12 10 189 https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/845b28660a554d57298032cbc517a6e4.pdf 97e77dd5f4acca0f91694c2607123de5 PDF Text Text Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid 3.1c Permit No. 15 Orono, Maine A llia n ce September 1979 Tribes to set up Indian courts BANGOR — Tribal leaders, land claims lawyer Thomas N. Tureen, and a gaggle of federal officials met at the federal building here this month, to consider ways in which a tribal court system can be established on Maine’ three Indian reservations. s The meeting marks a determined step toward tribal sovereignty for Penobscots and Passamaquoddies. The Penobscot tribe couid set up courts within a month, officials said. Assistant U.S. Attorney James W. Brannigan, serving Maine’ northern district, told s Wabanaki Alliance the purpose o f the meeting was to “establish a viable system of justice on the reservations . . . to start in motion the orderly machinery o f criminal jurisdiction in view o f the Sockabasin-Dana case.” Brannigan referred to the arson case of Allen J. Sockabasin and Albert C. Dana, Passamaquoddies who were convicted of trying to bum the Indian Township school. In an appeal o f their cases, the Maine supreme court ruled that the crime occurred in “Indian country,” and was subject to federal, not state jurisdiction. No further action has been taken against Sockabasin or Dana, and Brannigan said the supreme court decision leaves a “void” in jurisdiction over Indians. The state has appealed the court ruling to the U.S. supreme court. Another test case involves William A. Holmes, a non-Indian charged with man- slaughter in the death o f Penobscot, Adrian Loring, at Indian Island. Holmes’ lawyer claimed state jurisdiction did not apply to Holmes, and the courts agreed. Holmes would face a maximum 20 year prison sentence under Maine law; a maximum 10 year sentence under federal law (Major Crimes Act, and Assimilated Crimes Act). There are other cases “now in limbo,” according to Brannigan. While the Penobscots have already voted to pursue tribal courts to handle lesser crimes (larger crimes will come under federal jurisdiction), the Passamaquoddies had not reached a decision yet on how to handle misdemeanors. Passamaquoddies reportedly were faced with “internal prob lems” in choosing between a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs court, or a tribal court. They were expected to opt for tribal courts, following the Penobscots’example. Attending the recent Bangor meeting were John Bailey, public safety coordinator at Pleasant Point; Kirk Loring, head warden at Indian Island; George Warren Mitchell, public safety director at Indian Township; Harry Rainbolt, Eugene Suarez Sr., and Patrick Hayes o f Bureau o f Indian Affairs; Hans Walker Jr., U.S. Interior Department; Tureen, Brannigan, and Assistant U.S. Attorney William H. Brouder Jr. Also attending were FBI agent James J. Dunn of Boston, and local agents. (Continued on page 6) Indians receive communion from Pope BOSTON — Five Passamaquoddy In dians from Pleasant Point traveled to see Pope John Paul II at Boston Common, Oct. 1 and received the eucharist. . Four o f them were children: Rachel Nicholas, a seventh grader; Margo Richter and Merlin Francis, students at Lee Academy: and Tommy Brown, a pupil at Pembroke elementary school. Accompany ing them was Grace Bailey, eucharistic minister at St. Ann's. Pleasant Point, and cook at the reservation school; and the Rev. Joseph Mullen, priest at St. Ann's. The children led a procession prior to com munion. 100th Anniversary The Sisters o f Mercy at St. Ann’ s, Pleasant Point, will celebrate the 100th anniversary o f their arrival, in ceremonies Oct. 7, at the reservation. Auxiliary Bishop Amedee Proulx o f the Catholic Diocese of Portland will attend. Events start at 1 a.m., 1 with a dinner, and traditional dancing at 2 p.m. LOOKING AHEAD — Pleasant Point construction supervisor Melvim Francis, Passamaqnoddy, adjusts a transit on site of planned tribal health and social services building. He seems to have a small assistant standing by. Footings are in for foundations on the one story wood fra*?e clinic., which will measure 123 by 44 feet, p!os 20 by 23 feet e!office space. Work started last month; expected completion date is March 1980. Brennan criticai of claims offer WASHINGTON — Maine Gov. Joseph E. Brennan is reportedly opposed at least in part to a revised Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land claims settlement plan. A report in the Bangor Daily News said Brennan “expressed strong reservations re garding new demands by the Maine tribes which increase the terms for an out-of-court settlement o f the tribes’suit by $17 million.” The current status o f the proposed resolu tion o f claims involves an increase in the award o f land from 100,000 acres to 300.000; and several grants to establish a sawmill, repair or build new reservation schools, plus road and bridge work. The tribes have expanded a proposed settlement drafted by former Sen. William D. Hathaway of Maine. Brennan declared after a meeting in Washington with Maine’ s Congressional delegation: “ I am concerned by the demand o f these new funds. It was my feeiing there w an understanding last fail fas and that understanding was that the tribes wouid get $37 million, along with some further assistance by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.” The Governor also said, “ 1 am not opposed to the tribes getting Indian funds, or funds which are taken from Indian setasides in the federal budget. But I am concerned that this money may be coming from programs which have been designated for the benefit o f the other 1.1 million residents o f the state o f Maine.” Sen. William S. Cohen o f Maine said he is confident that should the 12.5 million acre claim go to court, the state is adequately prepared to defend itself through former Nixon lawyer James St. Clair, recently re tained by Maine in connection with Indian claims. Passamaquoddy island purchase hits snag PLEASANT POINT — Lengthy negotia tions for the purchase o f Carlow Island by the Passamaquoddy tribe, have been set back by a letter o f opposition from the town o f Eastport. Carlow Island, which abuts the reserva tion, has been sought by the tribe for over a year, to be used for further housing for the reservation’ mushrooming population. s The owners, Charles and Helen Kroupa of Long Island, New York, reportedly had agreed to sell the 80 acre island for $160,000. The sale was expected to occur in early October, according to one tribal official. The letter o f opposition, signed by Douglas Richardson, former administrative assistant to the town manager, called the purchase an “intrusion into the sovereignty o f Eastport” and labeled the HUD Small Cities program money, used for the pur chase, "a misuse o f federal funds.” Eastport Town Manager Everett Baxter said the letter referred to the town’ concern s that the land would be lost, if the tribe bought it. He charged that the tribe had failed to publicize the purchase, in violation o f federal laws involving spending public money. "The town doesn’ want to lose 70 t acres o f taxable land without knowing about it,” he said. Richardson expressed similar sentiments. “The town wasn’ opposed to something t being built, but we were afraid we would lose sovereignty over the property. We would welcome anyone into the city of Eastport,” he said. Carlow Island is evaluated for tax purposes at $33,000, with $594 in property taxes paid on it last year. It is currently undeveloped. Richardson said that the letter was sent out by town council president, Norman Young, although the full council was not aware o f it at the time. According to Rich ardson, a HUD representative told Young that if the town objected to the sale, it had better send a letter to HUD “in a hurry.” A copy o f the letter was sent to the congressional delegation. Norman Denton, HUD area representa tive, said his office has put the Passama quoddy grant proposal for the purchasing funds “on hold,” until the “very complex” legal questions can be resolved. He confirm ed that the tribe does desire to annex the island as part of the reservation and that it has petitioned Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to have the land put into trust. Unless the tribe can annex the land, the tribal housing authority “must demonstrate that it has the legal right to operate outside of its municipality,” in order to qualify for the grant, Denton said. This might require a ruling from the Maine State Attorney General, he added. According to Denton, HUD is going to wait until the legal issues (Continued on page 6) �Page 2 Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 editorials A question of right The following comments appeared as a letter to the editor in the Bangor Daily News o f Sept. 12. 1979, in response to questions raised in a previous letter. — How do the Indians prove that the land is theirs? It is our belief and the belief o f the federal government, and many other prominent individuals both within this state, and out, that the State o f Massachusetts violated the legal rights o f the Penobscot *and Passamaqouddy Indian Nations by taking, by threat o f war, approximately 12.5 million acres o f hunting territories from the Province o f Quebec to Passamaquoddy Bay. The federal government did not approve these transactions which was, and is, required by federal law. — How do we prove that it isn’ theirs, or do we try? t That’ one for someone else, but we don’ believe it can be done s t should the occasion ever arise. — How many Indians are there in ..the State o f maine? 1,500 Penobscots (total membership), 2,000 Passamaquoddies (total membership), 1,100 Micmacs (State o f Maine population), 900 Maliseets (State o f Maine population). — If we gave the Indians their land back and the money they ask for why do we still have to give them food stamps, state aid, federal funds for their energy savings projects, etc.? When our white people can’ get any of this without going through a lot o f red tape and still t don’ get it, all they seem to say is we want, we get; now we have. t If you gave us all o f our land back and no money, you could keep your food stamps, state aid, and federal energy saving projects. Other than that, most Indian people who are fortunate enough to have jobs still pay state and federal income taxes, and help fund the same public assistance programs you d o with your paid tax dollars; not all Indians use public assistance any more than non-Indians. — With all they have received from us, why can’ they make it on t their own; that is what they said they could d o if they had it. Ninety-five percent o f all we ever received from the state and fed eral governments has been welfare. Only recently have we begun to dig ourselves from a pit o f depression to the exercise o f our sovereign rights. Consider what you received from us in sovereign violation o f your own laws in 1794, 1796, 1818, 1820, 1833, 1915; all land transactions, the earlier ones by threat o f war and the others in typical fashion, “by hook or crook.” Now, you “make it.” Finally, you ought not be so critical o f the people overseas: after all, I’ sure there was a time in the history o f this country when your m ancestry was some o f those “people overseas” in need, or why else did they come to this land? W ho knows, it could have been in the early times when your people were without, and the Indian people trusted them a little too much. Tim Love Penobscot Nation Indian Island WEBS IN THE SEA — Billy Altvater’ fishing weir in Passamaqnoddy Bay stands as a link s between the Passamaqnoddy fishing heritage of the past and the tribe’ plans to turn back s to the sea in the future. These plans include a fish processing plant, fishing boats, a marina, an aquaculture program, and a tidal power plant What money can't buy The recreation department at Pleasant Point is an oddity, as tribal agencies go. M ost o f its staff receives no money, yet they throw themselves into their work with great spirit. In the absence o f the massive federal funding enjoyed by many other agencies, recreation materials and money are hard to com e by and appreciated all the more. Necessity breeds ingenuity, and the department survives by its own wits. Operating in an apolitical atmosphere, the recreation program allows people to forget their differences and com e together for awhile as a community. Spirit, sharing, frugality, community; all these characteristics are found in the recreation department. They read like a page from the past when, the elders tell us, people wanted each other, not money. The present may be rapidly catching up with recreation director Linwood (Red) Sapiel as plans to tap Bureau o f Indian Affairs (BIA) resources take shape. A large community park with many recreational facilities is even on the board. Few would dispute that Sapiel and his staff o f dedicated volunteers deserve the financial support. The recreation department provides Pleasant Point kids with healthy options for spending youthful energy. It also stands as one o f the very few deterrents to alcohol and drug abuse currently on the reservation today. These services alone make the department worth a healthy injection o f funds. Red Sapiel has said that whatever money is granted him would be used more for equipment than salaries. Still, if the recreation depart ment is fortunate enough to receive a sizeable grant, one would hope the department’s most valuable asset is not lost in the onslaught o f new opportunities. Money cannot buy dedication. �Page 3 Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 letters Common ground A suggestion Warren, Ohio To the editor: We have been receiving the Wabanaki Alliance now for about two years. There is no doubt that it is the best Indian newspaper that we get. It is the only one that has such a varied format. The main reason that I am writing is to make one suggestion. In many o f the past issues you have done some very fine articles on some of the local craftsmen: (Billy Altvater, Passamaquoddy, baskets; Edna Becker, Penobscot, baskets; Mary Gabriel, Passamaquoddy, baskets; Newell Tomah, Passamaquoddy, canoes; Francine Lewey Murphy and Eunice Lewey Crowley, Penob scot, baskets). I am sure that not only our selves, but other readers, would like to order some o f these beautiful crafts, providing the individuals would want to sell them. I am suggesting that you publish in your paper a list o f these individuals or even better, compile a booklet o f all the crafts people in the area, their speciality, their address and prices. We have wanted to order some crafts from that area for a long time but had little luck with the already established craft outlets. Thank you again for a wonderful paper and I hope that someday you will be able to include the suggestion in it. David Carbaugh Warren City Schools Apology to Colcord Cooper To the editor: Hello. I have moved to Maine recently, till now I never had the chance to see your paper. I’ been getting Akwesasne Notes ve for a few years and I’ heard Wabanaki d Alliance mentioned in it every so often, but never had an address. So while I was down at the Common Ground Fair in Litchfield a couple week ends ago, I came across your paper at the AFSC booth. At the moment I have no job — I can spare a small amount for a dona tion. I would appreciate receiving Wabanaki Alliance in the future. Also have you ever run a column on Indian herbal medicines? It's all right out there, and it seems it could be real beneficial for those o f us looking for a better way. Just a thought. Steve Hendershott Island to give away Ravenna, Ky. To the editor: As the XAT (a quasi-religious, almost ineffable spiritual force) publicity director, my principal duty has been in the operation of an information clearing house. Recently, I have learned from a reliable source that a retired U.S. Naval commander is interested in selling or “giving” an island off the coast o f Maine to an American Indian group if the circumstances were appropriate. The information is vague, but the island is Maiden, N.C. To the editor: r e a l. I t a p p e a r s t o b e 2 0 t o S O This is an open letter o f apology to west of Belfast. I have seen a photograph of Charley Colcord. the island and know the name. There is After examining Thunderbird’ (Webber) s some confidentiality required in the ob so-called rolls 1found there to be only 5 or 6 taining of this property. people who might be classified as Lumbee This letter is to let the native American people, many whites and many blacks but population in your area know about this 50only 5 or 6 Lumbee’s out of approx. 