alcohol dependence among American Indians are higher than national averages, they're not as high as indicated by previous research." The complete article is available at:  http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docid=516010. A CDC study, released in February, reported that American Indians and Alaska Natives have the highest smoking rates of any group, with 40% of adults and 28% of youths using cigarettes.

     A study, released in March, based on a 2002 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System found that American Indian and Alaska Native adults have the highest asthma rate among single-race groups, according to data released on Friday. 11.6 percent of Native Americans surveyed said they suffered from asthma, significantly higher than the national average of 7.5 percent, and much higher than every other single racial or ethnic group. Only respondents of multi-racial origin reported higher asthma rates, with a 15.6 percent asthma rate. CDC reports that asthma prevalence, morbidity, and mortality has increased over the past 20 years, with minorities continuing to suffer more than whites. "In addition, racial/ethnic minority populations reported higher use of emergency departments (EDs) and doctors' offices for asthma treatment than whites," according to a March issue of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The survey reported that nearly 76 percent of Native Americans with the condition said they were on some form of asthma medication, the highest of all racial and ethnic groups and higher than the national average of 69.3 percent. Fewer Native Americans reported "emergency" doctor visits for asthma than African-Americans and Hispanics and fewer Native Americans said they went to the hospital for an "urgent" visit than African-Americans, Hispanics and those of multiple races. More Native Americans said they went for "routine" visits than others. Native Americans were less likely than most other groups to say they experienced sleep difficulty or that their physical activity was limited by asthma. But more Native Americans said they suffered asthma attacks than other groups. The study, "Asthma Prevalence and Control Characteristics by Race/Ethnicity - United States, 2002" (February 27, 2004) is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5307a1.htm. CDC reported in January that American Indians are infected with AIDS at a rate 1.5 times that of the white population, and that the 11,7 cases per 100,000 is rapidly increasing. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has made a drunk driving awareness video, "Seeds of Hope." involving native people of many nations and specifically made for American Indians and available without cost along with anti-drunk driving posters and anti-drunk driving information kits to any tribe.  For details call MADD at (800)438-6233, X4570.

     One-third of Native women are raped during their life times and Native women have the highest rate of sexual assault of any group, but in 2003, only 54 convictions were attained in the U.S. for forcible rape on Native women.

     A growing market for ancient Indian Artifacts, especially on the Internet, is leading to an increasing problem of theft, ancient site desecration and grave robbing.

     Navajo nation has joined those tribes debating their membership requirements. Currently a proposal to expand eligibility for membership by dropping the blood quantum requirement from one-quarter to one eighth. Those in favor point out that with increasing intermarriage, many Dine children, including many raised very traditionally, are not able to be tribal members. Opponents say that the reduction would double tribal membership, producing an unaffordable financial obligation upon the already under-funded nation. While numerous tribes have considered changing membership requirements, in recent years, for various reasons, and some have done so, increased tribal incomes have made money the central issue in a large number of recent tribal disputes over membership. This is particularly the case in California, where 14 of the 61 nations with casinos are fractured by membership disputes; but it is also a serious issue for tribes in Oklahoma, Arizona, Minnesota, and North Carolina (See Gillian Flaccus, "Growth of California casinos escalates into fight over enrollment policies for 16 tribes," and Paul Newell, "North Carolina's Cherokee battle over bloodlines and payments," in News from Indian Country, April 8, 2004, pp. 6-7, for a more detailed account). Some disputes involve families that have been ejected by others challenging their eligibility. Others concern people who say they were wrongfully excluded years ago, whose membership is being blocked now. In the North Carolina Cherokee case, debate is over whether "absentee" members, who live off the reservation, should continue to be included.  In December, the North Carolina Cherokee voted to limit the right to vote in tribal elections to tribal members living on the reservation. The California cases are compounded by the fact that most nations do not have their own courts to settle disputes under existing membership standards.

     The General accounting Office reports that dozens of Alaska villages suffer from erosion and flooding. In April, the Western Alaska Village of Newtok, which within a few years would loose its village site to the Ninlick River, signed a land swap with the Department of the Interior, allowing it to move 10 miles to a secure site on Nelson Island. The villages of Sishmaref, Kivalina and Koyukuk are also in the process of relocating.

     On November 17, Interior Secretary Gale Norton stated, while surveying fire damage suffered by the Barona Band of Mission Indians at the Barona Reservation, that at that date the Bureau of Indian Affairs had provided $723,000 in emergency assistance for dislocated members of 13 tribes in Southern California affected by October fires, approving 564 applications for emergency assistance, distributed at $1,000 per tribal family to pay for shelter, food and clothing while a family is dislocated. Recovery on southern California Indian lands was in progress, electrical service restored at the Barona Reservation and tribal members were in the process of choosing from among five plans for replacement homes to be built by the tribe to whom the home owners will pay off the mortgages. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians of California provided 3,000 turkeys to 37 local charities, in November, its largest turkey donation since starting distributions in the 1980's, accounting for 15,000 Thanksgiving meals for families, primarily in the Riverside area, just two weeks after making a $1 million-dollar donation to the Riverside Chapter of the American Red Cross and providing more than 6,000 early Thanksgiving meals for local families displaced by the Southern California fires.

     On October 28, the Forest County Potawatomi and the Mole Lake Chippewa Band, both gaming tribes, ended the dispute over plans for a potentially extremely environmentally damaging copper and zink mine near Crandon, WI, by purchasing the proposed mine site for $16.5 million, and setting up a cooperative plan of forest management for the wooded property.

     The report of the Clinton initiated commission on race relations, "One America: Initiative on Race," states that Native Americans suffer from racism more than any other group. Economic and physical abuse are just some of the examples listed in the report. Others are the highest instances of suicide, lowest life expectancy,  highest levels of infant mortality, and highest unemployment rate. In Oklahoma the unemployment rate is 38%, and the national rate is 49%. In April, dozens of Navajos attended a public forum of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in Farmington, NM, to discuss their experiences with discrimination and bias in communities surrounding their reservation. The largest set of complaints by native people involved police brutality, harassment, death threats and racial profiling. Both the Farmington mayor and police chief, who attended the forum, said they welcome the commission's report as an aid in improving police and other city functions. Farmington Police Chief, since September 2003, Michael Burridge, said, that as chair of the San Juan Criminal Justice Training Academy, he has begun to develop a Navajo and Native American cultural awareness class, working with a Navajo officer on the Bloomfield, NM police force. A study funded by HUD, undertaken by the Urban Institute of Washington, DC, found that American Indians are more likely to be discriminated against in housing than any other minority group, with 29% of Indians experiencing discrimination in housing in 2003.

     The Justice Department reported, in December, that during 2002 the 70 Indian country jails, detention centers and other correctional facilities housed 2080 inmates in 2002, up 2% from 2001. On average, during June 2002, the facilities operated at 92% capacity with 13 over capacity on any given day and 11 at double their capacity. On their peak days, 13 were at double capacity or more and 44 over capacity. The Bush Administration has not budgeted for increased Indian country jailing capacity, despite rising need, which increased 35% from 1998 through 2002.

     A multicultural coalition of students, faculty, alumni, Native leaders and community members opposing the University of Illinois continuing to use Chief Illiniwek as a mascot staged a sit in at the Swanlund Administration Building on the Urbana campus, which ended with an agreement on April 16 with Chancellor Nancy Cantor, under which representatives of the coalition would meet with state Rep. Edward J. Acevedo, state Sen. Miguel del Valle, the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus in Springfield on April 27. In addition, eight to 10 representatives of the coalition will have an opportunity to meet with the consultants from the North Central Association during its "focused visit" to the campus on April 26. For details go to: http://www.uiuc.edu/resources/announcement3.html.

     On April 7, the Winnebago Nation of Nebraska opened Treaty Hospital, to serve its 700 members and those of other nations. The Chicaloon Native Village, in Alaska, has completed a 2200 watt solar photovoltaic tracking system to power their award winning school and tribal office. On April 6, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had denied Mille Lacs County, MN's petition to review a discharge permit for a wastewater treatment facility on Mille Lacs Band land. The facility is expected to go into operation in May. The Navajo Nation Veterinary and Livestock Program has instituted a plan to guard resident against harmful foreign animal diseases. The program focuses on precautionary measures calling for residents to properly identify and ear tag livestock, and to have specimens taken for testing for harmful bacteria and other indicators of potential disease. The Lumni Nation of Washington received a $200,000 grant, in January, from the Northwest Area Foundation to reduce the tribe's 18.3% poverty rate through wellness, education and economic development efforts.

