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Yankton Sioux tm's protest hog farm
WAGNER, S.D. (AP) — Fifteen to 20 people protesting a hog farm being built near Yankton Sioux Tribe land were arrested Tuesday after they blocked the path of a truck carrying construction materials.
Members of the southeastern South Dakota tribe have been protesting the Long View Farm since last week, saying it will stink up the area and could harm its air and water quality. The farm, which could begin operating as early as September, is being built west of Wagner and about four miles from the tribe's headquarters in Marty.
Tribal vice chairman John Stone said some people got caught up in the moment Tuesday morning and tried to stop the truck.
Stone was critical of the disorderly conduct arrests by the South Dakota Highway Patrol and the Charles Mix County Sheriff's Office.
"We're trying to remain peaceful and here they are antagonizing our people," he said.
He added that the protests will continue. The crowd of protesters, however, had dwindled by midday.
Sheriff Ray Westendorf said the people were arrested because they were blocking traffic. Some tribal members were ticketed during protests last week, as well.
Representatives of Long View Farm, owned by 11 Iowa farmers, have said the 12-employee operation could house an average of 3,350 sows and produce 70,000 pigs a year. The young pigs would be shipped to farms in Iowa when they are a couple of weeks old.
Dave Nadolski, a lawyer representing Long View Farm, said his clients will not be deterred by protests and are thinking about asking for an injunction against the tribe.
"I don't know if the tribe has control over the demonstrators. I don't know if Mr. Stone has control over the demonstrators, so I'm not sure who we're going to name as a party to this action, this remedy," Nadolski told WNAX-AM of Yankton.
Farm officials tried to assure area residents Monday night that they're doing their best to make sure the operation won't create odor problems or pollute the air and water. The crowd of several hundred at the Wagner armory was skeptical and frequently interrupted speakers with catcalls and shouts of "liar." The planned $6 million facility is on private land under state jurisdiction. South Dakota officials say the hog farm has all the permits it needs, but Stone said the tribe was seeking documentation from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to show that the road past the site is a tribal road, not a county road. "I can't disclose any of our legal strategies. There are a lot of fronts we are pursuing. We'll pursue this until we're done," Stone said. Some protesters have said they did not know about the hog farm until recently, but a lawyer for Long View Farm said representatives met with area farmers last fall and winter. Only three people called the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources after it published a notice last summer that Long View Farm had applied for approval to build the hog farm.
Trust fund claim 'absurd' feds say in response
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The U.S. government has said the claim by American Indians in a lawsuit that they are owed $58 billion because of the mismanagement of their trust accounts is "absurd.''
In a brief filed Wednesday, April 9 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the government said the suit should be dismissed if the Indians who filed it no longer want a full accounting of the funds held by hundreds of thousands of individual Indians.
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The Oklahoman reported on the filing from its Washington bureau. Congress created the federal trust to handle Indian royalties in 1887. It demanded an accounting in 1994, and two years later some Indians filed a class-action suit when the accounting was still not done. In the suit, the Indians claimed they were cheated out of more than $100 billion in oil, gas, grazing, timber and other royalties overseen by the Interior Department since 1887. The government maintained in its brief that the federal judge who is presiding over the case has no authority to award any money to the Indians and suggested the June trial in the case be canceled. The brief came three weeks after the plaintiffs in the case filed a brief, saying they should be compensated $58 billion. They said the government collected about $3 billion during the past 120 years for individual Indian trust account holders that was never paid. Because it held onto the money, the plaintiffs argue, the government was able to borrow less money for spending purposes. The $58 billion figure is based on Treasury bill rates over the 120-year time period. The Indians said that was the total benefit to the government of reduced borrowing costs. The Indians also want District Judge James Robertson to return to the trust all the land it has sold since it was started in the late 19th century. Of the original 40 million to 54 million acres alloted, about 10 million acres remain. Robertson previously has ruled that it would be “impossible'' to provide a full accounting and accurate account balances to more than 300,000 account holders.