40.000. plus acre island. He is trying to get money from H.E.W. And the XAT Public Information Office and various organizations for his so-called here is sponsoring the formation o f the nation which is not recognized by the B.I.A. Kentucky Indian Council (to be modeled or the Lumbee people. after the Tennessee Indian Council), the I have found the Lumbee’ have not now s sponsoring o f an Arts and Crafts Center or ever voted for a chief, which is the only with a retail and wholesale service outlet democratic way o f having a true leader near the old trading post site Ay-Wah-Nee representing the people. and the development of a housing corpora I hope you and others will forgive me but. tion, which has a possible 48-unit Farmers Charley Colcord is speaking o f the same Home Administration 515/Housing and Webber who has called himself chief o f the Urban Development Section Eight project Cherokees, Creeks, and now Lumbee. near the proposed Arts and Crafts Center in If anyone needs more information I Estill County, Kentucky that can be suggest they contact John Shapari in the obtained. B.I.A. he knows o f this Thunderbird Anyone interested in any o f these pro Webber. posals might contact me. Again Charley I am sorry. Samuel E. Naive Jim Chavis Wabanaki Alliance Vol. 3, No. 9 September 1979 Published monlhlj by the Division of Indian Services [DIS] at the Indian Resource Center, 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. Steven Cartwright, Editor William O’Neal, Ass’L Editor DIS Board of Directors Jean Chavaree [chairman] John Bailey, Public Safety Coordinator Albert Dana, Tribal Councilor Timothy Love, Representative to State Legislature Jeannette Neptune, Community Development Director Jeannette LaPlante, Central Maine Indian Assoc. Susan Desiderio, Assn, of Aroostook Indians Maynard Polchies, President, Aroostook Indians Melvin L. Vicaire, Central Maine Indian Assn. Reuben C. Cleaves, Representative to State Legislature Sept. 30, 1979: One hundred years of service The Rev. Joseph Laughlin [left] and Auxiliary Bishop Amedee Proulx are flanked by Indian Township children and the Sisters of Mercy as they celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Sisters’presence at the Township. [Photo by Allen J. Sockabasin] Great concern Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. To the editor: Please send me information and the price of your publication, Wabanaki Alliance. I have followed the fight your people have waged for your land rights with great concern. My people, too, are in the middle o f several court battles over land rights. I am Sioux City, Iowa To the editor: I'm writing you about my brother Stewart Rodda. As I read in your nice paper about our Indian blood: I don’ know who this Red t Eagle Steere is but we are not Sioux and •V TTercrtlwrxydr-uTiuic^ttnu m o u T t r ioia uj> d n o L have*been more successful in the courts than I have proof also o f our Choctaw blood; our the Chippewa o f the Upper Peninsula of great-great-great grandmother. This Red Michigan. Eagle Steere is not reporting it right, is all Cathy Mertoli wrong. Such trash should not be allowed in your wonderful paper. I’ really good and m mad at such stuff. N ew sp aper folds Lorraine (Fire Eyes) Thompson Vancouver, B.C. To the editor : This is to inform you that due to the dissolution o f our Society that the publica tions you have been sending us can now stop, so please delete us from your mailing list. We thank you for your interest in our Society and its former publication ‘ Nesika. Joy Hall Native Media Society Scholar likes paper DIS is an agency of Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc. of Maine. Subscriptions to this newspaper are available by writing to Wabanaki Alliance, 95 Main St, Orono, Me. 04473. Diocesan Human Relations Services and DIS are a non-profit corporation. Contri butions are deductible for income tax purposes. Notes relatives Hartford, Ct. To the editor: Please put me on your mailing list. On a recent visit to Wells, Maine, we saw an issue, August 1979. In it is a picture on the back page, of Indians on the Mowhawk Trail. Many are our relatives. We would like an issue o f the August 1979 publication if possible. Joan F. Tomah Amherst, Mass. To the editor: Thank you for my copy (Vol. 3, No. 8) of Wabanaki Alliance. As an anthropologist — and person — interested in native American affairs I would like to continue receiving your paper on a regular basis. To this end I enclose a ten dollar contribution. Jean Ludtke Cherokee confederacy Indian Island Pleasant Point Indian Township Indian Island Indian Township Orono Houlton Houlton Mattawamkeag Pleasant Point Defends brother Leesburg, Ga. To the editor: The Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy, Inc. was incorporated here in Georgia, Nov. 12, 1976. We received our proclamation from Governor George Busbee o f Georgia Dec. 20, 1976. We are accepting members with 1/16 or more o f Indian heritage, but they can’ belong to two tribes at one time. t For more information write to Chief William “ Rattlesnake” Jackson, South eastern Cherokee Confederacy, Leesburg, Georgia. William “ Rattlesnake” Jackson Corrections A story in the August issue about a potluck supper sponsored by Central Maine Indian Association incorrectly identified Linda Collinson as an outreach worker. She is health and social services director for the off-reservation organization. * * * Last month’s Wabanaki Alliance describ ed Longest Walk baby, Amassiliget Pimoset Francis McDonald, as having a Maliseet and Penobscot name. Actually, Amassiliget means longest walk in Micmac, and Pimoset is “one who walks” in Passamaquoddy. Also, the story omitted mention of the proud father, Duma McDonald. Our apologies. * * * A black cat, shown with Penobscot medicine man, Sonabeh. in a picture in the August Wabanaki Alliance was incorrectly listed as belonging to Sonabeh. The cat, who has no name, belongs to another Indian Island resident, Burnell Mitchell. �Page 4 Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 Pleasant Point sports open to all The recreation department may be on the eve o f a financial breakthrough, with the advent o f Bureau o f Indian Affairs (BIA) money onto the reservation. With an eye to BIA support, the tribe is planning a community park which would largely be run by the recreation department. The park would include a multi-purpose play field, a children’ playground and s wading pool, foot paths and bridges in natural settings, and even a ski slope. Sapiel said that the natural area may include a freshwater pond, stocked with fish. If the park is to become a reality, Sapiel estimated that approximately $380,000 BIA dollars will be required. Meanwhile, for the first time, Sapiel is approaching tribal government with a $5,000 to $6,000 budget request to cover the entire year, rather than seeking funds on a contingency basis as in the past. “ We don’ want a lot o f money for t salaries,” he added, noting that his staff works for nothing. Sapiel sees his responsibility as more than providing fun for the youngsters in the com munity. “We’ here to teach them some re thing for when they go into other communi Pleasant Point Recreation Director Red Sapiel monitors a young athlete’s progress on the ties, so they can adjust and fit.” He also tries weights. to engender a feeling of belonging in the community. “When we ran the little league, I played everyone, regardless o f ability, even in championship games, so they would feel a part o f the team. I like to take everyone to MARY A. SAPIEL smith for 40 years. He was a U.S. Army the (awards) banquets just to give them the INDIAN ISLAND — Mary A. Sapiel, 53, veteran. He is survived by his wife, Edna feel,” he said. “That’ my role on this reser s , vation, instead of (making) championship o f River Street, Indian Island, died Sept. 1 (Love) Becker, o f Indian Island; one son, 1979. She was bom on Indian Island, May Fred H. o f Indian Island; three daughters, teams.” Sapiel hastened to point out that the Pleasant Point teams have good records, 24, 1926, the daughter o f Howard and Nora Catherine Belair o f Norwalk, Conn., Mary (Paul) Ranco. She was a member o f St. Ann Louise Prouty of Shelton, Conn., Mary anyway. Church and the St. Ann Society o f Indian Elizabeth Mastri o f New Haven, Conn.; 29 Sapiel is concerned about the use o f alco Island. She is survived by her husband, grandchildren; five great-grandchildren. hol and drugs by reservation youths. “This Nicholas Sapiel o f Indian Island; two sons, Funeral services were held at St. Anne’ s is why we got involved in drug abuse (pre vention)," he said. “We saw some o f our Nicholas and David o f Indian Island; two Catholic Church, Indian Island. daughters, Mrs. Hope Fitt o f Charleston, Interment was in the tribal cemetery, kids smoking dope." His concern led him S.C.. and Mrs. Theresa Snell o f Tacoma, Indian Island. and one o f his staff, Inez Nicholas, to begin Wash.; one brother, Irving Ranco o f Indian training to become alcohol and drug abuse Island; two sisters, Mrs. Gloria Hutchinson counselors. In conjunction with the reserva ANTHONY J. TOMAH tion Department o f Health and Social o f Manchester, N.H., Mrs. Alice Sockabasin PLEASANT POINT — Anthony J. Services he also plans to start an Al-Teen o f Indian Island; 10 grandchildren; sev Tomah, 58, died Sept. 24, 1979 at an eral nieces, nephews and cousins. Funeral program, which works similarly to Alco Red Sapiel takes time to reflect on his pro services were held at St. Ann’ Church of Augusta hospital following a long illness, he s holics Anonymous. gram’ future. s Indian Island, with the Rev. David Cote was bom at Princeton, July 26,1921, the son Sapiel, a Penobscot, bom on Indian officiating. Burial will be in the tribal o f Francis and Mary (Lola) Tomah. With the exception o f Sapiel’ salary, the Island, moved to Pleasant Point to live with s He served in the Canadian Army and later his wife, Mary Nicholas. He has held such cemetery. department receives no regular funds. Con in the U.S. Armed Forces during World sequently, Sapiel must make periodic perilous jobs as log driver and steeplejack, War H. VALENTINE PAUL BECKER appearances before tribal council or call and served a stint in the Marines. However, Survivors include one brother, Newell INDIAN ISLAND — Valentine Paul local businessmen to ask for money or when he got back to the reservation, his love Becker. 66, o f 123 Oak Hill Road, died at Tomah, Sr. o f Pleasant Point; several nieces equipment. He said he has also had luck o f children grew into his present work with his residence Aug. 28. and nephews. getting coaches from University o f Maine at the kids. A Mass o f Christian burial was celebrated He was born Sept. 7, 1912, in New Sapiel admitted that sometimes the job Rochelle. N.Y., son o f Valentine and Cath Machias to donate time to training reserva at St. Ann’ Catholic Church with the Rev. s tion sports such as volleyball, gymnastics, gets to be too much for him. " I get upset. erine (Hickey) Becker. He had been em Joseph Mullen officiating. Interment was in and tennis. Travel is the biggest expense, he When that happens, I take a couple o f days ployed at Owens-Illinois and was a gun the Tribal Cemetery, Pleasant Point. off, and go home to visit my mother.” said. By Bill O ’ Neal PLEASANT POINT — Linwood (Red) 'Sapiel runs one o f the most under-funded, highly successful departments on the reser vation. With an all-volunteer army of helpers and whatever money he can scrape up, he wages a yearly war on boredom, delinquency, and fat. As director o f Pleasant Point’ recreation s department, Sapiel is charged with com munity programs ranging from little league for the youngsters to bus tours and beano for the elders. Sapiel can usually be found sitting behind a large, blunt cigar, which he chomps on while he talks. He has a slow way of speaking, which belies a schedule that some times keeps him going 70 hours per week. He is currently organizing the winter sports program. “The big thing here is volleyball,” he said. He estimated that 140 people would be playing on at least eight reservation teams. The usual winter sports such as basketball will also be offered, Sapiel said. A winter sports carnival is planned, although no details have been worked out. Indian dancing and crafts will be offered by Sapiel’ wife, Mary. There may also be a s course in aerobic dancing, which combines dance and exercise. Obituaries Canning workshop perks interest HEALTH WORKERS — Martha Barstis, left, and Doris Chapman, are employed by Passamaquoddy Health and Social Services at Indian Township. Barstis is a community health representative, a job that involves follow-up on patients, home visits, counseling and referrals. Chapman works in a senior companionship program with the elderly of the tribe. By Kathy Tomah Area Correspondent INDIAN TOWNSHIP — On Tuesday, August 21st and 28th, there was a canning session held at the Indian Township School at Peter Dana Point. The co-ordinator for this was Sonja Dom, and her two assistants Martha Barstis and Doris Chapman, both community health representatives. Sarah Wilson, extension agent for Wash ington County in Machias, conducted these two sessions. The participants were shown the pro cedure in using a pressure canner for carrots, beets, string beans, zucchini and tomatoes; the freezing o f broccoli, com and blueberries. They were shown how to prepare pickled beets and green tomato pickles (chow-chow) that are processed in hot water. Also, Diane Francis of Pleasant Point volunteered her time by coming down and showing them how to make blueberry jam. The participants were: Ann Socobasin, Annabelle