     The FBI and federal prosecutors have been working more aggressively with the Navajo tribal police to crack down on growing use of methamphetamine, since the U.S. Attorney's office opened a branch in Flagstaff, AZ in October 2000. Since September 11, 2001 led to increased border surveillance, there has been a major expansion of drug smuggling and gang activity in U.S.-Mexico boarder reservations, and drug activity and use on Indian land has continued to increased, as indicated by the rise in drug possession arrests on reservation from 1,159 in 2000 to 4590 in 2001.

     The Alaskan Village of Point Lay has asked the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission for permission to return to whale hunting after 70 years, being permitted to catch one whale a year. The Bureau of Land Management held the first public hearing, January 26, on a proposal for the Ely Shoshone of Nevada to expand their reservation by 23,000 acres. The portion of the land near Ward Mountain, which is undeveloped, would be used for traditional purposes. The acreage along the highway would be commercially developed.

     CDC reports that American Indian have the highest percentage of house holds without plumbing, 12% and without kitchens, 11%. HUD reports that 15% of Indian reservation homes are infested with black mold (stachybotrys), and that it would cost $1 million to solve the problem, or about $25 per house.

     Banishment is being used as an act of last resort more frequently by tribal nations. Recently, the Grand Portage of Ojibwe of Minnesota passed a banishment from the reservation statute and has used it against three tribal members convicted of multiple assaults. The Lumni nation revoked one tribal member's membership for drug trafficking, allowing her on the reservation only to visit a parcel of land she owns. The Mille Lacs Ojibwe have used banishment against members who have been starting fights and causing other difficulties on their reservation. Navajo Nation has passed a banishment law which, as of January, had been used once. Many tribal leaders see banishment as a last resort in combating drug trafficking and gang activity, both for tribal members and non-members. Banishment involves exclusion from the reservation and loss of all rights related to tribal membership.

     The Governor of Nambe Pueblo, Tom Talache,  in early April, was expecting to enter into a loan agreement with a Houston bank for a $150 million United First Nations Assembly in Santa Fe, NM, with a trade center, botanic garden, five star hotel, national Indian art gallery, an Indian veterans memorial, an IMAX theater and a sports center.

     On April 28, the Shonto. Steamboat and Nahata Dziil Navaho Chapters each staged a simulation of one of the three forms of government provided for in the Navajo Local Government Act to decentralize tribal government by empowering qualified chapters to enter into contracts, administer their own land, enact ordinances and generate revenue by their own efforts. The act was passed six years before, but it has been a slow process of developing an appropriate process for preparing and certifying local chapters to take on expanded government functions responsibly and with accountability. At the time of the simulation session, 21 of the 110 Navajo government chapters were close to becoming certified. For more information, contact the Office of Navajo Government Development, P.O. Box 220, Window Rock, AZ 86515  (520)871-7214

     The Kikapoo nation was engaged in a dispute over a recall election, in December, that included a take over of the tribal headquarters in McCloud, OK by a group of tribal grandmothers protesting what they see as unfair politics and nepotism. The recall vote did not receive a majority, but is contested.  At the same time, the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma was split by an election dispute, in which the defeated incumbent  government refused to recognize the ballot results, locking themselves into their offices. Also in December, the BIA validated the results of a contested recall election of the Meskwaki of Iowa, which had led to the closing of the tribal casino, reopened with the settling of the dispute as to who was the legal government.

     Employees of the Lumbee Tribe, in North Carolina, have been required to sign a confidentiality agreement, barring them from discussing the tribe's operations. Some members of the Tribal Council object that all tribal members need to have access to information on tribal affairs. The Navajo Nation Tribal Council voted to make the Navajo Times an independent entity, in November.

Economic Developments

     A study by the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth, released last August, found that Native Americans are exhibiting the third fastest growth rate of buying power in the country since 1990 (227%), following (Hispanics (357%) and Asians (345%), and ahead of Blacks (189%) and Whites (128)%.. Ameican Indians are expected to have a $63 billion portion of the U.S. economy by 2010, with a $64 billion spending power.

     Participants at the Native American Business Conference from U.S. and Canadian First Nations at Santa Ana Pueblo's Hyatt hotel, in New Mexico, April 25-27, heard Ronald Langston, director of the Minority Business Development Agency, of the U.S. Department of Commerce say "Indians have diversified their portfolio in a strategic way," as he reported that Indian firms grew in number by 84%, while all U.S. firms grew by only 7%, according to recent census data. The gross receipts of American Indians shot up 179%, compared to 40% for all U.S. firms, as Native American businesses have diversified widely. Among the attendees were 45 Aboriginal chiefs and economic development officers from Canada, eager to do business with American Indians in the United States, including trading in salmon, fashion, health products and hardwood and plywood. More than two-dozen Fortune 500 companies also attended the conference. Jackie Gant, Oneida Nation of the Thames of Canada and executive director of NABA, stated that the convention was created to build relationships and promote businesses as Native business people look to the future. "It’s about coming together, whether you are an urban Indian or from the reservation," she said in an interview with Indian Country Today. "We are now at a level where we are respected. We are now getting the attention we deserve; the corporate sector is paying attention to us. It’s an exciting time, the businessmen are coming to us; we need to work with government, we want to work with corporations." NABA includes more than 200 American Indian Owned member companies. The latest census figures indicate there are 197,000 Native American owned businesses in the United States, which generate more than $34 million and employ 300,000 people every year. For more information visit NABA on the Web at: http://www.native-american-bus.org. The Native American Bank (NAB) was awarded the Tribal Enterprise of the Year Award for its demonstrated positive economic and community impact, by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, at the 18th annual Reservation Economic summit and American Indian Business Trade Fair, in Las Vegas, February 12. In January, the NAB made a $3.4 million loan to the Samish Tribe of Washington help to buy back ancestral lands and develop the Hidalgo Bay Resort.  American Indian owned Environmental Services was named Kansas City District 2003 Minority Business of the Year.

     The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is providing a new Native American economic development initiative, consisting of several components, including ongoing consultation with tribal governments, participation in tribal sponsored economic development events, implementation of an outreach campaign for American Indian entrepreneurs, and development of working relationships with tribal colleges and Native American organizations to provide more accessible training for Native American small business owners. The new contracts awarded incorporate partnerships with American Indian tribal governments, tribal colleges, Native American organizations, federal agencies and the private sector to spur economic growth for Native Americans. They include: Arviso Business Consulting, a Navajo tribal member-owned firm in New Mexico, to develop two cultural tourism corridors for rural micro-enterprise development in the Navajo Nation; Kauffman & Associates, a small American Indian-owned company in Spokane, Wash., to provide technical assistance, marketing assistance, communications training and Web site development to small businesses in economically disadvantaged Native American areas; Mandaree Enterprise Corp., a tribally-owned company on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, N.D., to develop a business and technology incubator that will provide infrastructure support and access for Native American entrepreneurs; G&G Advertising, an American Indian-owned company in Albuquerque, N.M., and Billings, Mont., to develop and provide marketing products to Native American and Alaska Native small business owners.; Nth-Degree Analytics, a small business in Bozeman, Mont., to conduct research on job creation tracking in Indian Country. The SBA has also entered into interagency agreements with the U.S. Census Bureau to identify underserved Native American tribal areas, and with the Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI), Bureau of Indian Affairs to develop and implement a small business development training program for Native American-owned businesses located in economically depressed areas. For information, contact Sue Hensley of the U.S. Small Business Administration, 202-205-6444, http://www.sba.gov, http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=25503&Link.

     The SBA is providing assistance to help Indian small businesses in rural areas overcome their isolation. The agency formed Project Jump Start via a $250,000 contract with Kauffman & Associates, of Spokane Washington, which provides internet marketing assistance to Native enterprises. The project has 29 sample Indian business web designs, offers web page design and graphic design and other marketing development assistance, offering classes and one-to-one mentoring at a number of locations. The project web site is: www.sbajumpstart.com.