Washington tribal cops can arrest non Indians
TULALIP, Wash. (AP) — Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick wants every lawbreaker to know that Tulalip Tribal police have the right to stop and arrest anyone on the reservation, whether they are a tribal member or not. About 80 percent of the people who live on the 22,000-acre reservation are non-Indian and the majority of the 20,000 to 30,000 people who visit the reservation each day aren't tribal members.
Since the tribal police department was formed 11 years ago, some of non-Indians living on the reservation have contested the tribal officers' authority, from torn-up traffic citations to dangerous confrontations.
By forging a partnership between tribal police and county authorities, the new sheriff believes police protection of the reservation will improve and his deputies workload will be eased.
Lovick cross commissioned 17 of the 22 tribal officers on Friday, giving tribal officers authority to arrest non-Indians on the reservation. The cross commission came just two weeks after Gov. Chris Gregoire signed legislation that allows tribal police to expand their authority on Indian reservations.
Without the deputization, "I can't protect my community, and that's just ludicrous,'' new Tulalip Tribal Police Chief Scott Smith said. Such agreements are not even necessary for city police officers.
"We're as professional a police department as any other,'' Smith said. "This isn't going to be a haven for you because you're not an Indian.''
The partnership is the first in Snohomish County. Former Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart didn't grant commissions to any tribal officers, except to former Tulalip Tribal Police Chief Jay Goss. He did not believe they met the qualifications of other sworn officers.
Under the previous rules, tribal police could investigate any crime or stop anyone on the reservation. But if the suspect wasn't a tribal member, the officers were required to call a sheriff's deputy or Washington State Patrol trooper to make the arrest.
That meant waiting for a deputy to be free. As the clock ran, tribal officers knew they had only about an hour to detain someone before it could be considered an unlawful arrest.
"We're at the mercy of their call load,'' Smith said. "We have to kick them loose or hope the deputy gets there damn quick.''
Smith and Lovick worked together to make sure tribal officers met all the same qualifications required for sheriff's deputies.
A sheriff's lieutenant spent a week reviewing the officers' backgrounds and training, Lovick said. Tribal police officers must have completed training at the state academy, or equivalency training, and passed a polygraph and psychological evaluation. "There's nothing to worry about — these are well qualified, well-trained officers,'' Lovick said. "I think people will be pleased with the level and quality of service they provide.'' Smith believes giving his officers expanded authority will make for more efficient policing. His department will train with the sheriff's office and call on sheriff's deputies to assist with major crimes involving non-Indians. The FBI has jurisdiction in major criminal investigations on Indian reservations. The new state law expanding the authority of tribal police, which was sponsored by John McCoy, D-Tulalip, requires tribal police officers to be state certified. Tribes also must obtain liability insurance and waive sovereign nation immunity if the police department is sued or an officer is accused of misconduct. "It's landmark,'' McCoy said. "The whole thing is that it's equal justice for all. We can't have a haven for people and not have them responsible for their actions.'' The law closes some important gaps, said Mike Lasnier, legislative chairman for the Northwest Association of Tribal Enforcement Officers and Suquamish tribal police chief on the Port Madison reservation near Poulsbo. No longer will tribal police authority be completely dependent on the relationship between a tribal police chief and the county sheriff, he said. Smith recognizes that his officers' expanded authority may cause some unease among residents, but he encourages anyone with concerns to contact him. Tulalip Tribal Police Sgt. Jeff Jira said the expanded authority is an honor that he and his fellow officers take seriously. He believes he'll be able to do his job more efficiently. There is no reason to burden a sheriff's deputy with more work when tribal officers are already there to do the job, he said. "I think the only ones who should be opposed are the criminals,'' Jira said.
Piewstewa Peak name honors memory of Iraq veteran Hopi Indian woman Lori Piestewa
PHOENIX (AP) — A federal panel on Thursday officially renamed a Phoenix mountain for the first American Indian woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military, ending one of the country's most contentious fights over a place name.
Less than a month after Army Spc. Lori Piestewa was killed in Iraq in 2003, a state panel renamed Squaw Peak, one of the city's most popular hiking spots, as Piestewa Peak. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names made the name change official Thursday in an 11-2 vote, Lou Yost, the board's executive secretary, said from Washington, D.C.