Sockabasin, Sylvia Tomah, Aud rey Sacoby, Joan Dana, Frances Tomah, Janet Neptune, Beverly Sopiel, Brenda Dana, Blanche Sockabasin, Alice Lola, Ramona Soctomah, Lillian Stevens, Linda Neptune, Irene Newell, Patricia Sockabasin. The purpose o f this session was to help interest people in growing their own gardens which would enable them to can and freeze their surplus vegetables. Sarah Wilson stated that it was a wonderful group and that they worked very hard and participated with great interest. Rights commission names new director WASHINGTON — Jacob Schlitt, 51, has been hired to head a New England Regional Office o f the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Staff Director Louis Nunez an nounced recently. He and a staff o f six civil rights specialists and support personnel moved into their permanent headquarters, 55 Summer St., Boston, August 1 . �Wahanaki Alliance September 1979 Page 5 A spiritual challenge to priests, Indians By Br. Larry Smith, S J. During August I spent two weeks in South Dakota. One week was spent in Plainview, South Dakota at the Sioux Spiritual Center making my annual eight-day retreat, and another week at Holy Rosary Mission (Red Cloud Indian School) in Pine Ridge, South Dakota; where Fr. Joe Laughlin and I met with the National Association of Native Religious. This group of Indian priests, brothers and sisters, are an inspiring group with whom I try to get together every summer. We had Mass each morning at sunrise out on a hill while facing the East and the rising sun. Our final mass o f the get-together, however, was the most inspiring for me. Un fortunately, because o f rainy weather we had to have the mass indoors. One of the Sioux Sisters was celebrating twenty-five years as a Franciscan Sister, and the Mass was the spiritual celebration o f her anniversary. The main celebrant o f the mass was Fr. John Hascall who is a Chippewa Indian priest from Minnesota. Father John is also what we would call a “healing priest" in the spirit o f the charismatic renewal. Most interesting is the fact that he is also the officially recog nized traditional medicine man for his Ojibway Indian people. These Indian Catholic spiritual leaders are an amazing group o f people. It is important to note, however, that the Wabanaki people o f Maine have also had a long, important, though unrecognized his tory of catholic Indian spiritual leaders who freely embraced the Catholic faith and were vehemently loyal to that faith. To show you what I mean, I would like to quote from an article written in 1913 in The Indian Sentinel, a national Catholic Indian maga zine: “In the beginning of the 18th century the governor o f Massachusetts, anxious to win the alliance o f the Abnakis in war and 'to accomplish their defection from the Catholic faith, offered to rebuild at his own expense the church at Norridgewock which the English had destroyed. The governor laid down one condition, namely, that the Indians should dismiss their missionary and accept one of his choice. The Indian envoy indignantly replied: “When you first came here, you saw me long before the French governors, but neither your predecessors nor your ministers ever spoke to me o f prayer or the Great Spirit. They saw my furs, my beaver and moose skins, and o f this alone they thought; these alone they sought, and so eagerly that I have not been able to supply them enough. When I had much they were my friends, and only then. One day my canoe missed the route; I lost my path, and wandered a long way at random, until I landed near Quebec, in a great village o f the Algonquins, where the Black-gowns were teaching. Scarcely had I arrived, when one of them came to see me. I was loaded with furs, but the Blackgown of France disdained to look at them; he spoke to me o f the Great Spirit, o f heaven, o f hell, o f the prayer, which is the only way to reach heaven. I heard with pleasure and was so delighted with his words that I remained in the village near him. At last the prayer pleased me and I was instructed. I solicited Baptism and was Baptised by the Black-gown. I then returned home to my people and related all that had happened. All envied my happiness and wished to partake it; they, too, went to the Black-gown to be baptized. Thus have the French acted. Had you spoken to me o f the prayer as soon as we met, I should be now so unhappy as to pray like you, for I could not have told whether your prayer was good or bad. Now I hold to the prayer o f the French; I agree to it; I shall be faithful to it, even until the earth is burnt and destroyed. Keep your men, your gold, and your minister; I will go to my French father.’ The real apoctle, an Indian Charles Meiskwat, an Indian, is the real apostle, the pioneer o f faith, among the Abankis. From Sillery, the Jesuit mission on the St. Lawrence, where he had led a truly saintly life, Charles set out for Maine wilderness on an embassy o f mercy. He had heard that a party o f non-christian Abnakis were being tortured by non-christian Algon quins in spite o f the fact that they belonged to the same Algic family, as their language would show. Charles lost his companion. Nicolet, who was drowned in a rapid, but. undaunted, he hurried on in quest o f his countrymen. He found them, rescued the victims who were just then being tortured, and brought them back in triumph to Sillery. Here they were first cared for physically. Then they were instructed in the “prayer” by the Sisters and priests. When they had recovered and been instructed, they sent Charles with one of their number to carry the good tidings o f their rescue and the Kennebec . . . Such was the real beginning o f Abnaki missions, which date from 1642. The catechist, or deacon, as he is called among the Abnakis, has been a great factor in the spread and preservation o f the faith. At Old Town the memory o f the saintly, prayerful Sak Bason Swasson is held in benediction. He was the governor, a man of majestic mien. He is said to have been a direct descendent of Baron de Castine who married Sagamore Madocawando’ daught s er. He daily made the stations of the cross. He spent over an hour in this exercise every day. It was for his people, he explained. “Among the Passamaquoddies, Toma Dana was the rival o f Bishop Healy in apostolic work. The Indian could sing all the Mass. Once when he joined with the bishop in intoning vespers, it was a great success. Toma delcared ‘Me and the bishop sing good today. We can’ beat nobody.’ He t meant that no one could excel these two. . . . It is certain that for a number of years the Abnakis were without a missionary devoted exclusively to them. They sent delegation after delegation to get a priest to come to them.... “The testimony of Father Maloney, who knew the Indians of Maine at their best and at their worst, may well conclude this account of these people whose ancestors were the first fruits o f the harvest o f souls among the Indian tribes o f the north, the wampum belt, the pledge given that many tribes would surrender to the cross o f Christ. Father Maloney writes: “As for the Indians themselves, I found them a warm-hearted, simple, grateful people, towards those whom they found sincere with them, but suspicious, crafty, and entirely untrustoworthy in regard to those who were in any way tricky in their dealings with them. In one word, they are staunch friends, and can be inveterate enemies. They never forget a kindness, nor do they forget, although they may for give, an injury. My memories o f them are of the happiest. Never did I have warmer friends than the Indian friends o f the Passamaquoddy tribe.” This account written over sixty-five years ago shows us very clearly that due to the lack o f priests, the Catholic Church would never have taken root and survived in Maine if it were not for the dedication and persistence o f the Indian people themselves and their faith-filled catechists or “deacons.” In the years to come, perhaps within our lifetime, the number o f priests will continue to drop, until the day comes when there will be no priest to live and work on a full-time basis with the Indian people. When that day comes, will the Indian people o f Maine have the dedicated Catholic spiritual leaders, the catechists and deacons, that their ancestors had 100 years ago, or will the Catholic Church just fade away and cease to exist among the Indian people? Only you can answer that question. EDITOR’ NOTE: Brother Larry Smith, S a Jesuit, is deacon at St. Ann’ Indian s Mission, Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy reservation. He would like readers to know he has a videotape available o f the events described in his report. Family portrait; Front row, from left, Nicole, Mitchell and Kristin Johnson, with parents Ruth and Lonnie. Letter describes racial tension for Indian child Uniontown, Alabama To the editor: I would greatly appreciate it, if you would print this letter. You may edit or rewrite anything in it. I am writing emotionally right now as I am heartsick. Thurs!, Sept. 6,1was to put my 8 year old daughter, Kristin, on a plane back to the reservation. The Uniontown school system is in a turmoil and it is not even safe to send my daughter to school here. In a school enrollment of approximately 1,190 there will be no white children in the Uniontown school system, as we are the only Native Americans in Uniontown there will be no Indians either. The 1,190 students will all be black. Last year Kristin attended a school with a ratio o f 78 per cent negro to 22 per cent white. The federal government decided to consolidate the Uniontown schools on Aug. 27, which means Kristin would be bused to an all-black school. Every single non-black family has either moved, or enrolled their children in private schools. I cannot afford either alternative at this time. If I send her to any other public school system, her school records will not be re leased, and she will get no credit or grades. This is the government’ way o f enforcing s the zoning regulations, and I face a $500 fine for contempt of court. I am enclosing an article so you will know what I’ talking about. Kristin attended m Uniontown High School. This article does not reflect all that we have found out through phone calls, personal visits and attorneys’ advice. My daughter’s best friends’parents had to sign legal guardian ship papers over to her sister in order that U.H.S would release their school records for them to attend school in Marengo County. They also cannot afford to move right now. Initial enrollment fees for private school start at $200 to $850, with monthly tuition of $75 to $130 a month. This does not include food, clothing or transportation. My son, Mitchell, 5 years, cannot start kindergarten, as it is not mandatory and there are no vacancies. One school told me they were not taking any more white students (classifying Mitch white because his father is white) another school said they had filled their minority qualifications (classifying Mitch, Native American). Black students have threatened “ any student, black or white coming from Uniontown High into Hatch, or Uniontown Elementary. The police have found knives, lead pipes and pistols on students enrolled at Hatch. Four rapes occurred at Uniontown Elementary last year. The Ku Klux Klan has stated it will march on Uniontown on the opening school day. Uniontown is a time bomb right now. What choice do I have? I cannot take a chance on Kristin being hurt. Her father is deeply hurt to think that he unintentionally exposed her to this situa(Continued on page 1)3) �age 6 Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 CA IA eyes Charleston A for vocational school ORONO — Central Maine Indian Asso ciation has applied for usage rights to the abandoned Charleston Air Force Station (CAFS). The off-reservation organization has sub mitted tentative proppsals to establish a high school and vocational education facility there, with some health services also offered. The proposal is similar to one CMIA developed early this year for Dow Am munition Storage Annex which is still pending. Donna Loring, CMIA president and David Rudolph, planner for CMIA, both favor .he Charleston site, although the agency’ board o f directors has not formally s approved the shift o f location. According to Rudolph CAFS has numer ous advantages over Dow. Unlike Dow, he said, the land is already developed and all the necessary construction has already been done. Also, no rezoning effort is necessary as at Dow. The only disadvantage Rudolph cited was the distance from major Indian populations served by CMIA. Although several other groups have pre viously applied for the land, including the Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC) at Indian Island, currently only the state Department o f Inland Fisheries and the Department o f Mental Health and Correc tions are competing with CMIA for the facility. Fisheries wants the land primarily as a green belt buffer for nearby wildlife man agement projects it is conducting. Correc tions is viewing the site as a possible minimum security prison. The proposed vocational school would offer primarily management courses in the areas of hotel management, agriculture, manufacturing research, alternate energy technology, building, road maintenance, water/sewer systems, and heavy equipment. The courses would emphasize on the job training, Rudolph said, with much of the training being accomplished as routine maintenance of the Charleston facility. Rudolph said the school would also contract its services to the surrounding communities. Indian court system planned (Continued from page 1 ) The Penobscot tribe is making final prep arations at Indian Island to establish a tribal court system which could be function ing by early October. Meetings were being held at press time to consider what sort o f court and which legal codes would be adopted, and a general meeting o f the tribe had been called to vote on the proposals. According to Timothy Love, a tribal official working on the proposals, the Code of Federal Regulations, a federal body of laws used by some other tribes, was rejected because Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) would control the court. The Bureau, how ever. will fund the expense o f running the courts. Love added. Love said the tribe would probably adopt Maine state hunting and fishing ordinances in addition, to Indian legislation already on the books. The Maine criminal code cov ering misdemeanors and state traffic code would also probably be used, he said. According to Love, the tribal court will be able to try civil cases and misdemeanors, but not felonies. The state and the tribes are currently embroiled over whether felonies committed on the reservations are subject to state or federal prosecution. Non-Indians cannot be tried in tribal courts for any but civil offenses. Love said MOOSEMEAT stew was among dishes offered at Central Maine Indian Association “getthe tribe is considering changing fish and acquainted” potluck supper, held at Orono. Here, CMIA board member Bridget Woodward game violations to civil offenses so that nonis ready to serve. Indians can be tried in the Island courts. The nearness of hunting season