     The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan nations are looking for ways to invest their huge profits that will diversify their business. So far, they have limited success with other businesses, but they are seeking new ventures that will make money to help other tribes and provide a back up if their casino profits fall. Mohegan diversification includes renting state and town shellfish beds between Pawcatuck and Niantic, to raise oysters, clams and scallops in an $11 million aquaculture venture, aimed at breaking even in three years. The nation has also partnered with Telaid Industries to launch Mohegan Information Technologies, which has developed contracts across the country to upgrade computer and phone systems. The tribe is currently using its gaming experience to become involved in gambling ventures around the U.S. The Mohegan have a development contract with the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin which is seeking to create a casino at a Kenosha greyhound race track, and are currently negotiating with the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla in California. The Mashantucket Pequots hope to develop and manage a "racino" - a race track casino - with the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes in Bangor, ME. The Maine Tribes have stated that they are willing to renew their efforts to obtain the right to operate gaming at the track if Penn National Gaming gives up its plan to install up to 1500 slot machines there, because of objections to state regulation.

     The Yavapai-Apache Nation of Arizona is helping the La Posta Band of Mission Indians fund, design and build a casino east of San Diego, CA. The Yavapai-Apache, who run the Cliff Castle Casino, north of Phoenix, will also assist in the hiring and training of employees, but not in casino management. The Chocktaw Nation of Oklahoma purchased and obtained Oklahoma Racing Commission permission to run horses, in November, at Blue Ribbon Downs, where a recent compact will also allow it and other race track owning tribes to have class II gambling. While the Alabama legislature is considering a constitutional amendment which would allow electronic bingo games at the state's four race tracks, the Porch Band of Creek have stated they are seeking negotiations with Governor Bob Riley on a compact to allow Indian gaming in Alabama which would bring the state more revenue than the $32-$50 million dollars estimate to flow into the state coffers each year from the non-Indian bingo proposal. The Tulalip Tribe has signed a 75 year lease with a New Jersey Company to build a shopping mall on 47 acres near the nation's new casino at Quil Ceda Village, WA. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho has proposed to the U.S. Army Engineers that it restore 25 acres of wetland in return for the right of filling in 11 other acres of wetland in order to build a 5000 seat arena at its Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort Hotel. The Wisconsin Oneida bought 250 acres of farm land near Vernon, NY and has bought land in the Catskills, where New York State has agreed they can have a casino. In January, the nation was talking with Vernon officials about developing an entertainment venue. The Meskwaki Tribe of Iowa has reopened its Casino and plans a $150 million expansion including hundreds of hotel rooms, a convention center, dinner theater, full service spa, a fine dining restaurant and a water park, plus more seats at bingo and poker facilities, along with several thousand new slot machines. The Cayuga Nation of New York, in May, received a recommendation for BIA approval from the BIA eastern regional office for a new $500 million dollar casino in the Catskill Mountain resort of Monticello, NY, 90 miles from New York City. A compact with New York Governor Pataki still needed finalization. The Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay purchased the 93 year old U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego, in December for $45 million. The nation, which runs a casino, will renovate the hotel. In 2000, the Band purchased the Singing Hills Country Club and a 104 room hotel, three miles from its Southern California reservation. In November, it launched a mutual fund to invest stocks in large and medium sized U.S. firms. The band has other investment proposals in progress. The Eastern Band of Cherokee broke ground, on December 1, on a new hotel, more than doubling the rooms, at Harrah's Cherokee Casino. Gambling business is also to be expanded with support from Harrah Entertainment. The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo of California rapidly sold $200 million in bonds, at a private sale in November. The proceeds are being used to repay most of the tribe's standup debt from its River Rock Casino.

     During the last quarter of 2003, new Mexico gaming tribes had a 17.4% drop from the third quarter's $112.5 million net wins (Amount wagered minus winnings paid out and regulatory fees), the first quarterly drop since 2001. The gaming tribes paid $8.4 million into the New Mexico general fund for the fourth quarter, down from the previous quarters $10.6 million. The state gaming representative stated that this signals a leveling off after a period of rapid tribal gambling growth, and that New Mexico tribal gaming is expected to expand more slowly from now on. In February, Santa Ana Pueblo received a $75 million loan from Sandoval County, NM, raised in bonds that the Pueblo is responsible to make payment on in 12 years. Santa Ana runs a casino and a number of business that have posted losses in the last two years, bringing the rapidly economic developing pueblos debts to $87.6million. The pueblo's businesses provide 1200 jobs in the county. The Mississippi Choctow's $750 million Golden Moon Casino Resort in Philadelphia, MI has led to increased revenue, with the resort's net income the last quarter of 2003 $14.8 compared to $9.4 million the proceeding year's final quarter. The nation says it is ahead of schedule in debt payment, with the $200 million bonds to help finance the resort's construction due in 2009. Golden Moon is doing better in the sluggish economy than non-Indian casinos on the Mississippi south of Memphis, but is behind expectations in business growth, having to lay off 87 of its 172 table games workers in April. Seneca Nation of New York opened its second gaming facility, the $71 million Seneca Allegany Casino, May 1. The Coeur d' Alene tribe of Idaho was in the planning stage, in January, for joining the growing number on Indian nations producing wind powered electricity. Its decade old Casino is thriving and growing, and with between $15-$20 million annual profits has generated economic development that has virtually eliminated tribal unemployment. 5% of gaming prophets go to local schools, the bulk go to tribal government, education, services and development. A new golf course and an expanded casino and hotel were under construction in January. The Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma plans to add off track betting parlors at five casinos under a compact recently signed with the Governor, if it is approved by the BIA. The Shakopee Mdewakonton Sioux (Dakota) of Minnesota gave a half million dollars of casino profits to the Leach Lake Band of Ojibwe for a water well drilling truck and equipment, in January, so that the tribe can drill its own wells. The Shakope have donated over $31.5 million dollars in Casino earnings to other tribes in six years, including $8 million in 2003. The Tulalip tribe of Washington shared $2.1 million in casino profits local charities and programs, from June to November. Tulalip casino revenues are as good or better than the nation promised banks, when applying for gaming development loans, but less than anticipated, so, as of November, the tribe was expecting to make some cuts in its programs.

     The National Indian Gaming Commission ruled, in March, that the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma had no authority to run a casino in downtown Kansas City, KS, giving the tribe a week to respond to its decision, during which time Kansas and municipal authorities shut down the Casino, over the Wyandotte's protest. Two hundred employees of the Agua Caliente Tribe's Spa Resort Casino, in California, in April, demonstrated near the gaming facility complaining of abuses including age bias and sexual harassment. 25 were arrested and charged for unlawful assembly, after allegedly refusing to disband following an order to disperse. Among those arrested were Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers Union with Cesar Chavez, and two priests. Union officials are trying to organize the casino workers. Tribal spokesman Ray Brown workers have not told the tribe they wish to unionize, and the nation abides by all labor regulations in its 1995 compact with the state of California.

      Tribal Digital Village (TDV), in Southern California's San Diego County, is helping the 15,000 members of 18 Indian nations in this mountainous and remote area get on line and learn computing skills. The project is also being supported by a $5 million grant from Hewlett-Packard, applied for by the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association. The company has provided equipment, training, support and wireless access points. A wireless internet connection, linking more than 900 computers, now spans an area 150 miles long by 75 miles wide. Bubbles of wi-fi networks cover local government offices, libraries, schools and museums. More than 1,500 people use e-mail and access online tribal calendars. Educational software is available to supplement high school courses. There are 25 learning labs equipped with video, audio and digital photography equipment. The TDV offers a range of computing courses.  With few subscribers per square mile, establishment of such a network would be difficult without the project. "With no basic economy, many of the young people have to leave the tribe to work. Now they can stay," stated Jack Ward, of Tribal Digital Village. Not only will this cutting-edge technology enable a lucrative business, said Ward, but it will enable the tribes to train and employ their own communities. For more information, go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3489932.stm. Other native communities are also taking control of their telecoms infrastructure. Thirty nations received loans and grants totaling more than $42 million from the Rural Utilities Services, part of the Department of Agriculture last year. As part of its Indian Initiatives, the Federal Communications Commission, has announced an agreement with tribal governments to improve communication between native Americans and the companies who build mobile phone towers either on Indian-owned land or places held sacred by indigenous Americans. Cherokee Nation of North Carolina donated $1.9 million, at the beginning of the year, for a fiber optics network in six rural, western North Carolina counties to assist economic development and access to advanced medicine and education, as part of public-private group, Balsam West FiberNET. The Chckasaw Nation Computer and Literacy Distribution program provided more than 2000 computers to tribal member families from the programs inception in 2002 through September. Donated computers from the tribe, businesses, government agencies and individuals are refurbished and recycled to those in need. It is estimated that while nation wide 54% of the U.S. population is on line, only 9% of Indian people have computer access. For more details, call (580)421-7876. Broadband technology obtained under a Department of Agriculture grant has created  a business opening for Tlingit and Haida people on an isolated South East Alaska island, off the British Columbia Coast, where there are limited local economic development opportunities. Tlingit and Haida Technology Industries employs 25 people in Juneau, coding government documents into digital under a 5 year $50 federal government contract. Coding is not high tech, allowing people without a great deal of education to be trained for the work. The income from the operation has brought increased services, particularly in medicine, to the villages.