"We're very grateful that they went ahead and kept the name,'' said Piestewa's mother, Percy Piestewa.
"It's an honor and it's very humbling. It's awesome.'' Many American Indians found the old name offensive and had been trying to change it for years, but critics called the change a heavy-handed political move by Gov. Janet Napolitano's administration.
Yost said supporters on the board felt that Piestewa (py-ES'-tuh-wah) symbolizes everyone who has died in the line of duty, while opponents argued that she didn't have a direct association with the mountain and is not of regional or national prominence. The federal board requires a five-year wait before it will name geographic feature on maps and other federal publications after the dead, partly to let emotions on the question cool down. But Yost said the five years since Piestewa's death didn't do much to cool down hundreds of Arizonans.
"Apparently this is still an emotional situation out there,'' he said. "This is what we call a high-profile case.'' He said about 1,300 people called or wrote in to voice their opinions, and the board received an unprecedented number of e-mails. About two-thirds of those who contacted the board supported the name change, he said. Piestewa, a 23-year-old Hispanic-Hopi mother of two from Tuba City on the Navajo Reservation, died after her convoy took a wrong turn and was ambushed near Nasiriyah in March 2003. Some of the members of 507th Maintenance Company, including her best friend, Jessica Lynch, were taken prisoner. Others died. The story of Lynch's capture and dramatic nighttime rescue made her an instant celebrity.
Lynch attends annual ceremonies at the peak and named her daughter for her fallen friend. The peak is a popular destination for local hikers attracted to its convenient location in the middle of the city and its challenging trails to the 2,600-foot summit.
Larry Wayt, the leader of a local hiking group who runs the squawpeakhiker.org Web site, said he was disappointed in the federal board's decision to rename the peak. "A lot of words are considered offensive now that didn't used to be considered offensive, and a lot of the words that are considered offensive are still used, and that really doesn't enter into it as far as I'm concerned,'' he said. He said officials should have either left the name the same or found a way to honor all veterans. Napolitano argued that changing the name of the landmark would be an appropriate tribute to Piestewa while removing the word "squaw.'' Although some linguists disagree, critics say "squaw'' is derived from an Indian word for female genitalia. "Lori Piestewa bravely served our country,'' Napolitano spokeswoman Shilo Mitchell said Thursday. "She sacrificed greatly, and so has her family, and by honoring her, we honor all veterans.''
The controversy over renaming the mountain led to a nasty fight between Napolitano and the Republican-led Legislature. Like the federal board, the state panel that approved the name change has a five-year waiting period, but Napolitano and others persuaded the board to waive it.
Teran to teach Eastern Shoshone language at University of Wyoming
FORT WASHAKIE, Wyo. (AP) — Although she spoke Shoshone until the age of 6, it has taken years for Reba Teran, now 50, to feel fluent again.
Now that she does, she will teach an introductory Eastern Shoshone language course at the University of Wyoming beginning this fall.
As the language coordinator for the Shoshone Tribal Cultural Center on the Wind River Indian Reservation, Teran has been working with tribal elders for almost six years to produce a written and digital-audio dictionary of the Eastern Shoshone language.
In that time she has reconnected with her first tongue, and she has again begun dreaming in Shoshone — a language that is more descriptive, colorful and emotional than English is, she said.
In addition to the dictionary project, which has been a huge undertaking for her and three tribal elders, Teran has also developed an eight-CD audio book for basic Shoshone-language instruction.
The Shoshone language class will be part of UW's American Indian studies program, and co-sponsored by the modern and classical languages department. The university has offered instruction in Northern Arapaho since 2005, taught by Wayne C'Hair, and now with Teran's class, both tribal languages from the Wind River reservation will be taught at the school. Students can fulfill UW's language requirement with two semesters of the Eastern Shoshone language, just as they can with two semesters of the Northern Arapaho language and others.
Teran left Wyoming when she was 14 to go to boarding school in South Dakota, and when she was a sophomore in high school she started the Upward Bound program at the University of Wyoming. She went on to get both a bachelor's and a master's degree at Utah State University.
