Native Traditions

Woman Forbidden to Carve Hopi Figures at Museum

July 30, 2001

Source: The Seattle Times

On July 30, 2001, The Seattle Times reported on Hopi carver Debbie Drye. "Some say the men [who objected to her demonstrations at the Heard Museum] are jealous of Drye's talent. But the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office maintains it's an issue of religion. Traditionally, Hopi men carve kachinas and give them to women as representations of Kastina, the spirit of procreation, thus excluding women from carving the sacred objects...Male carver Forest Chimerica will replace Drye...Chimerica says he does not object to women carvers, but...

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Native Alaskan Tribes Disagree Over Bush's Oil Proposal

July 22, 2001

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On July 22, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution featured an article on the differing views of the Gwich'in Indians of Arctic Village and the Inupiat Eskimos of Kaktovik on Bush's proposal to drill for oil in Alaska. Gwich'in Indians rely on caribou for sustenance, and hold caribou and the land as sacred. Drilling for oil threatens both; tribal leadership sees it as a matter of human rights. In 1971, the Inupiat yielded their tribal claims to land for a cash settlement and title to some land and undelying...

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Developers Failed to Consult Ute Tribe over Land Use

July 18, 2001

Source: The Denver Post

On July 18, 2001, The Denver Post reported that "the Bureau of Land Management is closing a popular motocross area near the town of Wolcott [CO] after the agency belatedly discovered the track was on top of a significant Ute archaeological site... As a result, BLM planners have had to return a $ 20,000 state trails grant that a motorcycle group, the Eagle Valley Sportsriders, was counting on to improve and expand the racetrack, which had never been formally approved by the agency... Howard Richards, director of the Southern Utes'...

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Woman Forbidden to Carve Hopi Figures at Museum

July 18, 2001

Source: The Arizona Republic

On July 18, 2001, The Arizona Republic reported on Hopi carver Debbie Drye, who works at the Heard Museum. "The Hopi Cultural Preservation Office objected [to demonstrations by her of her work], insisting that a woman carver should not demonstrate at a Native American museum. And [museum] officials...have agreed to use a substitute demonstrator...The Hopi Cultural Preservation Office maintains it's an issue of religion."

Lenni-Lenape Tribe Enters Court Battle in New Jersey

July 7, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On July 7, 2001, The New York Times reported on a dispute over "35 acres of fertile flatland by the Black Creek in northwestern New Jersey." Due to a law suit over the land, "a state judge has been sorting out competing claims about the site's history and laying the foundation for a decision to either preserve the land as a sacred burial site or allow it to be transformed with 147 adjacent acres into a 21st-century recreation center... The rivals in the court fight are, on one side, the town officials in Vernon [NJ] and on the...

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Navajo Drug Treatment Center for American Indian Youth

July 1, 2001

Source: The Denver Post

On July 1, 2001, The Denver Post reported on "a new cycle of 18 teens enrolled in 'Our Youth, Our Future,' a two-month program run throughout the year at" the Four Corners Regional Adolescent Treatment Center. "The center treats troubled American Indian youths for drug and alcohol dependence with an emphasis on the students' learning their culture and who they are, whether it be Navajo, Sioux, Apache or another tribe." The sweat lodge they enter is an ancient part of Navajo tradition and beliefs.

Religious Leaders Oppose Casinos in New York Indian Reservations

June 30, 2001

Source: The Buffalo News

On June 30, 2001, The Buffalo News reported that "area religious leaders...launched a united opposition to casino proposals for the Buffalo Niagara region [from Gov. George E. Pataki and Seneca Nation President Cyurs M. Schindler]...Adding to the chorus was the [Methodist] Rev. Marvin Abrams, a Seneca Indian...He contended that casino gambling will only compound social ills that already exist on the reservations....While many leaders said they recognize the need for economic development ...on Indian reservations, the consensus...

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Navajo Nation Proposes Redistricting to Arizona Commission

June 28, 2001

Source: The Navajo Times

http://www.thenavajotimes.com/National/national.html

On June 28, 2001, The Navajo Times reported that it is only possible to have a Navajo in the U.S. Congress and to have Navajos and Hopis working together "if the Navajo Nation is put into a single congressional and legislative voting district, area citizens told the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. As part of a statewide effort to solicit public...

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Tribes Negotiate for Sacred Land in Montana

June 22, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On June 22, 2001, The New York Times reported on the conflict over Weatherman Draw in south-central Montana. "Indian tribes that trace the presence of their ancestors here say they believe the spirits of their elders remain, making these 4,200 acres about 50 miles south of Billings [MT] a sacred place to them.... Yet now, the valley and its fading ancient art are at the center of a major conflict, one of the first that illustrates the kind of dispute that erupts when the nation struggles to balance energy needs with environmental...

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Oklahoma Tribe Claims Rights to Kansas City Land

June 21, 2001

Source: The Kansas City Star

On June 21, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that "for nearly a decade, the Wyandotte tribe has sought, without success, judicial or legislative authority to erect a casino somewhere in Wyandotte County [in Kansas] - which the tribe left under treaty in the 1850s for its present-day reservation in Oklahoma... The tribe on Monday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., that raises those stakes to a new level by claiming legal rights to nearly 2,000 acres of developed real estate north of downtown Kansas...

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American Indian Teaches Keetowah Faith to Others

June 17, 2001

Source: Newsday

On June 17, 2001, Newsday reported on Frank "White Eagle" Schaefer, a registered member of the Onondaga nation and holy man. "He is...deeply steeped in his culture and works to educate others of the ways of his people. Schaefer is a much revered elder among those following the Keetowah faith, which teaches reverence for family and nature and [has been] practiced in diverse forms by American Indian tribes" for centuries. Schaefer is also devoted to Catholocism. He "weaves American Indian headbands out of 12 colorful pieces of yarn,...

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New York Group Combats Use of Native American Mascots

June 15, 2001

Source: The Buffalo News

On June 15, 2001, The Buffalo News reported on Gary Brouse, who is the director of the Interfaith Center's Office of Diversity, Indigenous Issue and Community Economic Development. Its mission is to encourage corporations to abandon the practice of using Native American names and logos, by appealing to companies' shareholders if necessary. Public schools and universities are another battleground for the group.

Alaska Tribe Reclaims Children's Bones from Museum

June 13, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On June 13, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that in Nulato, "a remote native village on the Yukon River, each death sets off a series of elaborate rituals involving dance and copious quantities of food. People here believe that without song and ceremony no member of the tribe can enter the afterlife... So when the elders here learned that the bodies of two village children had turned up in a Fairbanks museum--deposited there by anthropologists in the 1940s--everyone agreed there was only one thing to do. They had to bring the...

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Native Americans Use Federal Law to Reclaim Remains of Ancestors

June 13, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On June 13, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "residents in Nulato [Alaska] are hoping to rebury the remains [of two children] in a village cemetery." Their bodies have been in a museum since 1948. "Such 'repatriations' of native artifacts and remains have become common in rural Alaska in recent years, the product of a 1990 federal law that gives tribes the right to reclaim the bodies of their ancestors from universities and other institutions." In Nulato, "the sense of community obligation is a strong one...'Our belief is...

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University of Illinois Backs Down on Requirements for Opponents of School Mascot

June 7, 2001

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On June 7, 2001, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "the University of Illinois has rescinded an earlier requirement that faculty and students get permission from the athletic department before talking with athletic recruits about their opposition to the Chief Illiniwek mascot...With the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union, seven faculty members and students [had] sued the university in federal court" for violating their right to free speech.

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