     A study by the Association of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Regional Corporation Presidents and CEOs shows that from 1971 to 2001 the assets of 13 Alaska regional and 30 village corporations have grown to $2.9 billion, with $2.9 billion in revenue, $52.1 million in dividends and $434 million in payroll with 13,062 employees and millions of dollars contributed to charities. The Stevens Village, AK Tribal Council has purchased 2080 acres, near Delta Junction, AK, with the help of a U.S., Department of Agriculture $775,000 loan, to raise bison. However, since statehood, many Alaska villages have relied on state grants to help balance budgets and provide services. With revenues from the state declining, many are making deep cuts and/or considering mergers.

     The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's Precision Machine Manufacturing Co. and Boeing Corp., which it supplies, were winners, in March, of the Department of Defense Nunn-Perry Award recognizing outstanding mentor-protege teams, in a program established to encourage contractors to work with small, disadvantaged businesses. Sioux Manufacturing, owned by the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe of North Dakota, signed a $7 million subcontract, in January, to manufacture Kevlar door armor for 700 Humvees for the Marine Corps. Company officials projected record earnings in 2003, because of the war in Iraq, with the possibility of higher earnings this year. Mandare Enterprises Corp., of the Three Affiliated Tribes in Mandaree, ND is participating in the rebuilding in Iraq through a Pentagon contract. As of February, four company employees hired in a nationwide search were in Iraq doing computer work to supplying reconstruction. Tribally owned Northern Arapaho Technologies, Inc., on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, received a $5000 grant, in December, from the Wyoming Business Council to help develop new maintenance and operations systems for military aircraft.

     Fort McDowell Yavapai Materials, an enterprise of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, received a top award from the Mine Safety and Health Administration for its record of 53,000 person hours worked without an accident and its involvement in a best practices initiative involving sharing information on effective safety procedures.

     The Yakama Nation of Washington has purchased the Hi-County foods juice plant in nearby Seleh, The nation will restart the apple juice bottling operation and will likely branch into bottling other products. Wounded Knee, SD, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, opened a new general store in December, and had finished the exterior of a community center. The Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation opened a huge skateboard park, in May, capable of hosting professional tournaments, in Eagle Butte, SD. The park is free, but draws many people and much business to the area.

     The Suquamish Tribe of Washington suffered damage to its geoduck and clam trade, that could run several hundred thousand dollars, as a result of a 4800 gallon oil spill, on December 30, when a refueling barge operated by Foss was over filled. Biologists discovered the largest number of chinook spawning nests on the Snake River in Idaho, since the annual survey was begun in 1991. An oversupply of recycled rubber was threatening the viability of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians of Mecca, CA's one year old, state of the art, tire recycling plant, as of November. In May, the Flathead, Fort. Peck and Blackfoot Reservations in Montana, along with 11 of the state's counties, were declared disaster areas, because of continuing drought, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, making the reservations eligible for low interest emergency loans through the Farm Service Agency.

     The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that many of the job opportunities at cites in casinos around the country pay well above California's minimum of $6.75 an hour. Annual casino salaries range from $15,860, not including tips, for a parking valet, to about $130,790 for construction managers, according to bureau statistics. Casino dishwashers earn an average of $10.07 an hour, or $20,950 annually, while waiters, parking valets and massage therapists make between $7.63 and $8.81 an hour, excluding tips. This runs counter to the argument often made against Indian gaming that most casino jobs are low pay and high turnover. Federal and state labor laws do not apply to Indian casinos, but The Tribal Labor Relations Ordinance, a code that gaming tribes must follow to operate, is largely the same as the National Labor Relations Act, with a few exceptions. For instance not only can casino workers unionize, but unlike the NLRA, the ordinance recognizes the right for workers to have union meetings on the casino site, post leaflets and other labor material on employee bulletin boards and obtain lists of employees and their addresses if they can prove 30 percent of the workers support the union. Additional employee rights and protections are often included in contracts with the state. In the case of California, for example, the tribal-state gaming compact includes rules that tribes must follow, including that tribes must either follow state guidelines on workers' compensation, or adopt their own program with the same provisions. In addition, casino employees are covered under California's unemployment and disability compensation programs, according to the compact. In the case of the Timbisha Shoshone tribe's proposed hotel and casino in Hesperia, CA, with plans to create about 1000 new jobs in the area, with an annual payroll of between $40 million and $60 million, projected average annual salary is $30,000 to $60,000, higher than the average paid by the gaming industry nationwide, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

     An economic impact study, by Donald L. Schunk of the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, found that the Catawba Nation's proposed high stakes bingo hall for Santee, SC could generate 1827 new jobs, creating $37.2 million in labor earnings and $5 million in new individual income and sales taxes, while attracting 2.5 million visitors a year and bring in $4.4 million to the local economy. The study was jointly funded by the nation and the county. The Catawba are expected to pay $3.2 million a year equivalent of state taxes and $1.8 million a year equivalent of county taxes on bingo earnings, while donating $2 million a year toward a new hospitality and tourism program. In March, the leaders of the Catawba Nation stated they are asking the state legislature permission to expand their bingo operation. If that fails, they will sue the state.

     Debate on whether to legalize alcohol sales at Navajo Nation has been revived by concerns of possible coal mine closings adding to already high unemployment, while tribal revenue and federal funding decline. In March the Navajo Nation Council's Public Safety Committee visited the White Mountain Apache Tribe to discuss its experience with legalizing liquor sales in 1954. The gaming issue is still an economic concern at Navajo Nation, with the Council's Intergovernmental Gaming Committee approving a proposed bill to allow a non-binding vote on whether voters favor class III gaming in the May primary election at Shiprock. In August, during chapter elections, Navaho Nation will hold a third referendum whether the nation can operate casinos. Referenda in 1994 and 1997 rejected tribal gaming. Meanwhile, the Dine Tourism Business Academy, part of the Dine Tourism Corridor demonstration Project, has been attempting to stimulate small business growth along a corridor that attracts many tourists to the Navajo reservation. While many chapters have passed resolutions supporting government projects though bonding, in April, a poll conducted by students at San Juan College in Shiprock, gave a first indication that Dine who do not attend chapter meetings may not support Navaho governmental bonding, suggesting that 75% of Navajos may be against the proposed $500,000 Navajo Nation bond issue. The survey suggested that more traditional people do not like borrowing money, and less educated people do not understand how bonds work. The more educated the respondent, the more likely they were to support bonding, in the limited survey. Navajo Nation is debating the possibility of setting up an offshore banking operation, only to handle deposits by non-American citizens (because of federal banking regulations), who might make significant deposits with the privacy that such banking allows. The Director of the Division of Economic Development stated, in an April report to the Council, that if the nation proceeds to seek capital through such a banking arrangement, "Enormous effort will be expended to cull out accounts that might have drug, money laundering or tax evasion connections - before they become clients,..." The division of Economic Development has proposed to the Navajo Nation Council that it establish an umbrella corporation to attract millions of dollars in federal contracts. Minority owned companies can obtain preference in gaining a limited number of contracts from the federal government, but there is no limit on the number of federal contracts that a tribe can have and still be given preference. The proposal is for Navajo nation to obtain 51% of a companies stock so that it could have unlimited contract preference. As with all Navajo Nation owned enterprises, there would be a separation between business and government, so that the umbrella corporation and the individual firms would be independently managed. Attendees at the Navajo Economic Summit, in April, expressed the view that it is time for the BIA to be removed from the business process, because it is so bureaucratized. For example, it took two years for the Bureau to approve a business site lease in Kayenta Township. Other positions agreed to at the summit for enhancing business development were for Navajo Nation to: achieve full implementation of the Local Government Act, decentralizing governance to the chapters, by the end of the year; Create economic development corporations and master leases for communities that want to move forward immediately; Establish job training facilities; And begin educating Youth about local government development by making it part of the curriculum.