was respon sible for the push to ratify the new courts, he said. One general court, with a chief judge and associate judge, along with an appellate court with three judges, are planned. A lawyer to act as consultant to the court is also expected to be included in the system. Judges in tribal courts need not have legal degrees. Love said. No final decision has reason why a settlement couldn’ resolve t (Continued from page 1 ) been reached on who the judges will be, disputes over land such as this,” he said. although Love mentioned Penobscot Gerald are sorted out. He could not predict how Asked what the state’ position on juris s Pardilla. who has had paralegal training, as long that would be. diction over Carlow Island would be, Pater a possibility. son said, “I could speculate but I’ rather d Asked to comment on the sale o f Carlow According to Love, the Island appellate not say.” court “has the final say” in cases tried on Island, Maine Ass't. Atty. Gen. John The HUD grant would allocate $100,000 Paterson stated, “ I had never heard o f it the Island. He added that the only re to Pleasant Point for the purchase, plus strictions on the court system are the Indian until this message.” He said the status of $25,000 for planning. The tribe would have Civil Rights Act and Indian Bill of Rights, Carlow Island, if purchased by the Passama to come up with the remaining funds else which, he said, are modeled along lines of quoddies, will probably be "a subject of where. dispute." the US Constitution. Pleasant Point lieutenant governor Cliv Although courts cannot be set up for a Paterson said the “best possible solution” Dore declined comment on negotiations month, at least, summonses can be issued over the land and the legal questions raised, would be to have Indian jurisdiction for any immediately, he said. Referring to the lands in Maine defined in a negotiated other than to say the issue was “very possibility o f other Maine tribal courts, Love settlement of land claims. “There’s no delicate.” said, "The Passamaquoddies are right behind us.” Sale of Carlow Island opposed Quakers meel with Indians ORONO — Several Indian persons told Quakers at a meeting here that while help is welcome, Indians should be making deci sions to preserve their autonomy and culture. Tom Vicaire, director o f Central Maine Indian Association, said, “ Respect for the abilities and needs o f the Indian com munities (could) stimulate initiative.” Pro jects should allow "more involvement from the Indian community,” he told members of the American Friends Service Committee, and other Quakers. "I think we badly need Indian input,” said Mary Griffith, staff worker for the Friends committee on Indians. Griffith has helped develop a film and slide show on Maine Indians, and has formed a committee on curriculum and education. THE BEGINNING — Some of the first contributions to the Penobscot museum being built at Indian Island. Missing is a sacred mask, which could not be photographed. Barbara Moffatt, a Quaker official and special guest speaker, said Friends have been concerned about American Indians for many years, at first working to bring relief to Hopi and Navajo tribes. In the 1950’ s, Quakers brought social and technical assistance to Sioux Indians at Pine Ridge, S.D. Friends have also worked on Indian fishing rights in the northwest, and have had a long relationship with Maine Indians, she said. Others speaking were Sipsis (Eugenia Thompson) o f Indian Island, who asked not to be quoted on her remarks, and John Nicholas, Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy school board chairman, who said, “The way I see it, the affluent society is killing us.” Also attending were Andrea and Darryl Nicholas, Canadian Indians, and Daniel Francis from Pleasant Point. Andrew Grannell, moderatdr o f the meeting, stated that, “A real bond o f trust has been established here.” �Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 Page 7 Conflict over space may leave some pupils out of school INDIAN ISLAND — Confusion and mis understanding seem to surround the Pen obscot day care and kindergarten programs, and the losers might be young children who can’ join either program for lack o f space t and funds, and new eligibility requirements. The story starts seven years ago, when the Indian Island elementary school began an early childhood program. Funded through federal Title 20 money, the program has been conducted by Laura Massey, only full time Indian teacher on the school’ staff. s Last spring, a program started at the recently constructed Penobscot Health and Social Services building. A day care service for 2 - - year olds, the new program runs V1 5 year-round and is funded partly through Title 20 funds. That’ where there’ a rub. s s The Indian Island school was informed several months ago that Title 20 funds must be used for year-round day care, and the early childhood program was ineligible for the funding. But the problem isn’ just t funds, according to school principal Sr. Helen McKeough. She said day care cannot enroll enough children to take up the slack created by changes in the school’ early s childhood program. In the past, the school childhood program has served four year olds and five year olds (kindergarten). Kate Nelligan, day care director, has a current limit o f 20 slots for children; her present enrollment is 16. “The service we’ providing here is one o f a social re nature. It's for children of working par ents,” she explained. Sister Helen, on the other hand, em phasizes that the school’ program is educa s tional, not a social service. “Parents are really worried. They thought that their children were going into a developmental program like we had here,” Sister Helen said. “At this point the school board is very concerned,” said Sister Helen, noting that the community has confidence in its board. The fate o f the early childhood program and its pupils has been discussed at recent school board meetings. "The school board said, we’ afraid re there’ be all kinds o f kids ... I’ been told ll ve some of the new housing will open up in November,” Sister Helen said. She said she does not want to be "overlapping or com peting” with day care, but feels the school program filled a need that day care does not. She said Indian Island is “a community very much interested in education.” The school board has discussed obtaining funding through the Indian Child Welfare Act, but this source seems uncertain. “We’ looking for solid funding so that we re can run an early childhood program that can operate in conjunction with the school, as part of the school system, but without the restrictions of Title 20 funds,” Sister Helen elaborated. Nelligan does not quite understand Sister Helen’ concerns, and says that if more s funding for day care can be obtained, her program could be enlarged to an enrollment of 28. Guidelines require 35 square feet of space per child indoors, plus a ratio of one adult to five children. Nelligan has three assistants. “We provide a home-away-fromhome setting, where kids spend more working hours than at home,” she said. Nelligan pointed to a letter o f Aug. 3, 1978, from Linda Schumacher o f the Augusta Title 20 office, informing health and social services official Paul Buckwalter the school early childhood program should “actively investigate other funding.” Ap parently, this did not occur. Title 20 pays 60 per cent of day care costs, with the balance made up from federal CETA money, and a grant from the Episcopal United Thank GodTund. Building problems Other problems have plagued the Island school program. Crowding at the Indian Island school led to construction o f tempor ary early childhood classrooms in the gym nasium, prompting Sister Helen to observe that students were “crammed in like sar dines.” The picture brightened when tribal ad ministrator Andrew Akins informed the school board that a wing o f a new wooden building could be used by Laura Massey's program. (Her program will include those children five years old as o f Oct. 1 5.) The new building would be ready for occupancy by the time school opened in September, Sister Helen was told. Yet as Wabanaki Alliance went to press, the build ing was still without a roof, doors or windows. “We had been guaranteed that the log building (constructed by Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC) as a bunkhouse) would be ready for occupancy by the first week o f August,” said Sister Helen, adding, “The last date I heard was Thanks giving. I don’ know if that’ true or false.” t s In preparation for the expected new space, the temporary rooms in the gym were dismantled by Manfred Francis, school cus todian. Already, the school board turned over $24,000 from its education budget for heating and plumbing the YACC-built building. “At this very moment we have no kin dergarten. And the administration, which is myself and the school board, are very con cerned because the children are not attend ing classes,” Sister Helen said. EDITOR’S FOOTNOTE: An interim kindergarten, taught by Laura Massey and assistant Adrian Francis, started Sept. 24, in St. Ann’ Church parish hall. Thirteen s children were registered for the two-shift program, 9-11 a.m., and 12-2 p.m. When classes eventually start in the new building, the day will begin with breakfast, about 8 a.m., and end at 2 p.m. An entirely new ele mentary school is incorporated in future planning for the tribe, possibly aided by a land claims settlement. CMIA offers home to Indians far from reservation PORTLAND — “Just being there," is the greatest service outreach worker Andrea (Angie) Mitchell feels she. performs for Indians in the Portland area. Mitchell and Linda Naples staff the southern Maine branch o f Central Maine Indian Association (CMIA). Their duties include advising Indians on legal matters, referring people to appropriate social agencies, helping people trace their back grounds, and providing emergency food, clothing, and fuel. CMIA has recently added an alcoholism counselor, George Paul, to its staff. Naples said she wishes she could offer more. “I would like to be able to offer emergency funds or a place to stay. The closest place for Indians in need now is jail,” she said. The two women serve around 300 families in the area. “ Most of the people who come in have been here for some time,” Mitchell said. “We’ dealing with city people.” re Like the families they serve, Mitchell and Naples have been away from the reservation a long time. Naples, who is a sister of Pleasant Point housing director Clayton Cleaves, said she has retained about 75 per cent o f her native Passamaquoddy tongue. With her two children Naples has settled into city life. “I try to hold on to a little of the reservation,” she said, but admitted, “you have to conform to white society.” Mitchell, sister o f George Mitchell of Indian Island said it took her a year and a half to adjust to life in the city. “ When you hit the pavement, you don’ see that friendly t smile (as on the reservation),” she said. “Having CMIA down here puts me in touch with Indian people. That's the beautiful thing about this job.” Her apartment has so many Indian artifacts, it’ called Angie’ s s tepee, she said. With six kids to support, Mitchell is now well-adjusted to life away from the reserva tion. She guessed it would take a while for her to adapt, if she moved back. “ I was thinking o f moving back, but my kids wanted to finish high school with their friends,” she said, adding, “One good thing about the reservation is you can always come home.” Indian art school gets new boss WASHINGTON — Jon C. Wade, an enrolled member o f the Santee Sioux Tribe, has been appointed President o f the Insti tute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) at Santa Fe, New Mexico, Acting Deputy Commissioner o f Indian Affairs Sidney Mills announced. Wade has been director o f the Division of Education Assistance for the Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1975. He had previously been Superintendent of the Phoenix Indian School and educational assistance officer for the BIA's Aberdeen. South Dakota area office. The art institute, started in 1962, is a post-secondary school serving Indians from all tribes. Wade. 40, completed course requirements for a Ph.D. in Educational Administration at the University of Minnesota in 1971. He received a Bachelor o f Science in Mathema tics at Northern State College, South Dakota and a Master of Arts from the Uni versity o f South Dakota. Wade was a member o f the Special Education Subcommittee o f the National Council on Indian Opportunity and from 1964 to 1966 served as Vice Chairman of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. CMIA outreach workers Angie Mitchell and lln d a Naples Demonstrate the enthnsiasm which keeps their office going. �Page 8 Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 Evacuees From War-torn France M r;. M o lly A rc h a m b a u d a n d h e r litt le s ix - y e a r t - o ld d a u g h ter . Jean, h a v e ju s t a r r iv e d f r o m t h e ir h o m e in R oy a n , F ra n ce, a n d a r e a t th e h o m e o i t h e t e r m e r s sister, M rs. W a lie A k in s in O ld T o w n . t o O ld T o w n f o r t h e d u r a t io n o i t h e w a r - p e r h a p s lo n t er. a r r iv e d in L is b o n fr o m w h ich p o r t t h e y s a ile d f o r A m erica. Mrs. A r c h a m b a u d a n d h e r d a u Eh t e r a r r iv e d o n t h e S. S. M a n h a t t a n a n d c a m e T ra v e lin £ f r o m J u ly fir s t by foo t, u u f o n , railw ay , a n d a m b u la n c e t h e y fin a lly Molly Spoiled Elk (Archambaud] and daughter Jean, as they appeared in Bangor Daily News story of July 23, 3940, in which Molly recounted their dangerous escape from Naziinvaded France. Her French journalist husband disappeared, and was never heard from again. Life of Spotted Elk tragic, triumphant By Steve Cartwright News photo of the woman who fled Nazioccupied France with six-year-old daughter INDIAN ISLAND — Perhaps all artists Jean. In the latter photo, Molly at 36 has a live with irony and contradiction. Molly face that reveals grief, pain and grim deter Spotted Elk led an extraordinary life of mination. She is still a woman o f remark outward success and inward fear and pain. able beauty, but there is no joy in her eyes. She suffered, even as she was hailed as a Molly’ daughter, Jean, now a resident o f s spectacular dancer. Tennessee, seems to have a few o f her More than a Penobscot Indian dancer of mother’ enigmatic qualities. She is a s grace and skill, Molly was a poet, singer, spiritual person, and says she can use writer of diaries, recorder of Indian medi certain psychic powers if she chooses. These cines and traditions, intellectual and moth mysterious powers may be inherited from er. It is through her daughter, Jean Indian forebears, passing through Molly. In (Archambaud) Moore, that this reporter was any case. Molly was strong willed and allowed a glimpse of a fascinating woman. capable in her own right. Mary became “Molly" in the Penobscot Jean and this reporter talked in an up language that has no “r,” and Spotted Elk stairs bedroom of a slightly decadent Indian was Molly’ Indian stage name. She was the s Island house that in its day was probably the daughter of Philamin and Horace Nelson of finest on the reservation. It has many carved Indian Island. Born Nov. 17, 1903. she died wooden features and a handsome staircase. 