Teran said she wanted to return to the Wind River reservation immediately after college, but she had to wait several years before that became a possibility. "I came home looking for a job and I could not find anything, so I had to leave,'' Teran said. "I finally came back in 2002 and was hired to work here at the cultural center, and that's when I began working with (the elders). I was hired in July, and by August we were already working with our language.''
Before returning home, Teran had already started her dictionary project while working temporarily at an oil refinery. She started by writing down all of the animals she knew in Shoshone — starting with "bear,'' which she wrote, phonetically, like this: "ah.gwy.''
"On breaks, I had this little notebook, and I would write all the words that I knew,'' she said. "I still have this little notebook that's all greasy and oily.'' The Eastern Shoshone language class will be held on weekends at UW, so once a week Teran will have to make the drive from Fremont County to Laramie and back again, just as C'Hair does.
"I talked to Wayne C'Hair, and he said it's manageable,'' she said. “I'm just a little concerned about making the trip in the winter.''
$900 million commited to endangered Northwest salmon projects
WASHINGTON (AP) — A plan that commits $900 million in federal money to help endangered Northwest salmon includes just $540 million for new projects, officials said Wednesday.
At least 40 percent of the money targeted for salmon restoration would go to existing programs over the next 10 years, said Scott Simms, a spokesman for the Bonneville Power Administration.
The rest would go for new work. A compromise plan announced Monday would commit federal agencies to spend $900 million over the next decade to improve conditions for endangered salmon, while leaving intact hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin that harm fish.
The settlements with four Northwest Indian tribes would end years of legal battles between the Bush administration and the tribes, but would not affect a fifth tribe that is party to a lawsuit nor environmental groups that vowed to press on in their efforts to breach four dams on the Lower Snake River in eastern Washington.
Sara Patton, executive director of the Northwest Energy Coalition, a Seattle-based group that is part of the federal lawsuit challenging dam operations, said she was disappointed that only 60 percent of the money in the agreement would go to new projects.
But Patton said a bigger problem is that much of the money apparently will not go to help endangered salmon, as the lawsuit intends. Instead the money appears targeted for several salmon species that are not listed as endangered, as well as lamprey, a separate species that is not considered threatened.
"We're suing because Joe Salmon is endangered, and they are doing something for Charlie Salmon and Jack Lamprey. That is good for those fish but it doesn't help our salmon,'' Patton said.
The Bonneville Power Administration, a regional power agency based in Portland, Ore., says the proposed agreement should raise wholesale electric rates by 2 percent to 4 percent.
John Ogan, a lawyer for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, an Oregon tribe that is part of the settlement, said environmentalists were taking a narrow view of the conflict.
"The interests of the environmental plaintiffs are narrow and their objective seems to be singular — focused on Snake River dam breaching,'' Ogan said.
"The tribes go well beyond extinction issues. We want healthy, viable populations of all stocks — listed or unlisted — across the (Columbia River) basin,'' including unlisted salmon, steelhead and lamprey, he said.
Even so, the agreement addresses fish that are listed as endangered, Ogan said. Bonneville Powe Administrator Steve Wright said Patton and other critics were missing a key point.The BPA and the tribes want to collaborate on a comprehensive approach to help endangered salmon species and to try to avoid allowing other species to become endangered, Wright said.
"We care about both,'' he said. The Warm Springs are slated to receive about $80 million under the agreement.
Three other tribes also will receive money: the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington state.
The Colville will receive about $200 million under the agreement, while the Umatilla were expected to receive about $150 million and the Yakama about $330 million.
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission also agreed to the settlement and would get about $90 million, although one of its member tribes, the Idaho-based Nez Perce Tribe, declined to sign the agreement. The Nez Perce said in a statement that it still wants to see the four lower Snake River dams taken down.
Meanwhile, the BPA and the state of Idaho signed a separate agreement late Wednesday that provides the $65 million over 10 years to enhance fish recovery projects in the state. Gov. C.L. "Butch'' Otter called the agreement historic and said the state looks forward to 10 years of stable funding for salmon.
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