     The Hopi nation was scheduled to vote May 19 on whether to have a casino, lease slot machines to another tribe that does, or not be involved in gaming.

     The American Indian Business Leaders (AIBL) 10th Annual National Leadership Conference took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 7-9, offering activities designed to stimulate, enhance, and expand participants' educational experience beyond what is taught through traditional academic methods, to address contemporary business issues impacting Indian Country. For more information call: (406)243-4879 or go to: www.aibl.org. 300 people participated in the sixth annual Great Plains Regional/Tribal Economic Summit, hosted by the Standing Rock Sioux, in May. The meetings focus on developing a network for tribes, businesses and organizations to partner in efforts that will enhance development of tribal business ventures.

Educational and Cultural Developments

     Native American students at public high schools only have a 50-50 chance of graduating, according to an Urban Institute study, released in February, that contradicts how states measure drop-out rates. By looking at student enrollment per year, the Institute has come up a way of determining the graduation rates of the nation's students, that in many cases, differ wildly from the numbers reported by states. But regardless of the method used, American Indians and Alaska Natives finish school at rates far below their White and Asian counterparts. In the Institute's study, only 51.1 percent of Native students graduated in 2001, compared to 74.9 percent for Whites and 76.8 percent for Asians. The national average was 68.0 percent. The full report is available at: http://www.indianz.com/News/archive/000355.asp.

     Dr. Laura Graves, professor of history and government at South Plains College, has signed a contract with Prentice Hall as senior author for the nation's first undergraduate American history textbook written from an American Indian perspective. Dr. Graves will write the first half of the book from prehistoric times until about 1900. Ken Townsend, a professor at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and author of a book on Indians in World War II, will write the second half of the textbook. Dr. Vickie Sutton (Lumbee), director of the Texas Tech University School of Law will write on Indian law. Lomayumtewa Ishii (Hopi) will represent the Indian voices in the book. In a departure from traditional history texts, he will open each chapter with a biographical sketch and use that person's words and life to illustrate concepts in the chapter.  The text is expected to be out in 2006. For more information contact Dianne Whisenand, Coordinator of News and Information, Office of College Relations, South Plains College. 1401 S. College Ave.. Levelland, TX 79336 (806)894-9611, ext. 2212, dwhisenand@spc.cc.tx.us.

     A report the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Office of Indian Education of schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, released in November, shows a large number of Indian students engaging in behaviors that put them at risk for premature death and disability. For example, over 80% of students had used alcohol at least once in their lives, and almost 49% currently still use alcohol, with 38% of students saying they engage in heavy drinking. Nearly 87% of the students reported using cigarettes at least once, with more than 56% reporting current usage and 24% admitting frequent use. Substance and alcohol abuse were shown as abuse by grade level, with a higher rate of current drug usage and heavy  drinking among males. Nearly 50% of female respondents reported current marijuana use, and 20% stated they had at least once used cocaine or methamphetamine. The report ifs from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System established in 2001.

     The requirements of the No Child Left Behind program are creating difficulties for many schools in Alaska, especially in the western pat of the state. Schools that for decades have taught and helped preserve Native Yupik and other indigenous languages will likely have to test children in English. The act allows for some testing in languages other than English, but little money is available for that purpose, and even if it were, doing written tests in specified subjects in many native languages is not practical. For example, mathematics to American children is based on units of 10, where increments of 20 are used in Yupik math and numerous English words have no Yupik counterparts. Similar difficulties have been noted for native students elsewhere in the U.S. This winter, the Department of Education relaxed some of the No Child Left
behind requirements, including for students with a first language other than English, but the exact impact of the changes is not yet clear. Many BIA schools do not meet the standards of the No Child Left Behind Program, with 19 around the U.S. in the lowest category. In January, the BIA planned to provide more money to the worst off schools, but that may not be possible if the Bush Administration's FY2005 sharply reduced budget proposals are not increased by Congress. In a report to the Navaho Nation council, in March, delegate Wallace Charley stated that Navajo Nation schools are always under-funded by the federal government, and 7 of the 14 schools on the BIA construction list because of serious deficiencies, to the point that they are literally crumbling. are located in Navajo Nation. "I would give them (the federal government) a D." One positive development, is that Tse Ho Tso Intermediate Learning Center will begin the 2004-05 school year at their new school building, in Ft. Defiance, AZ, that was dedicated on April 30.

     The 1972 Montana Constitution required the state to educate all public school students on the unique cultural heritage of Montana's Indians. While a number of Indian and white lawmakers have tried to force the state to implement Article X, Section 1, Subsection 2 of the constitution, lawyers for the Montana Indian Education Association complain that the only mandatory Indian education classes for teachers, adopted in 1973, were abandoned by 1979. For more details go to: http://billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2004/01/24/build/state/45-indian-ed.inc. In January, American Indian lawmaker, Rep. John McCoy, (D-Tulalip) has proposed a bill in the state legislature to require tribal studies in all Washington public schools. He said his bill would encourage diversity and promote local history by requiring that K-12 school districts work with the state's 29 federally recognized tribes to develop such courses. Beginning this fall, Maine public schools will be required to teach the history and culture of American Indians. The Native American Journalists Association has received a $150,000 grant to teach journalism classes to American Indian high school students in South Dakota.

      The Indian Health Service, in January, has announced the availability of approximately $3,733,332 to fund scholarships for American Indians and Alaska Natives pursuing preparatory, pregraduate, and professional programs, to encourage American Indians and Alaska Natives to enter the health professions and to assure the availability of Indian health professionals to serve Indians. Approximately 200 awards, 100 of which are continuing, will run for at least 10 months and the average award to a full-time student is approximately $20,000. In 2004, approximately $1,500,000 is available for continuation awards and approximately $2,233,000 is available for new awards. Approximately 340 awards were to be made under the Indian Health Scholarship (Professions) to both full-time and part-time students. For more information, contact Mr. Jess Brien at (301)443-6197 or go to: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.

     Indian nations with casinos in California have been donating about $70 million a year to support university study of American Indian issues. For example, The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, operating a gaming facility in San Bernardino County, gave $4 million to the UCLA Law School to establish a new center that will develop courses on California Indian issues and provide tribal internships for students. Similarly, The San Manuel and Pechangua Band of Luiseno Indians funded a UCLA Law School conference on media coverage of tribal issues, and San Manuel donated $3 million to California State University, San Bernadino, which named its student union building for a historical tribal leader. This spring, the UCLA Extension offered on-line courses in tribal law and economic governance, in cooperation with the UCLA Native National Law and Policy Center and the Tribal Law Institute of Project Peacemaker. For information contact: (310)206-6671, uclaextension.edu/tribal.

     Native American students from across the Ivy League met at Dartmouth, in late February, for the Indigenous Minds Uniting Conference and to establish the Ivy League Native Council. The Council will meet regularly to discuss issues of concern to the Native American community, with each Ivy League school having one delegate. Conference attendees also discussed recruiting and retaining Native American students and faculty members and establishing additional Native American Studies programs.

     The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO is running a paid institute for Native Americans who are working in archives in tribal settings, from February to August, for a total of five weeks, spaced in three visits -- with intervals allotted for participants to complete assigned practical applications back home. For information, contact. Catherine Conrad, Administrative Assistant, Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive, Durango, Colorado 81301 (719)247-7456 conrad_c@fortlewis.edu, http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/InternNAApp.htm. American University is providing all expenses paid internships in Washington, DC to American Indian students this summer. For information about the Washington Semester American Indian Program, contact Kathryn Coulibaly at AU: (202)885-5935, www.american.edu/wins.