73 years later. Feb. 21. 1977. They were It is spacious yet practical — much larger stormy, often desperate years, with periods than the average Indian house o f the 19th of homelessness, bereavement and low self century, which was often only two or three esteem. rooms. Horace Nelson was a Dartmouth edu Jean has considered selling the property, cated engineer for the Sewall company of but has mixed feelings. It is her physical tie Old Town, and was twice governor o f the to the tribe, in some respects. And a tie to Penobscot tribe. He was the first Penobscot her mother, who was, candidly, a better to graduate from Old Town High School. dancer than she was a mother. Philamin, known as Meme, bore eight Jean’ eyes shine with the same deep s children: Mary Alice (Molly Dellis). Wini intelligence that is revealed in photos of fred (Apid) January, Francis, Mildred Molly. “ Mama was a really private person,” Akins, the late John Nelson, Eunice she recalled. “Any insight into the person I Baumann. Peter Nelson, and Horace Jr., had to gain after her death.” That is a who died at age six o f tomaine poisoning. surprising statement from an only child. Francis (Blun) Nelson, deceased, attended Mildred Akins, Molly's sister, recalled Columbia and the University o f Pennsyl that "she was a leader. She scrubbed floors vania, becoming a teacher. Peter became an to take her dancing lessons, down to engineer in Germany, and Apid, who now Bangor.” She made baskets as did her lives on the west coast, was in show business sisters. Actually, Mildred remembers, “she like her sister Molly. wanted to amount to something as a writer.” All these details may sound dry. But to Perhaps that was part o f her attraction to a look at a photo Molly Spotted Elk . . . is a journalist. moving, haunting experience. A young and Molly was a stubbornly independent very beautiful woman as a scantily clad child, who carved out a life for herself even dancer in Paris; then a 1940 Bangor Daily though it wasn't the life she dreamed about. caught a glimpse of a man who seemed to shadow her. The man resembled her father, she said. “My father was a very well known jour nalist. When he left — we had already left — he would’ been put in prison if he’ ve d been caught. He worked with the Boy Scouts and the Red Cross," Jean said. O f course, a free Paris journalist was a threat to the Nazi regime. Mildred Akins said she believed Archambaud died in a prison camp. Molly told a reporter in 1940: “He knows that I would try to get here and if he is alive will contact me when he can.” Molly plunged into her work with re newed intensity, perhaps to ease the loss of her husband. "Mama came home about once a year.” Jean said, adding without malice, "she was like a visiting aunt.” “And then she was home when I was 13 to 16, during her (mental) illness. She was a very shy. introverted person. And she'd been hurt a lot. She always felt her intelligence was low. She was brilliant; she would put it down. "She would refer to herself as ’ this thing’.” “My mother saved every letter I ever wrote her, and believe me that was a hell o f a lot. And in almost every one I was begging her to come," Jean remembered. The burden of Molly’ life weighed on her. But s still she was creative, productive. “She started making a dictionary. I believe possibly she was working on it in France. Some is in French and Penobscot, some is in English and Penobscot. Maybe she would have done more . . . but illness caught up with her.” Jean said. “ My mother may have been considered crazy, but she has a lot o f background on communism,” Jean said. In the 1940 inter view, Molly warned o f danger in the U.S. “A German newspaper man told us that for 10 years work had been carried on in America. The same thing is happening here that happened in European countries — the Fifth Column is at work. The communist groups are working even among the Indians in this country." she said, alleging a Nazicommunist alliance. America should clear out all people who are not naturalized citizens — if people do not wish to become citizens and bear arms for this country they should be sent out of the country,” she declared. In her old age, Molly crafted Indian dolls, some o f which are in the collection o f the Smithsonian Institution. “She refused to make any baskets; she had to make so many when she was little,” Jean said. Jean is married to a retired Air Force sergeant, Harvey Moore, from Whitney, Texas. He now works for Capitol Inter national Airways as a mechanic. They have one daughter, Barbara Jean o f Indian Island. A son. John, is dead. Jean has no intention o f moving home to Indian Island, but she continues the psychic legacy o f her mother, grandmother, all o f them healers. Commenting on the steel one lane bridge to Old Town, Jean said, “ My grandfather said when it was built, there goes paradise.” Jean has saved boxes and trunks full of papers and memorabilia from her mother’ s life. Some material dealing with Indian legends has been donated to the University of Maine. A dancer, poet, scholar, story teller...a healer who could not heal herself; Molly Spotted Elk died 16 days after the death o f her mother, who tripped and fell on the staircase. Besides dancing, she acted in silent movies. She had the lead in Paramount’ “The s Silent Enemy,” an Indian film. She per formed at nightclubs, concerts, recitals. She performed with the Provincetown Players, and in Keith’ vaudeville “Indian Revue.” s She acted in Shubert’ “ Broadway Nights.” s It was the Paris Colonial Exposition, Theatre De Danse, that set the course of Molly's later life. She tried to pursue her literary passion. She attended the University o f Pennsylvania after graduation from Old Town High School. She later collaborated with her husband, working in the French newspaper office. In Paris, the tragedy began to unfold. As a young dancer working “tous les soirs” in Paris, as one poster proclaimed, Molly met John Archambaud, political writer for Le Paris Soir. Fascinated with Indians — he often sketched them — John fell in love with the lithe young dancer. Happy matrimony was soon shattered by the war. As the Bangor Daily News headline put it: “Mrs. Molly Archambaud and Six-YearOld Daughter Flee From Royan on French Coast; Nearly Month o f Desperate Travel ing; France Looks to Britain for Release Says Wife of Paris Newspaperman.” Intertwined with Molly’ flight from s France with little Jean in tow, was a growing fear of communism, of dark forces that were taking over the world. In her last years, at Indian Island, Molly felt those forces were closing in. The July 23, 1940, Bangor Daily News in terview refers to a “month o f terror” for mother and daughter, "as (Molly) and her child made their way from their home at Royan on the French coast to Lisbon, Portu gal.” From Lisbon, they sailed to America and safety. Meanwhile. John Archambaud “left their home looking for work,” and that was the last Molly and Jean saw o f him. Or perhaps Frank Saulis, grandfather of Molly Spotted not. Jean said she has a couple o f times Elk. �Wabanald Alliance September 1979 N ew priest named at Island Poems of Spotted Elk Moon looks down on a White Fox! We knew we loved the night, its mystery, Its enchantment and its holiness. Remember, dear how we Climbed, panting and laughing, to the hill-top Above a town, and how, we would drop Our soul felt legacies on each small house twinkling In the valley and knew the joy they’ bring. d If, they, by unknown power could come true? And how the stars closed in, and then ... then you Would pick a handful for my crown, and we Forgot the little houses, lost in ecstasy. Alone You taught me to laugh at sorrow To smile, to feel theJieart o f life’ song s To breath in the essence of tomorrow Thru this whole day long. I climbed the hill tonight with Jean and tried to play, To tell her you were there up in the moon, with words you used to say ... We stayed until the lights went out and the clear night grew still. And as we walked back from the hill, the moon and you were still up there ... Yes, we loved the night, the day, the little house unknown We were to call our home, where curly heads like Jean to children grown Would frolic through its cheerful doors, and scented flower pathways, And you content with Jean, to ... thank’ G od for what he gave you ... always. s Always, the night, the moon, the day, with Faith, Love, and God, to cling again A hill, that same hill we climbed, hand in hand. To bless ... the legacy, you gave to me to shelter in a little house. Geegis That you must seek the mountain and the snow And grasp those worlds that gleam afar, So that our child, may glimpse a star And learn o f you, o f heights, so she may go Out to the rim o f life wide open sea Sicking, following you, the boundaries o f a life. Prayers are whispered that never leave the tongue For love is more than words upon the lips — Faith o f a small child’ rhythmic prayer s And still, and still — you love us ever, still — Her baby glee shall ever belong to me Her childhood laughter o f a girl And smiles o f luscious maidenhood Beloved, father will ever belong to you. And for us, the tears o f her maturity. I know not when the day shall be, I know not when our eyes may meet; What welcome you may give to me, Or will your words be sad or sweet, it may not be 'til years have passed, till eyes are dim and tresses gray; The world is wide, but love, at last, Our hearts, our souls, must unite someday. PORTLAND — The Chancery of the Roman Catholic Diocese has announced that the Rev. John D. Civiello will assume duties as priest of St. Ann’ parish, Indian s Island, starting in October. Father Civiello succeeds the Rev. David Cote, who has taken a job at Hinkley HomeFarm-School. Father Civiello is a Millinocket native who prepared for the ministry at St. John’ Seminary, Brighton, Mass. He was s ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Peter L. Gerety in 1968, at St. Martin of Tours, Millinocket. For several months in 1968, Father Civiello was chaplain at Mercy Hospital, Portland. He was then appointed associate pastor o f St. John’ parish, Bangor. In 1977 s he became pastor o f St. M ary’ parish, s Westbrook. Penobscot man's conviction upheld despite racial slur ToJean If you try to forget (nay, you can ’ forget) t The lazy golden days dusted with sun. When birds flapped through our world, one by one. Rose calling to the air, their strong wings wet: If you try to forget the way the sun slid low Into the yonder world behind some hill or lake, And raveled, crimson clouds, burned in its wake — If you try to forget (nay, you can’ I know) t, Just how the moonlight sifted down between The restless clouds, and kissed our faces with its lights Or how the stars spilled down the sky at night And their winds, slipped among the trees unseen You can't forget, for we shall in silence speak one day And fired — so much to remember, with everything to say We knew, sweet. How nourished here through such long time We knew we gave our love sublime And gave that strength o f feeling deep and great. Above all human estimate! Poems by Molly Spotted Elk (Mary Archambaud), Penobscot, 1903-1977. Township principal s e e k s unity INDIAN TOWNSHIP — A new principal has been appointed at Indian Township elementary school, and she hopes to work for “ unity” and reflect the wishes o f the Passamaquoddy community. Sister Anselma Colford, o f St. Ann's Catholic Mission, has replaced Sr. Janet Campbell as principal o f the reservation school. An Augusta native. Sister Anselma has taught school since 1957, and has been a member o f the Sisters o f Mercy 25 years. “ I really have enjoyed working everywhere I’ ve been.” said the graduate o f St. Joseph’ s College, who holds a degree in elementary education. She has taught in Benedicta, and at Pleasant Point. The Indian Township school has been a focal point o f controversy in the Passama quoddy community, sustaining vandalism, theft, and a lack of confidence that led to some Indian parents removing their child ren to the nearby Princeton school. “ Can we just let our children learn, without (outside forces causing conflict),” Sister Anselma asked, in an interview. “What I understand from the parents is that they want their children to get an education with the least amount o f trauma possible. With the materials, the supplies, the staff — except for the classrooms — we should be able to provide the education parents want," she said, explaining that the school needs more space, and there are plans for expansion. “ I’ seen many positive things happen. ve There’ only one reason this group o f people s Page 9 Tribal planning session set WASHINGTON — A week long seminar on aspects of tribal planning is scheduled to be held in Seattle. Wash., Oct. 8-12. It will be co-sponsored bv Economic Development Administration, a branch of the U.S. Com merce Department and Administration for Native Americans, an arm of Health, Education and Welfare. PORTLAND — Remarks by an assistant district attorney in Penobscot County were not a “calculated resort to racial prejudice,” according to a ruling this month by Maine supreme court Judge James P. Archibald. The comments by assistant District At torney R. Christopher Almy referred to a Penobscot, Roy Dana, 23, from Indian Island, convicted on several charges in connection with a burglary. Almy said at Dana’ earlier trial that a doctor who testi s fied was a “fine eminent doctor,” while Dana was “an Indian . . . can you imagine how those two probably met and how they got along," Almy asked the jury. The doctor was Dr. John Ordway, chief psychiatrist at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. The supreme court ruling said trial Judge David G. Roberts acted properly in refusing a trial for Dana, an inmate at Maine State Prison in Thomaston. Ontario medicine man drowns picking rice A brief story in the New York Times of Sept. 16, noted that a 42-year-old Indian hired by Lake of the Woods Hospital in Kenora,- Ontario, drowned while gathering wild rice. Sept. 8. His job at the 200-bed hospital included ritual offerings and visions from the Great Spirit. George Councillor, the medicine man, was reportedly supported by doctors at the hospital. A new Indian healer may be hired, to serve 5,000 area Indians. Indian Olympics kick off at UMO ORONO — University o f Maine was the site of the first annual New England Indian Junior Olympics. Organized by Boston In dian Council (BIC), the competition drew participation from BIC, Mashpee, Brock ton, Mass., Indian Island, and Pleasant Point. Sr. Anselma Colford is together, and that’ for the good o f the s children," Sister Anselma said. One o f her problems since starting work Aug. 26, was that the teachers were paid for a full week in which they did not work, due to confusion about the schedule. “ My whole style o f administration is to be in touch with the people. I mean in touch with the community where I live,” Sister Anselma