News from around Indian Country and other tidbits they don't want you to know. The purpose of this newsletter is to inform and educate. [Feel free to pass around]
For the latest news from WOLE, check the WOLE updates blog page.
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Native American fights corporations...For more than thirty years, Carrie Dann, a native Shoshone American, has been fighting the US government for her people's rights to their ancestral land.
Dann accuses the US government of ignoring her case in favour of multi national corporations whose interests she says lie in their bottom lines and not in the environment.
»The Tribes on the New Turf...
Simon Fraser knew little of the first nations west of the Rockies where he was to extend the trade
of the North West Company -- but it was a densely populated and socially complex region.
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A peril that dwelt among the Navajos
Judy Pasternak, Los Angeles Times...
During the Cold War, uranium mines left contaminated waste scattered around
the Indians. Homes built with the material silently pulsed with radiation.
People developed cancer. And the U.S. did little.
» Update from Grand River Nov 16, 2006...by Hazel
»Update from Grande River...from Hazel, Nov 6, 2005
»VOICE OF THE HAWK ELDER
Harsh realities
of reservation life
While many people are sympathetic to the needs and misfortunes
of others, it is often hard to comprehend the extent of the difficulties some
people on Indian reservations can face. For most people who live in the dominant
culture, almost everyone has the potential to find a job and the money or the
resources needed to clothe their children, feed their elders, and repair their
homes. It is often almost beyond our ability to comprehend that these are privileges
which can be so hard to come by for many people who live on remote Indian reservations.
With unemployment on the reservations reaching as high as 85%, with 45% of the
children living below the poverty level and with a life expectancy of only 45
years for Native people living on reservations, its clear to see that America
is not always a place of liberty and justice for all.
While there are programs
such as Habitat for Humanity and others, they can only build or repair a few homes
a year while the needs far outweigh available housing. At this time, we are gathering
resources to bring 13 donated trailers to the Rosebud Reservation to be used either
by families or combined as a homeless shelter. The people of the Rosebud Reservation
will happily donate their time to make the necessary repairs but its getting them
to the rez that will be the trick. And it’s important to realize how limited
the resources are on some of the reservations. Tools and lumber all cost money
and the economy on most of the reservations is limited to small shops and the
sales of crafts. Business owners face political hardships and are often shunned
by investors. And while some reservations do better than others with their casinos,
but its important to realize that very little of that money ever reaches the people
who are most in need. We are used to seeing the faces of poverty overseas but
in fact, there are many faces right here at home that can use your help.
America
waged war against the Indians for hundreds of years and in some ways that war
continues. In South Dakota, where businesses are encouraged to invest in the bigger
cities and tourism is kept to the areas where the dominant population can profit,
it is time for all of us to take a stand and come to the aid of our Native brothers
and sisters and alleviate some of the suffering inflicted by an unyeilding political
situation.
Web of Life Enterprise seeks to bring some justice and comfort
to those who are suffering on the Indian reservations in South Dakota. The Board
of Directors and Advisors are made up of people who have worked in various ways
to end the hardships that some Native people have faced in that state and now
we are calling on you for your help and assistance in furthering our goals. Money,
goods and services are all required to bring change there, to better the housing,
to bring warm clothing and blankets to the elderly, to provide boots and coats
to children in a place where winter seems to begin just only after it has ended.
Your contribution of money or of the goods that are so hard to come by in these
often remote places will not only alleviate discomfort but can also provide the
means for the people on these reservations to work towards bettering the future
for their children. Deliveries are FREE to the recipients.
Thank you for
your generosity.
Where there is a need we will go, and your donations will
help us get there.
“One hundred years from now, it will not matter
what kind of car I drove or what kind of clothes I wore. All that will matter
is that I made a difference in the life of a child …”
~Author Unknown~
Listen to CKRZ, the radio station on the Six Nations reserve (click here for web streaming)
See
Autonomy & Solidarity for extensive video and audio footage
Also see links page for other sites with news and updates