     Leaders of the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee and Seminole nations in Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University have agreed to look into establishing Oklahoma American Indian University. Initially, it would be a two year institution of higher learning, overseen by the Creek Board of Regents, which also would have to be established. Tentative plans are to locate the University at OSU's Okmulgee campus, if federal funds can be acquired for the development.  Officials and students at the University of Denver held preliminary discussions, this spring, with representatives of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes about the possibility of establishing a program focusing on American Indian Law. United Tribes Technical College in Bismark, ND has been accredited to offer degrees to students taking all their classes on-line.

     The University of North Dakota broke ground on a new $500,000 American Indian Center, in April. The Office of American Indian Student Services is scheduled to move into the building in December.

     ABC-CLIO, a publisher specializing in historical reference works, is in the preliminary stages of planning a four-volume encyclopedia of American Indian history from continental history, policy history, and tribal history perspectives. Intended for use at both the university and advanced secondary school levels, this set will cover both the variety of issues discussed in American Indian history and individual tribal histories, drawing out the points of intersection between the two and helping users put federal American Indian policy and the histories of Indian peoples and tribes into context with one another. People interested in either working on the editorial team or contributing entries to the encyclopedia, can contact: sdanver@abc-clio.com.

International Indigenous Developments

     The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Trade and Development Report 2003, in October, found unequivocally that neoliberal economic policies of globalization, leaving development to the market (with minimal government services and regulation) for two decades has left subSaharan Africa in an economic wasteland, while declining shares of manufacturing output and employment ("deindustrialization") have accompanied rapid liberalization in many Latin American nations. Under neoliberal economic policies,  "enclaves" of industrialization linked to international production chains have dotted this landscape, without, in most cases, translating into more broad-based investment, value added and productivity growth. The study reports an urgent need for global economic institutions and governments to rethink policies and return to carefully designed, vigorous government intervention to provide necessary economic stimulus and guidance, and to create and preserve an appropriate climate for development. The report concluded that the policies pursued to eliminate inflation and downsize the public sector have often undermined growth and hampered technological progress. As a result, "the current economic landscape in the developing world has an uncanny resemblance to conditions prevailing in the early 1980s", when many countries slipped into deep crisis. The target level of investment for catch-up growth - estimated by the Report to be in the range of 20-to-25% of GDP - has eluded most countries undergoing rapid market reforms. By contrast, active state participation in the economy in East Asia after the debt crisis produced a strong investment performance, growing manufacturing value added and employment and a rising share of manufacturing exports, with productivity and technology gaps with leading industrial countries rapidly closing. Elsewhere, the Report finds a less encouraging record: Industrial progress has halted in much of the developing world; only eight of 26 selected countries succeeded in raising the share of manufacturing value added in GDP between 1980 and the 1990s, together with a rising share of investment; In economies with lagging industrialization and a declining share of investment, the share of manufactures in total exports has also been stagnant or falling, while exchange rate depreciation and wage restraint have been the basis for bolstering trade performance; The production structure in much of Latin America and Africa has seen a notable shift away from sectors with the greatest potential for productivity growth towards those producing and processing raw materials; and Where trade and investment have risen in the context of international production networks, the tendency has been for an apparent increase in the technology content of exports without a similar increase in domestic value added.

     A report on the 3rd meeting of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. May 10 to 21 will be in the Special Summer Issue of Indigenous Policy, on international indigenous developments and issues. In the meantime,  information is available at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/pfii.

     The Fifth Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization, September 10-14, in Cancun, Mexico, and the Eighth Ministerial Meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas November 20-21, in Miami, demonstrated that the opposition to neoliberal economic globalization is increasing grassroots efforts in mobilizing. As a result, the ministerial meeting to negotiate a Free Trade Area of the Americas in Miami was only able to produce a heavily diluted agreement revealing that there no longer is a free trade consensus in the Americas. Kevin P. Gallagher, writing November 14 in Citizen Action in the Americas (http://www.americaspolicy.org/), comments: "If the U.S. wants to see progress on trade, they will have to listen to the concerns of its southern neighbors". In December, the United States signed a regional free trade pact with El Salvedor, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

     A special Assembly of First Nations in November, 2002 opposes the The Nault-Chretien Financial Institutions Bill (C-23, formerly C-19), which came up for debate in the Canadian Parliament in late April, on the grounds that it "is inconsistent with the previous mandates of the Assembly of First Nations, Resolutions 5/96 and 49/98, and does not recognize First Nation Inherent Right to self-government, and the nation-to-nation relationship." Moreover, "the provisions contained in the Bill violate and infringe upon Aboriginal and Treaty Rights and will worsen the status quo," and "the proposed Bill violates the historic Nation-to-Nation; Crown-First Nation Treaty relationship; furthermore, it violates the core essence of this relationship." For more information go to http://www.afn.ca/resolutions/2002/sca/res30.htm and http://www.afn.ca/resolutions/2003/res1.htm.

     The Canadian government is renewing funding for grassroots programming to keep Aboriginal languages alive in the Yukon Territory, granting $2.2 million to the Yukon government in March. In May, Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Grand Chief Phil Fontaine remarks at the AFN's Confederacy of Nations meeting in Saskatoon called on the Canadian government to create a comprehensive First Nations housing strategy to meet a crisis in housing availability and quality. Participants at the meeting pointed out examples of 19 people sharing a two-room space in one case,  and another in which a family of 19 has been living in a two-bedroom bungalow for six years, forcing the couple who own it to sleep on the couch while others are on the floor. In another instance, a family of 13 live in a single house poisoned by toxic mould. As a result, one young girl needs an organ transplant which neither her family nor the First Nation can afford. About $3.5 billion is needed to address the problem nationwide, according to AFN director of economic development, Judy Whiteduck. She stated that many homes are infested with toxic mould that causes severe headaches, asthma, bronchitis, shingles and hepatitis, but people have nowhere else to go. It was reported that, 50 to 65 per cent of the homes on every reserve are substandard. Indian Affairs Minister Andy Mitchell, who attended part of the meeting, said "We've made a commitment to work with the (AFN) to develop increased and more effective ways of dealing with the housing issue and to make investments to accomplish that. There's no question there's an enormous task out there and we are absolutely committed to addressing it.

     In late February, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien testified as the final witness for the Samson Cree First Nation of Alberta in their $1.05 billon case against the Canadian government, alleging that it mismanaged the Bonnie Glen natural gas field 60 miles south of Edmonton, charging inadequate royalties and failing to properly track production. The government claims that the Cree signed away their mineral rights in 1946, and that no mismanagement took place.  Fishing boats of the Saugeen and Chippewas of Nawash First Nations returned to Owen Sound and Colpoys Bays in Ontario, in January, at the end of a three year tribal fishing moratorium, part of a tribal - federal government - Ministry of Natural Resources co-management agreement to improve the fisheries. As part of the effort, the Saugeen Ojibwa brought in biologists and technical experts to provide research for good fish management. As the ships sailed, the First Nations were seeking dialogue on developing a new cooperative agreement. In February, the Saugeen First Nation filed a claim for a vast area of the water and lake bed of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. 

     In southern Mexico, the government is beginning to move on massive development projects in hydro electric power, oil exploration, extraction and pipe line building, super highway construction and biotechnology development under Plan Panama (PPP) that will disrupt indigenous communities and force massive migration. The Zapatistas say that they will resist the relocation efforts that would be undertaken by the army. Meanwhile the Council of Traditional Indigenous Midwives and Healers has been leading a campaign against the biotechnology projects, that it sees as biopiracy, attaining a victory with the canceling of one of the planned projects of the U.S. International Cooperative Biodiversity Group to collect plant samples with very low payments to the Mexican government and no benefit to the indigenous population.

     Over the last decade, the core of the Zapatista movement of indigenous people in Chiapas and elsewhere in rural Mexico has been nonviolent action in the building of alternative governmental, economic and social institutions applying traditional values appropriately for the current situation in the Twenty-First-Century. Political organization is decentralized within five regional councils, or Juntas del Buen Gobierno. Each of these regional councils operate on the principle of respect for all, via consensus, with membership on the council rotating every 15 days. This inclusive participatory democracy operates up from its base in local councils. Shoe making, craft, coffee and other agricultural enterprise is carried on through cooperatives, some of which sell directly to consumers abroad. A number of coffee cooperatives have been very successful, despite the enormous drop in world coffee prices, by developing high quality organic specialized coffees that they can sell quite profitably abroad at less than competitive prices. community schools teach in culturally appropriate ways, including traditional language and culture in their curriculums. Local health clinics provide health care in culturally appropriate ways, integrating traditional healing with modern western medicine. To protect the entire set of culturally appropriate, democratic, institutions, the Zapatistas have built strong links with international NGOs, some of whose members serve as observers in Zapatista communities. In addition, the Chiapas Media project, and similar groups, have provided local indigenous people with video cameras and other equipment, to make their own films and document repressive actions by the military and paramilitary groups in real time. This has provided international pressure to lesson assaults upon the autonomous indigenous communities. That pressure is now increasing as the Mexican government is beginning to institute large scale development projects, such as building large hydroelectric stations with extensive artificial lakes, which involves relocating people against their will, with the support of army units concentrated in the development area.