said. She said moving from her previous teach ing assignment at Pleasant Point to Indian Township was "not a difficult transition," partly because o f a joint school board. The three day event included numerous running heats, shot put. long jump, and softball throw. Boys and girls were divided into three competitive classes, respectively, according to age. Canoe racing and swimming had been planned, but difficulties with organization forced cancelation of these events until next year, according to Pleasant Point recreation director Linwood (Red) Sapiel. An expanded roster of games, including more traditional ly Indian events, is planned next year, when the meet will be held at Springfield College in Boston. Indian Island dominated the running with Sherri Mitchell, Chris Ranco. Kim Mitchell, Joseph Knapp, James Knapp, Debbie Clavette, and Greta Neptune taking top honors in most of the dashes. Flora Sapiel, Pleasant Point, and Derek Stevens, BIC. were first in the 12 and 13 year old class, while Robert Peters. Mashpee. outran the pack in most of the running events for 1 4 year-olds and over. In field events, Sherri Mitchell and Dennis Pehrson of Indian Island won the shot put event, while Dann Tiexera, Mashpee. Doug Pocknett, Mashpee. Sherri Mitchell. John Olson. BIC. Alan Lola, Indian Island, and Debbie Clavette reached the farthest marks in long jumping. Phillip Nicholas and James Sapiel. both from Pleasant Point, won the softball throwing events. A grant for S6.000 was used to defray traveling expenses. Visiting participants were housed at the Indian Island community building. The three day affair was topped off with an awards banquet. According to Red Sapiel, the most valuable experience for the kids was meeting the varsity players at the University. “The little kids were always looking up at them,” he said. �Page 10 Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 Old legend sheds light on Carter rabbit episode The following story was sent to us by Eleanor Sewell o f Albuquerque, New Mex ico. President Carter’ recent attack on a s rabbit, while out canoeing, brought to mind the old stories told to her by her mother, whose maiden name was Beavers. you’ just a fool. Keep on thinking, and, at re last, outwit the problem. But first identify your weakness. Don’ be your foes’best tool. t Be able to accomplish with emest wisdom as you rule. Now this rabbit is meddog. Yes, he can make much, much magic; never leave tracks when out walking, changes into gray grandfathers with long and venerable ears. His feats are filled with humor as he outwits the villians to cause the good to conquer and force the bad to yield. Now he can cause evil doers to feast in false domains, then he makes all this to vanish and leaves nothing they've obtained. His foes all sit and ponder how it has all disappeared. How they relished their illusions o f their grandeur that seemed to be all theirs beyond a doubt, until they woke and found it was all a dream the rabbit had created to delay their evil schemes and cause his foes to weaken as false dreamers always do. His humor and his wit combined and always followed through, like the shamans o f old. He created those illusions o f success; they felt secure in comfort, as I’ told, so they woke up in the ve morning, hungry, shivering in the cold. In the old time the Algonquin people of the sunrise country fought the cannibal stone giants 1200 years before Columbus thought he had found our land. The de struction of the giants by the legendary Gluskap has been told each generation by the grandfathers o f old. Tales told, retold by hundreds of his humor, and his valor and his magic in the forming o f the islands and the shores. Rock mountains and the rivers, which he rent to form their courses, all testify that Gluskap was the grandest giant of all. Everything that was, had spirit dwelling in its very being. Every creature, every feature of the earth and the sky above was the domain of gentle Gluskap, the benevolent, yet mighty, whose head could touch the stars, while never leaving those below. The people still revere the memory of this superhuman man, for his goodness and Now, the spirit o f rabbit still is living, old humor still remain to give some logic to the planet that surrounds us; how each creature ones say, and comes to help or hamper all fits the plan. The Wabanaki legends tell of the forces now in sway. He can change from good and first-born Gluskap, and how he an old man to a duck, from duck into canoe, fought his evil brother wolf before the birth in any way, at any time his need to win is of man. Gluskap made first man and due. And now to bring him up to date, woman from the wooden trunk of ash tree, grandmothers do believe, rabbit has come while the giant in eagle’ plumage sat on the again because o f their great need. Passamas rock near heaven, blowing wind to sail the quoddy, Penobscot both fight to save their sea. The legends of the spirit in wolf, and lands, while Presidents and governors play owl, or in beaver and in turtle still teach the law with card shark hands. Now is rabbit the s young to listen, and to learn to meet each attacker o f the President’ canoe? Does he problem with a method o f outwitting forces swim, and bite, and do all things rabbits that would seek control, and of the wily never do? He can, you know, if he but wills; spirits that teach the young to conquer all so Presidents, give thought to promises that weak and human foibles that make them fit you have made. They musn’t go for naught; for rabbit has appeared again. The people a role. are in need. It’s time to be creative, sir, and The rabbit, sly Mahtoqehs, gives ex amples of great wisdom and proves that honest as your creed. The rabbit has appeared again. Don’ strike out with your t ; imitating other creatures is no tool. Be crea tive, be inventive is his motto to the listeners. oar, the rabbit will outwit and win, as he has Never give up to the challenge when at first done before. KAKAKOK — These ravens have been with Joan Dana’ family at Peter Dana Point since s they were nestlings. They were given to the Dana’ by a woodsman, who found them after s felling a tree last Spring. Although they were free to leave, they followed the family when it moved to its new home. Andrew Dana is shown giving them lunch. If no one comes out to feed them, they fly down to the porch and knock on the door with their beaks. Dartmouth strives to serve Indians HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth College, founded in 1769 to teach area Indians, is again trying to help that population, after decades o f inattention. A report in a recent issue o f Talking Leaf, an Indian newspaper, said that Michael Vietnam veteran heads Indian organization ORONO — Central Maine Indian Asso ciation’ (CMIA) new president is a former s Penobscot County deputy sheriff and served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army, and happens to be a woman. Looking decep tively shy, Donna Loring, a Penobscot, brings a toughness to her job which she may well need. As lines begin to be drawn between Tribal Governors, Inc. (TGI) and Indian Island over who will control such programs as CETA and Maine Indian Transportation Association (MITA), CMIA appears likely to be caught in the crossfire. Loring said she hopes she can steer the off-reservation agency clear o f such con flicts. “I think if everyone can put their differences aside, TGI can go a long way,” she said. "CMIA has been overlooked since it was started,” she said. “I would like to see CMIA become better known.” She plans on “advocating with the governors” to be more aware of off-reservation Indians and their needs. A public relations position has been established to raise the agency’s profile. Although she has served for three years on the CMIA board, Loring said she is still overwhelmed with what she must learn for her new job. Buried under the paper work, she said she has had little time to think about the future. “I’ kind o f like to see d them provide more direct services; things you can see happening,” she said. CMIA has an emergency food allocation program, which Loring complains is a “oneshot deal.” She would like to expand the program, using government surplus food, so the program could be run on a “non-crisis” basis. Among CMIA’ other services are a s winter emergency energy program, North east Indian Family Support (NIFS) project, summer day camps, a prison GED and pre release counseling program, and providing technical assistance to other agencies. It was largely through CMIA’s assistance that Northeast Indian Cultural Awareness Train ing (NICAT) program was funded. One o f CMIA’s primary functions is referring people to other agencies which can help them. Three outreach workers are based in CMIA’ Orono office, with two s more at the Portland office. New CMIA president Donna Loring with executive director Melvin [Tom] Vicaire. Donna Loring has taken the reins o f CMIA at a time when budget cuts threaten the need for expanded services, and political pressures are mounting on all sides, but then, with her background, pressure is nothing new to her. Dorris, chairman o f Dartmouth’ Native s American Studies, is optimistic. Dorris talked about the “courageous position” of college president John Kemeny, who recom mitted Dartmouth to furthering Indian education. Originally a men’ school, co-ed Dart s mouth has dropped its long standing Indian logo after student protest. Dartmouth has hosted four conventions in recent years, on Indian land claims, Indian treaties and international law, tribal leadership, Indian arts. Dorris said Indian graduates are working on a variety o f things, from "Maine land claims to consulting for Hollywood film makers, but still no chiefs.” Wampanoags plan antinuke vigil MASHPEE, Mass. — A group of Wampanoag Indians plan to demonstrate their opposition to the construction o f the Seabrook, N.H., nuclear power plant, on Oct. 6, at Seabrook. A statement in the Mashpee Wampanoag newsletter, Mittark, said: “The traditional and spiritual leaders and elders o f the Wampanoag Nation, following the Instruc tions o f the Creator to protect and care for our Sacred Mother the Earth, invite all native, natural-world people to stand with us. “ We invite all traditional native leaders and elders to join us in the creation o f a spiritual encampment at the Seabrook occupation October 6, to make our presence and our message known and felt there and throughout the world. In accordance with our spiritual instructions, we must have no weapons, no violence, no alcohol or drugs. Our commitment to peace must be as dedicated as our commitment to our Mother Earth and the unborn generations,” the statement said. �Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 % Page 11 Indian bus service told to repay questionable expenses By Bill O’Neal ORONO — Maine Indian Transportation Association (MITA) has been granted a six month extension of funding, provided it re imburse the government for monies alleged ly mismanaged. The reimbursement man date resulted from an audit of MITA which showed failure to document some of its early expenditures and the use of MITA funds for ineligible purposes. Nicholas Sapiel, Jr., MITA director during that period, was sub sequently fired. Sources close to MITA said it was initially estimated that Tribal Governors, Inc. (TGI), which sponsors MITA, would have to reimburse more than 515,000. A current review, however, has turned up sufficient documentation to reduce the payback figure to $4,000-55,000, according to the source. Federal Highway A dm inistration (FHWA), which, awarded MITA its twoyear, $362,213 grant, is conducting a review of the missing receipts and other docu ments. Ray Pomeroy, FHWA contract director, expressed confidence that MITA would have little difficulty getting the $20,000 extension money. According to MITA director Lorraine Nelson, MITA has also received a federal Title 20 grant through Maine Department of Human Services. The grant will run on a three month trial basis, and then be for an "It's still at the talking stage,” he said. The possible localization o f MITA con indefinite period, if no problems arise. Ex plaining the trial period, Pomeroy said, tinues a pattern which began with Indian Island's takeover o f its own CETA pro "They ran into the problem on documen tation here, too,” again referring to the grams, and reflects a deteriorating relation ship between the Island and TGI. Penobscot period prior to Nelson’ directorship. s With the expiration of the FHWA grant, tribal Gov. Wilfred Pehrson was recently M ITA’s main hope for funding is a United fired as TGI president and reportedly is not attending TG I meetings. Metropolitan Transportation Administra According to Ranco, letting each group tion (UMTA) section 18 grant administered handle its own contract would reduce through the Maine Department of Trans portation. The money will be distributed administrative overhead and permit better through regional offices in approximately control over the individual programs. William Seekins. who is doing a five-year eight regions throughout the state. Each regional office will award the grants on a planning projection for MITA, favors main competitive basis. Whether TGI will apply taining “one central figure,” feeling it could for the contracts for its five constituents or better manage intricate government regu they will apply as individual entities is still a lations. Seekins is a consultant for Hancock County Regional Planning Committee, question. A DOT report on MITA recommended which will also be in charge of allocation of Section 18 funds to transportation agencies that administrative control o f MITA be taken over by the five reservation and off- in this region. Even if MITA is able to obtain Section 18 reservation groups using it. A TGI meeting was scheduled at press time to decide funds, Pomeroy said it would have to match 45 per cent of its operations allocation and whether or not to decentralize MITA. 15 per cent of its capital improvements allo Michael Ranco, Penobscot community cation. He said that CETA, revenue sharing planner, said Indian Island is writing its monies given to the state for Indian own contract, in case TGI decides to programs, and Department of Indian decentralize. According to Ranco, TGI Affairs money could be used to match the would become a conduit for money, but federal dollars. would have little to do with administration. Pomeroy predicted that Section 18 money would not be enough for M ITA’ budget. He s predicted that even if they find other sources o f outside funding, ‘‘ tribes are still going the to have to come up with some money (of their own).” The D O T study also noted that delays in payment of bills by MITA were causing problems with local businesses and recom mended that each of the five agencies pay bills directly, being reimbursed later by MITA. TGI rejected this suggestion. If TGI decides to turn over administrative control to each reservation and off-reservation group, payment would be made at the local level. CMIA and Indian Island, together, are slated to receive 40 per cent of the Section 18 money, with the two Passamaquoddy reservations