     The alternative approach to globalization, following traditional tribal principles, taken by the Zapatistas and other indigenous peoples in Latin America, is also being taken elsewhere. A similar alternative to globalization in Indian is the Mararikulam Experiment, in Kerala, where microcredit is helping 1500 neighborhood groups transform into democratically managed worker cooperatives of 20-40 women. The goal is to move poor people out of poverty in the course of creating 20,000 jobs in locally owned democratically managed businesses. There are similarities between this development, that of the Zapatistas in Mexico and the very successful federation of Cooperatives centered at Mondragon, in the Basque region of Spain, which employs over 30,000 people in well over 100 worker cooperatives, supported by an investment bank which carefully incubates the launching of new businesses, education and training units, a research and development facility (which even developed robots for Mondragon manufacturing coops), and housing and consumer cooperatives, and other services, as well as supporting Basque schools and cultural education.

     In Guatemala last fall, General Efrain Rios Montt, who seized power in 1982 and whose brutal policies caused about almost 20,000 deaths in the next year and a half, intimidated his way into being a major candidate for President. Montt did not come close to winning the election, perhaps a sign that there are significant forces for a more socially, economically and politically just and representatively governed society in Guatemala that may reverse the recent slide back toward increasing corruption, domination by the wealthy, repression and conflict. Exemplifying this movement, the Political Association of Maya Women (Moloj), in Guatemala, with assistance from the Soros Foundation, has developed an education program to empower and encourage indigenous people to participate effectively in the political process. Newly elected President Oscar Burger, a conservative, unlike his predecessor, has said that he is committed to following the UN accords of 1996 that ended the nation's civil war. Newly elected President Oscar Burger, a conservative, unlike his predecessor, has said that he is committed to following the UN accords of 1996 that ended the nation's civil war.

     On March 23, Indigenous lawmakers in Columbia denounced the government for failing to protect Indians in the northwestern region of Bojaya from combatants in the civil war, 550 Indians fled the region in the two years since  119 were killed in a church hit by guerrilla mortar fire. More than 550 have been killed since 1998 and no one has been arrested. New rounds of fighting erupted in the area this spring. In late may, an attack by paramilitaries  killed many Wayuu Indians, and caused hundreds to flee their homes. Nearly all those killed were women and children. For more information, go to:  http://www.survival-international.org/news.htm

     Deforestation in the Amazon increased 40% in 2003 over the previous year.

     A delegation of Nahua people of Peru, in initial contact with the outside world, arrived in Lima, in early November, from a remote corner of the Amazon rain forest to call on the Peruvian government to remove oil concessions from their territories. The Nahua, who live adjacent to the controversial Camisea Gas Project in Peru's southeastern  Amazon, fear that their right to life will be jeopardized by the  return of diseases, which in the 1980s caused the deaths of over  half their population after Shell Oil first contacted them. The Nahua also request an end to invasions of their territory by illegal loggers, and title for their ancestral lands. Recent unannounced visits to the Nahua community of Serjali by Camisea Project operator Pluspetrol could indicate that the Camisea production consortium, led by Hunt Oil, a Texas-based independent  with close ties to the Bush administration, is preparing to drill for oil in that area, designated as Block 57. Nearly 75 percent of Camisea gas extraction operations are located inside an indigenous reserve for the Nahua, Nanti and Kirineri  peoples, living with little or no contact with the outside world,  some of whom have been forcibly contacted by the Camisea consortium. The Peruvian national indigenous organization AIDESEP has repeatedly denounced indigenous rights abuses by Camisea Project companies as a "threat to the physical, cultural, territorial and  environmental integrity" of indigenous peoples. AIDESEP supports the Nahua in defending their lands and lives against the threat of expanding oil and gas operations. For more information contact: Atossa Soltani, Amazon Watch: 202-256-9795, Peter Kostishack, Amazon Alliance: 202-785-3334, AIDESEP (Lima): 511-471-7118, Shinai Serjali (Lima): 511-460-9195.

     Although President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised to respect the rights of Brazil's Indigenous peoples, during the first year of his government he has done little to protect those rights, while there has been a horrendous increase in violence against Indians, lack of progress on returning their land, increased militarization in indigenous areas, and threats to indigenous health care, with the Brazilian government's health foundation announcing that it will take over Indian health programs which it had previously contracted out to NGOs. This has caused serious alarm amongst those working with the Yanomami who fear that the government will not provide the specialist health care needed.

     In the Southern State of Mato Groso, 3,000 Guarani Indians have retaken land, which was seized from them by cattle ranchers, defying a judges order. Yet the land situation is so acute that some communities live by the side of the road with no land or hope for the future. Malnutrition is common and Guarani children as young as nine have committed suicide. There have been serious clashes between prospectors engaged in illegal mining on the Roosevelt Reservation in Northern Brazil, and Cinta Larga Indians. In early April, Miners responsible for killing several Cinta Larga last year returned to the Indian reserve. When the Indians tried to defend their land, conflict broke out and at least 29  miners were killed. In reprisals for these killings, a Cinta Larga Indian was paraded by miners in the mining town of Espigão do Oeste on 10 April, tied to a tree and stoned and kicked for hours. Only the intervention of the police saved him from being lynched. Cinta Larga girls as young as 14 have been forced into prostitution by miners and many Indians have been assaulted and threatened since the mine was illegally opened in 2001. In early January, a group of about 200 Brazilian settlers invaded the Catholic mission Surumu, in the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous reserve, in the northern Amazon state of Roraima, taking three missionaries hostage. The mission, which has a hospital and school catering for the indigenous population, was ransacked. All roads to the area wee blocked by the settlers, and the police were trying to negotiate the release of the missionaries who come from Brazil, Colombia and Spain. Settlers and their supporters are also protesting in the state capital, Boa Vista. This is the latest incident in a long struggle. At least 12 Makuxi Indians have been murdered by ranchers during the last 15 years. For decades the Makuxi and other tribes who live in Raposa Serra do Sol have been campaigning for the territory to be 'ratified.'.Although it has been mapped and demarcated, it still awaits the presidential signature approving the demarcation, promised since 1998. Brazil's minister of justice announced, on December 23, that the president would ratify the area and remove the 7,000 non-Indian inhabitants who are rice cultivators, farmers and cattle ranchers. A spokesman for the Indigenous Council of Roraima stated in January that 'ratification of Raposa Serra do Sol is the barometer measuring the attitude of the Lula government. If it acts now, Indians throughout Brazil will take this as a sign of the government's commitment to upholding their rights.' The government, however, continued to delay recognition of the Raposa-Serra do Sol territory, and has hinted it may reduce the size of the reserve to give Indian land to outsiders, while tensions rose between the indigenous population and colonists and ranchers who have invaded the area with the encouragement of local politicians.  In the face of President Lulu's failure to protect Indian land and rights, in early April, Hundreds of indigenous representatives began gathering in the capital, Brasilia, to protest against government policies, holding a mass lobby of Congress on April 19, the annual 'Day of the Indian'. In May, Joenia Batista de Carvalho (Wapixana), one of Brazils first female indigenous lawyers, was awarded the Reebok Human Rights award, and $50,000,  for her work protecting indigenous lands.

     The United Kingdom, at the start of the final year of the UN Decade of Indigenous Peoples, terminated its funding for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and its tribal peoples. In May, the UK government decided that collective human rights do not exist. If allowed to become official policy, this would be harmful to tribal peoples around the world.

     Venezuela's Indians have been surveying their lands as a step toward gaining title to them, with the help of Cornell University Graduate student Bjorn Sletto, who is training indigenous Venezuelans in cartography. The 1999 Venezuela constitution, promoted by President Hugo Chavez, contains a chapter on indigenous rights including the right of indigenous peoples to own ancestral lands. However, to date Venezuela's cash strapped government has not funded a commission to work with the Indians to make the demarcations official. There is concern, that if Chavez is removed, a new government may not be willing to appoint a commission.

     The president of Ecuador's national Indian organization, Leonidas Iza. narrowly survived an assassination attempt, in February. when two individuals entered his office in the capital and opened fire. Four of Iza's relatives were wounded. There is a high level of tension between Ecuador’s Indians and the current government of President Lucio Gutiérrez, who came to power promising to improve the dire poverty in which most of the country’s Indians live. Disillusionment with the government’s failure to honor these promises led the Indian movement, including Iza’s organisation CONAIE, to call last month for Gutiérrez’s resignation.

      A group of 17 previously uncontacted Ayoreo Indians, belonging to the Totobiegosode sub-group, emerged from the forests of Paraguay, in March, under pressure from deforestation all around them. They were in excellent health, but acutely short of water. Colonists who have settled in their territory have taken possession of the permanent water holes for cattle ranching, leaving the Indians unable to get water in the dry season. These Indians made contact with fellow Ayoreo who were planning to establish a new community in the last sizeable area of forest in the region. For ten years the Ayoreo and their supporters have been trying to protect the zone from accelerating invasion. Now, ranchers and farmers occupy large parts of the Ayoreo's forest. The Paraguayan government should have titled the area (some 550,000 hectares) to the Indians, according to national and international law. But after ten years, only about a quarter of the area has been titled. Some landowners continue to send in bulldozers to clear the forest, defying court orders to halt all work in the area. The newly-contacted Ayoreo have requested access to water and a halt to the incursions into their territory. In a message to the outside world, they said, 'Please do not touch the forest, because it gives us life. Please stop the bulldozers.' For more information contact, Kali Mercier of Survival International, tel.: 020 7687 8731, km@survival-international.org, http://www.survival-international.org/ayoreo.htm. 

     A report published by Yale Law School has denounced Indonesia's occupation of Papua as 'genocide'. The report states that 'the Indonesian government has committed proscribed acts with the intent to destroy the West Papuans... in violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.' Papuan representatives spoke at a conference organized by Survival Internatioanl in Spain, presenting vivid accounts of persecution and ill-treatment in Papua. Two Papuan representatives, Nicodemus Yomaki and John Rumbiak, addressed audiences in Madrid and the Canary Islands. Details are available at: http://www.survival-international.org/news.htm.

     In December, Ethiopian soldiers murdered 400 members of the Anuak tribe, the first time that Ethiopian military have been witnessed leading attacks the Anuak, whose lands contain gold and oil that the Ethiopian government wants to develop. In the past, attacks on the Anuak have mostly been carried out by their ancient tribal enemies the Neur. Over the past decade some 20,000 Anuak have fled to refugee camps in Kenya and into Sudan. Anthropologists report that for decades the Nuer and Anuak had found peaceful ways to resolve disputes, but that the displacement of 100,000 Sudanese refugees into Anuak land upset the balance of relations. Survival International reports that The Ethiopian army, and settlers from northern Ethiopia, are waging a campaign of murder and rape against the Anuak, with sporadic killings continuing since the December massacre.

     In January, two South African organizations representing indigenous peoples spoke out in support of the rights of the Gana and Gwi 'Bushmen' of Botswana to return to their land. The Northern Cape Khoisan Council, an alliance of the San, Nama, Korana, Griqua and Cape Khoi groups in the Northern Cape stated, "We support the campaign against De Beers and the Botswana Government, to persuade the government to rescind their decision to evict the Gwi, Gana and Bakgalagadi from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve." Motivation Community Development, another indigenous organization, added, "Like our peoples, KhoiSan, Tswana, Sotho and other African peoples of South Africa, we were dispossessed from our lands by colonial forces. This dispossession resulted in the conditions we live in today, so much poverty, depression, unemployment, addictions, crime and violence and being unproductive...... Removal of the Gana, Gwi and Bakgalagadi Peoples from their land will do the same to them as land dispossession did to us.... It makes no difference who does the dispossessing." Indigenous peoples worldwide have expressed their solidarity with the Gana and Gwi since they were evicted from their ancestral land in 2002. Representatives of the Innu in Canada, the Ogiek in Kenya, the Yanomami in Brazil and the Aborigines in Australia have strongly condemned the evictions.  For more information contact Miriam Ross at Survival International: Tel (+44) (0)20 7687 8734, mr@survival-international.org, http://www.survival-international.org/enews.htm. In a ground-breaking show of international solidarity between tribal peoples, Maasai from Kenya and Innu Indians from Canada stood vigil outside the Botswana High Commission, in London, in May, protesting the brutal evictions two years ago of the Botswana Bushmen from their lands, and the Botswana government's continued refusal to allow them to return home. For more information, contact Survival International contacts in London, Kali at 07880 642060 or Nick at (020) 7687 8732. In May, three Bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana were arrested and charged with 'unlawful hunting near the resettlement centre of New Xade, where they have been forced to live since the government evicted them from their reserve in 2002.

      A community of Ogiek hunter-gatherers was attacked, on February 26, on the forested slopes of Mount Elgon, in western Kenya. leaving two people dead, another wounded and 200 houses burned down. The attackers are from the Pok people, who dominate the area and look down on the Ogiek. More information is avbailable from Survival International: http://www.survival-international.org/latest.htm.

     In a continuation of 40 years of violence, supported by the Army, against the Jumma tribal people in the Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh, a tribal family from the Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh was killed by armed settlers, in February. Five months earlier another attack left two tribal people killed, nine women raped and 400 homes destroyed. The latest attack comes seven years after a peace agreement was supposed to end assaults by Bengali settlers on the area’s 600,000 Jummas, and stop the taking of their fertile lands by hundreds of thousands of settlers.

     The Indian government, in May, blocked non-Indians from attending a recent seminar to guide its policy towards the isolated Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands, in defiance of the Calcutta High Court, which ordered 'open discussions' involving 'national and international experts and NGOs'. for more infomation visit: http://www.survival-international.org/news.htm.

     The government of New Zealand, on November 14, rejected a proposal from the Waitangi Tribunal, an independent board that makes recommendations on Maori claims, that the Maori were entitled to millions of dollars in petroleum royalties collected by the government from drilling on land Maoris controlled before the arrival of settlers. In May, thousands of Maori protested government plans to nationalize New Zealand's shore line, which the Maori claim.

     Reports from Australia (see Jane Perlez, "Australia Said to Push Aborigines' Plight to the Sidelines." New York Times, April 18, 2004) indicate that the Government of conservative Prime Minister John Howard has paid little attention to the situation of the nation's aboriginal population, unlike Australian Governments in the 1970's and 80's that attempted to make some amends to indigenous people. In April, the government announced it would abolish the Torres Strait Islander Commission, an elected Aboriginal council created in the 1980's as a vehicle for self-determination. While many commentators believe the commission needed reform to overcome corruption, the Australian stated that its unilateral termination would "take Aboriginal governance back 30 years. Because of physical and cultural genocide, Aboriginal communities suffer difficult economic and social conditions. The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs was told by a special task force, in 2000, that 80% of Aboriginal students did not meet reading standards and more than 70% did not meet writing standards. Criminal justice groups report that in some areas of the country, Aboriginal men (less that 2.5% of the nation's male inhabitants) are 25 times more likely to go to prison than white men. The Women's Legal Services of New South Wales reports that alcohol and abuse inflicted under its influence are serious problems among Aborigines, who suffer the worst family violence cases, with women suffering severe long term injuries. Many Aboriginal parents, who graduated from school in the 1980s, when they say teachers made extensive efforts in working with indigenous students, complain that school authorities have no concern for their children. There are complaints of violent schools, where inexperienced teachers are unable to prevent bullying and keep order. In addition to educational ineptitude, health problems reduce the learning ability of many indigenous students. Multiple middle-ear infections reducing hearing, and hence understanding and communications ability, are common problems. Some parents have removed children from primary school and are teaching them far more effectively at home. In February, in an Aboriginal ghetto in Sydney, allegations that police had chased a community teenager to his death sparked a nine hour street battle between residents and police, leaving 40 police injured and a train station on fire.

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