and Association of Aroostook Indians picking up 60 per cent. One possible source of revenue under consideration is charging fares for riding the MITA buses. Seekins pointed out that people covered by agencies contracting with MITA would be issued ride tickets. Pomeroy added that if D O T funds are involved, MITA will have to verify that Indians and non-Indians alike are being served. Accord ing to Nelson, non-Indian organizations such as the Independent Living Center in Bangor have contracted for MITA services. Township N otes By Kathy Tomah Area Correspondent On Tuesdays and Thursdays at the community building at 40-hour Crash Injury Management course <C.M.I.) is being conducted for Indian Township through Washington County Vocational Technical Institute (WCVTI). Judy Clark, a registered nurse, and Donald B. Hampton, Downeast Regional Coordinator for Emergency Medical Serv ices are conducting this course. Also, the assistant instructors from the Princeton rescue squad are volunteering their time. Sonja Dorn, a registered nurse from Indian Township, contacted these people for these sessions. The first few sessions were for training of CPR (Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation), the method for reviving a person suffering cardiac arrest. The students will also be instructed in childbirth, treating stroke and • shock victims, bandaging to control or stop bleeding, treating fractures and splinting, administering oxygen, psychological first aid (which is very important), and extrica tion from a vehicle after an accident. They are being taught basic life support, so, when an emergency arises, they will be able to stabilize a person prior to his being transported to the hospital. When these people have completed the (CIM) course, they can apply to become licensed ambulance attendants. The certify ing agency is WCVTI. People taking this course are: Larry Lester, Anthony Cote, Joe Socobasin, Nicholas Dana, Rose Neptune, Martha Barstis, Allen Dorn, Lawrence LaCoote, Karen Buchanan, Kathy Brady, Raphael Sockabasin, Russell Roy, Doris Chapman, Peta MacArthur, Reggie Newell, Rick Anderson, Mathew Dana, Cheryl Bacon, Louis Dorogi, Paula Bryant, Sherry Beach, Carl Nicholas, Jr., David Tomah, Sonja Dorn, Darryl Nicholas, Norman Nicholson. This is a federal and state-funded pro gram, approved through the Department of Transportation in Augusta. The main ob jective is to upgrade emergency and medical service throughout the state o f Maine. Donald B. Hampton works in Washing ton and Hancock counties. Anyone interest ed in having this course presented in these counties can contact him at Emergency Medical Services in Lubec or go through WCVTI. VA booklet available New reporter Wabanaki Alliance is pleased to add Kathy Tomah to its growing list of area corres pondents. Tomah was born in Woodland and is a graduate of Woodland High School. She has lived at the Township for 10 years and has one son, Eddie. Her journalistic experience includes a photography course taken at Washington County Vocational Technical Institute [WCVTI]. TOGUS — A Veterans Administration booklet explaining a variety of benefits offered to veterans and their dependents is available for $1.50. The 71 page information booklet can be obtained by contacting the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Gov ernment printing office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Facts on job and education services, as well as medical and other benefits, are explained in the booklet. M aine’ toll free s VA information telephone number is 1-800452-1935. This newspaper was notified of the VA booklet by a reader and veteran, Katherine L. Smith of Chevy Chase, Md. WHEELIE — Bernard Joseph Dana, nine, of Pleasant Point, exhibits biking skill in front of Passamaquoddy tribal building. Means opposes money for Black Hills PIERRE. S.D. — Russell Means, spokes man for radical Indians, said at a recent Sioux meeting here that a 5105 million settlement for the Black Hills — former Indian land — should be voted down. Means said that the land taken from the Sioux in 1877 was, “Our graveyard, our church, the center of our universe and the birthplace of our people ... (it is) everything we hold sacred and dear, and this is the reason it is not for sale." According to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, three fourths of adult male members of each tribe must vote to accept the settle ment. That treaty gave the Black Hills to the Sioux in perpetuity, but after the discovery oi gold. Indians were told to give up their land or starve. Bureau of Indian Affairs official Robert Pennington, asked if the Sioux would get their land back if they turned down the monetary settlement, responded: “That’s obviously a key question and I haven’ the t foggiest idea.” Not one of the six tribal chairmen favored the monetary settlement. “If we don’ unite t to regain our land, then we’ going to have re traded the land which makes us sovereign for a few rusty car bodies and a few good drunks. We would ask all tribes to join with us in not selling that land, said Elijah Whirl wind Horse, Oglala Sioux chairman. �Page 12 Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 Houlton Indians remembered By James D. Wherry The families o f the Houlton Band of Maliseets and Micmacs have, over the years, lived at various locations which have been known as the Houlton Indian Reserva tions. The history of these reservations presents a fascinating story as told by the elders of the Houlton Indian community. The elderly people remain the primary and the most interesting source on historical information on Aroostook Indian people. At all times, confirmation o f details in the history is provided by town reports and church records. One such story begins in the early years immediately following the turn o f the century. It is individual members o f the Tomah family who figure importantly in developments during those years. Today, Louise Polchies (who was bom a Tomah) remembers aspects o f Houlton life during the first years o f the 20th century. Bom in 1893, she maintains a very clear mind and a fit body, performing much the same household tasks as someone half a century younger. She remembers that around 1901, her parents (Frank and Catherine Tomah) moved their family into an apartment over a store in Paddy Hollow. As a young girl, her earliest recollections of Indian neighbors are of the John Stevens family who lived next door. Louise does not remember well what her father, Frank, did to earn a living during this period. But, sometime early on, Frank Tomah got a job working for the Houlton Water Company. Louis Sappier, who was also living nearby, may have been a help to Frank in finding this job because Louis had been with the Water Company since about 1900. These jobs with the Water Company must have been subject to seasonal lay-offs, for we find Frank Tomah and Louis Sappier occasion ally picking up work with the town of Houlton. The Frank Tomah family lived in the Paddy Holly apartment for five or six years and then moved to the Foxcroft Road. Here, Frank Tomah built a clapboard house on the unused pasture land of the Kenney Farm. By 1906, the Foxcroft Road settle ment developed into a small Indian settle ment with five families living there from about 1906-1908. By this time, Frank Tomah and his wife Catherine (Francis) had Poetry Untitled firefly flickery high land once more, a spot in the sky Louis Sappier, Frank Francis, Noel Bear, John Bernard, Thomas Joseph, John Stevens and Louis Sopiel had houses on the County Road Indian Reservation. The sources o f income were fairly varied for these families. At least, Louis Sappier and Frank Tomah worked for the Houlton Water Company. Thomas Tomah and Thomas Joseph worked at the lumber mill which was located on the “Flats” (Bridge Street). The mill was owned by a Wilson. Peter Tomah worked at the woolen mill which was located along the Meduxnekeag River. Peter was later promoted to foreman. Many o f the women and older girls worked as house cleaners for local households. Many o f the young boys and girls, who had not started working, attended school at the Bowdoin Street Schoolhouse (where the Association o f Aroostook Indians now has INDIANS IN HOULTON — This picture was taken in circa 1906 at the Foxcroft Road its offices). Many o f the men and the older boys who had quit school received jobs as “Indian Reservation.” Depicted in picture left to right are Sarah Tomah, Phillip Tomah, Louise Tomah, Elizabeth Tomah, Benny Tomah, Sarah Atwin, Simon Atwin, Tom Bear, day laborers for the town o f Houlton. And Frank Tomah, Tom Forlis [Fallis], Sappier Sappier, Frank Francis, Louis Francis, Agnes always the Fall harvest presented seasonal [Francis] Forlis, Mary [Paul] Francis, Mrs. Sappier, Leo Tomah, and Peter Tomah. All were employment picking potatoes. At all times Maliseets except for Tom Forlis who was a Micmac from the Miramichi Valley, and who o f the year, the men could supplement their had married a Maliseet girl, Agnes Francis. [Photo courtesy Brenda Polchies] income by making axe handles which sold for five cents a piece, and potato baskets which sold for 25 cents to 50 cents a basket. seven children; Peter, Benjamin, Leo, depicted in this photograph but who was The raw materials for these products were Phillip, Louise, Sarah and Elizabeth. Frank not a resident is Tom Bear. Tom Bear is relatively easy to obtain for it has been the Tomah’ brother, Thomas Tomah and his described by those who remember him as a long-held custom that Indians can take the s wife Nellie Paul also had a house on the hermit who lived and hunted in the ash from anyone’ property. Most of the s Foxcroft Road and they had six children; woods o f Aroostook County. But his men had rifles and they would bring in fresh Charlie, Gabe, Andrew, Grace, Julia and newphew, Noel Bear, lived on the Fox game which was shared among the Indian Bessie. Catherine Tomah's brother, Frank croft Road and Tom would on occasion families. Joseph Francis who lived not far “Weasel” Francis and his wife, Mary “Mali come to town for a visit. O f the individuals way on the “Flats” supported his family Beliceman” Paul, lived there with their depicted in the photograph, only Leo with a fairly unique form o f employment. He children, Gary, Louis and Agnes. Their Tomah and Louise Tomah Polchies are still played the country fiddle and his services daughter Agnes had in 1903 married a alive. were apparently much in demand in the Micmac man, Thomas Forlis, and they Around 1908, the Foxcroft Road Indian Houlton area. Many o f the older people continued to live with Frank and Mary Reservation was abandoned and following remember Noel Bear as being pretty clever. Francis. Mary Francis’ aunt, Mrs. Alice the lead o f Frank Tomah, the men built new He was able to continue making his living s Sappier lived in the fourth house with her houses on land just east o f the Houlton Pro the old “Indian Way.” Louise Polchies two sons, Louis Sappier, and Sappier testant Cemetery along the County Road. remembers with fondness that her father, “Double Sap” Sappier, and her two grand This new settlement which received the Frank Tomah, worked hard to provide a children from her daughter Catherine’ first addition o f several more Indian families decent living for his family and was reward s marriage, Simon Atwin and Sarah Atwin. In became known as the County Road Indian ed with the respect o f his Indian and nonthe last house, lived Catherine Sappier with Reservation. Louise Tomah Polchies re Indian neighbors. her second husband Noel Bear and their members her father, Frank, building a fairly EDITO R’ NOTE: James Wherry is S children, Lawrence, Joseph, Josie and Mary. substantial house within a grove o f white currently compiling a history for the The photo taken on the Foxcroft Road birch trees. Their are still many people alive Association o f Aroostook Indians (AAI) in Indian Reservation about 1906 depicts some today who remember the beauty and Houlton. A native o f Pittsburgh, Pa., he o f the people who lived on the Foxcroft pleasantness o f this location. Besides Frank holds a master’s degree in anthropology Road at that time. One person who is Tomah, the families o f Thomas Tomah, from University o f New Brunswick. Aroostook County In beauty, we North American Indians search. In beauty, we seek. In beauty we find My people. Seek and ye shall find. Tilly West Ashland Friend frost leaves etched in glass sparkled away in sun’ bath s wart toad fat, short toad hunched in earth blinking sea gulls sail home after a long fish winging so slow their belly’s full moss gree dotted red flower wet stones earth smells were our joy Red Hawk 1975 My brother is in need o f a friend So I wish I could get on down there where he’ crying by the river s head in his hands tonight. The sky is weeping drops o f grey for him lost in the river’ flow s Lord knows the hills are layin’ layin' out to hold him and in the forest the wind can’ freeze his t tears. He won't know but I’ gone on down ve there where he’ crying by the waters s tonight, cause I’ in the hills gone down to hold him m and in the gentle evening rain in the warmth o f my friend’s tears. Nancy D. Hanson Saco C’MON, LET’S SLIDE — Faye Gabriel, a teacher aide at Indian Township’ kindergarten s program, proves that grown-ups can zoom down the slide, too. �Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 Page 13 Overruns trigger 50 per cent layoff PLEASANT POINT — Lack o f funds has forced Pleasant Point Housing Authority to lay off 50 per cent o f its force account employees and abandon 10 o f 40 Phase IV houses, planned for completion within the year. Housing Authority director Reuben (Clay ton) Cleaves said Department o f Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will decide in October whether to grant additional funds for the project’ completion. The s amount to be requested has not been determined, Cleaves said, although the over run amounted to 20 per cent Additional funds have been granted once before for the project, although only half of what was requested. “ With closer observa tion by HUD, all this could have been avoided,” Cleaves said, adding, “It’ not all s HUD’ fault.” s In other housing business, Cleaves said attorney James Mitchell is “about 80 per cent finished” with his research in bringing suit against IBEC, an Oklahoma-based contractor, which built an earlier phase of housing at Pleasant Point in 1974. Defects later turned up. Aroostook News By Brenda Polchies x Area Correspondent HOULTON — A general membership meeting of the Association of Aroostook Indian (AAI) was held Sunday. Aug. 12, to hold elections for officers and board of directors. The meeting was conducted at the AAl's new offices located at the Bowdoin Street School with members from Caribou, Presque Isle, Ashland, and Houlton in attendance. Maynard Polchies, President, officially opened the meeting after which Commissioner of Indian Affairs Charles Rhynard conducted the meeting on a parlia mentary procedure basis. The following NEW HOUSING is under construction at Pleasant Point, where Fred Francis, on ladder, officers and board of directors have been elected to serve two year terms: Maynard and Ron Segien, are employed in the 40-unit federally funded project. Polchies. President; Joyce Tompkins, VicePresident; John Joseph, Treasurer; Dora Phillips, Secretary; Clair Sabatis, Russell Sacoby, Joseph Tomah, Paul Tomah, Fred Tomah, Leonard Sabatis, Mary Joseph, Betty Joseph, and Mary London. One noticeable aspect was lack of board membership representation from northern (Continued from page 5) is glad to be going back to the reservation, Aroostook County. The general membership tion. He now has a well-paying job, we have but wishes she didn’ have to. What t session began at 1:30 p.m. and continued a nice home. After a year o f struggling we confusion this must cause in an 8-year-old into early evening when an official board of were finally getting ahead a little. When he mind. Hopefully, we will have something directors meeting was held. Friends and comes home Sept. 21 — he is an engineer on settled by Christmas. guests were welcome during the general a boat— we are going to the Choctaw Reser Walk in Harmony, membership meeting and refreshments were vation in Philadelphia, Mississippi to see Ruth (Davis) Johnson served. about housing, jobs, etc. We will be leaving P.S. Please continue to send Wabanaki. No * * * his family and relatives. He does not wish to matter where I move I will have my mail A joint project by the Citizens for Youth move back to Maine righ^now. forwarded, and I need news from home, and the Association of Aroostook Indians is I really don't know why I’ writing this. I now, more than ever! m being implemented for this coming school hope someone benefits. I ask all parents to One more thing, as o f Friday, Aug. 31, all year. A total of 40 children from the ages of consider carefully before moving away from but two white teachers have resigned from 5 to 14 are being involved in a preventative the reservations. Find out about the school Uniontown school system. No others have afterschool recreational and tutorial pro systems. My husband thought he was been hired. gram dealing with delinquent and other bringing us to a better life. But, when we referred youth. This project will work closely made the decision to move to Alabama there UPDATE: Kristin Johnson’ aunt, Ruth s with the Juvenile Intake Division, Mental was no adequate housing at home, and we Davis o f Indian Island, informed Wabanaki Health and Corrections; MSAD 29; MSAD did not know this would happen here. Alliance that the Johnson family has tenta 70; the Courts, and the local police de I’ cried as much as I can cry now. I have tively decided to move to a southern ve partment. The facilities o f Camp Little to get busy and find somewhere to live away Choctaw Indian reservation, where they Ponderosa will be used along with town from Uniontown. received a warm reception. Kristin will not facilities such as the library, recreation To everyone who loves me, please help be sent to live with Mrs. Davis, at Indian center, school facilities, and AAI counseling Kristin to overcome her homesickness. She Island. services. This preventative program is in the form o f animals, specifically horses, that the children will be working with and taking care of after school hours between 3 and 6 Indian child caught in racial conflict at school State S eek s R elea se From Island School C a se OLD TOWN — The Maine Attorney G eneral’ office has filed a motion in U.S. s District Court to be removed as a defendant in a suit filed to bar the teaching o f religion at the Indian Island School. Four Penobscot Indians brought the suit and included the state as a co-defendent, along with the Island school board and principal, state education Commissioner H. Sawin Millett.and Edward DiCenso, super intendent o f the Maine Indian Education. In its motion the state questioned whether it had a requirement to test constitutionality o f teaching at the school and, therefore, was liable for failure to make such tests. Hugh Calkins, representing the plaintiffs and the Maine Civil Liberties Union (MCLU) in the case, said he didn't feel determining constitutionality “should be the responsibility o f individual parents in every school district.” The state’ motion for dismissal has been s postponed until October, pending return of the judge hearing the case. Calkins said that even if the state is released from the case, suit will be continued against the remaining defendants. Although officials at the school have proposed a “moral guidance” course as an ' alternative to religion class, Calkins said he has not been able to learn anything specific about the course. “ We don’ know what the t curriculum is. We are trying to find out what the school has done,” he said. “We may have to use court discovery procedures” to find out, he said. According to Calkins, after the state’ s motion is resolved, he will proceed with the case in court. p.m. Since more juvenile offenses are occurring after school hours, it is felt by everyone that if these delinquent children are occupied by school during the daytime and are occupied after school by this program, the children would be too exhaust ed to want to cause trouble. There is a full schedule o f equitation lesson plans in beginning, intermediate, and advanced jumping; tutorial services are available; arts and crafts will be implemented, and an Indian Culture program is planned. The main services the Assoication o f Aroostook Indians will be providing is transportation and two counselors. * * * Daniel Mitchell o f Indian Island, Old Town, would very much like to get ahold of some good quality Aroostook County ash logs. Mr. Mitchell is planning to spend some long winter evenings making baskets in his shop but he has come upon the problem of finding very few ash logs in Penobscot County and what he does find, are o f very poor quality. Can anyone in Aroostook County accomodate him? He is willing to compensate for the ash. Mr. M itchell’ s address is P.O. Box 126, Indian Island, Old Town, Maine 04468 — Tel. 827-7494. * * * Louie Paul is new Alcoholism Counselor for the Association o f Aroostook Indians at Houlton. He is available to assist clients who have problems with alcohol and drugs. He can be reached at 207-532-7317 Ext. 21, Monday through Friday. SAD 29 in Houlton has been awarded a federal grant to meet the special educational needs o f Indian children during the coming school year. The local district has received $10,329 to fund a tutorial program for Indian students, grades 7-12. Mark Chaplin has been hired to perform tutorial duties and other related aspects dealing with Indian children in junior high and on the high school level. Indian students residing in Houlton, Hammond, Littleton, and Monticello who have problems or need assistance with schoolwork, are encouraged to contact Chaplin at Houlton High School, Tel. 532-6551 or drop in to visit at the library. State loses jurisdiction in manslaughter case BANGOR — The accused killer of an Indian Island man, in a manslaughter incident alleged at Indian Island, must be tried by federal authorities, and not the state courts, according to a ju dge’ s ruling. Justice Edward Stem ruled in Penob scot County superior court, Aug. 31, that the accused, William A. Holmes, 22, a reported non-Indian, does not come under state jurisdiction because Indian reservations are subject to federal juris diction under the Major Crimes Act. Holmes is charged with killing Adrian M. Loring, 29, a Penobscot Indian. The state argued through Deputy Atty. Gen. John Gleason that the case against Holmes should be stayed until an appeal of another case involving jurisdiction, known as the Sockabasin-Dana case, is resolved. The state has appealed to the U.S. supreme court a unanimous state supreme court decision in SockabasinDana that upheld federal jurisdiction in “ Indian country.” Both the Holmes case, and the Socka basin-Dana case which involved an arson conviction at Indian Township, are significant because they reinforce the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy claim to 12.5 million acres o f northern Maine. �Page 14 Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 Indians had few crime waves in early times By William B. Newell In order to understand why crime was nearly absent among American Indian tribes, before the coming o f the white man to America, it is first o f all necessary to know something o f the background of the various Indian groups with reference to their social life and their moral and ethical standards. When we have done this we can appreciate better the truth o f the statement that crime played a small part in the life of the Indian. One o f the principal theories upon which man’ life, with relation to his s social conduct towards his fellowman was based, among Indians, was the fact that “Man’ rights and privileges never exceeded s his duties and responsibilities.” In modern times our point of view o f this question differs from that o f the Indian in that we think only o f our rights and privileges and shun our duties and responsibilities. If we cannot look upon one as being just as important as the other then there is bound to be discord and friction among men. Greed, selfishness, and inequality will develop resulting in the breeding o f deceit, trickery, unfaithfulness, and the desire to secure unto one's self advantages over one’ s fellowman in everything in life. This perhaps is the one outstanding cause o f most crime that exists in society today. The fact that this cause did not exist in Indian society accounts to a certain extent for the absence of crime. Great criminologists today admit that greed, jealousy, and the desire to have more than our fellowman breeds more crimethan any one other cause. Sharing resources Naturally if men assume the position that they are not interested in having more than their fellowmen then there is never any cause for disagreement among men. It is said that among Indians when one Indian was hungry, in a nation, all were hungry, and when one Indian had plenty all had plenty. There was no question o f maldistri bution of wordly goods or o f economic comforts. In order that they all share in the benefits o f the various economic sources all participated in securing economic benefits for the entire group and not for any one single individual. To illustrate how strong this trait of character was among Indians it has been told many times how individuals meeting with misfortune became imme diately the responsibility o f the entire group and if a man’s house should bum down it would be immediately rebuilt and furnished before anything else was done for the group. The Jesuit fathers tell us that if an accident should happen to a hunter’ equipment, s such as the breaking of his bow or gun the nearest man to him would insist that he accept his gun or other equipment. Even if a man should-lose his coat or jacket his nearest neighbor would feel that it was his duty to see that this man had a coat, a jacket, a gun, or any other thing that was deprived of him through an accident or mis fortune. Even in gambling, which most tribes loved, it is a well known fact that after an individual had won all o f his opponent’ s wordly goods he usually always distributed everything that he won to all the losers keeping nothing for himself. Among some tribes it was a part o f their religion to always make it a point to return all gambling gains. Crime did not exist But in addition to the fact that this ethical standard accounted for the absence o f much crime among North American peoples there were many other reasons why crime did not exist among Indians. Criminologists try to prove that much o f our crime today is due to the pathological disintergration of men tality. Psychologists in their research among criminals, delinquents, and “mental de ficients,” show that a large percentage o f all criminal types are not mentally responsible for their actions when committing crime. If the mental condition of man is largely responsible for his criminal tendencies, then we can definitely say, that here was a very deciding factor in favor o f the absence of crime among Indians. In other words, practically all early writers of American Indian life tell us that their observations clearly indicated that there was a complete absence o f diseases that had any tendency to destroy or weaken the mind o f man in America. They speak o f the total absence of insane or idiotic among them. The neurotic was, o f course, unknown among Indians, and Indian peoples have been spoken o f as being the least emotional o f all races. Civili zation today is faced with a new threat to its survival and that is the vast number o f neurotics that have developed during the past generation. The cause o f this, as we well know, is the speed with which we are asked to keep pace in modem life. We are told that at the rate we-are going, in another 100 years one half o f our population will be taking care o f the other half who will be insane. One authority who is not so optimistic, has gone so far as to say that in another 100 years we will all be insane. Well, if it is a weak mind that causes crime then in time we will all be criminals. But, the interesting point about this discussion is the fact that there were no mental diseases among Indians and consequently no crime from this cause. Above all, there were no sexual diseases among the American peoples until such diseases were introduced to this country by the Europeans. The absence of the criminally insane, the mentally deficient, irresponsibles, and neurotics, most certainly was a very great factor in keeping down the This then accounts for not only the absence of crime but also for the fact that there were no houses o f correction, prisons, courts, codes of law, police officers, and all the other departments that go to make up modern jurisprudence. It might be well to mention also that there were no homes for old people because the American Indian cared for his aged. Neither was tthere any orphan asylums because children were never disowned or abandoned. Among practically every Indian tribe in North America there existed a single moral standard with reference to sex relationship which is significantly different from the European dual standard which exists today with regards to the moral conduct o f man and wife. Witchcraft, adultery Lewis H. Morgan tells us that there were only three major crimes among Indians that were universally known, witchcraft, murder, and adultery. Thieves and liars -were practically unknown among Indians. These were considered great criminals among them, and among many tribes a liar suffered death as a punishment for lying and among others his house was burnt together with all his belongings. We are fortunate that this crime is not considered so great among modern peoples because if it were few o f us would have any houses left. It was also considered a lie among the American peoples to not keep one’ promise when s given. Thieves were practically unknown among Indians and according to their ethical code a thief was considered the lowest o f mortals. His punishment usually was exile or ostracism. Consequently these crimes were not committed. With the encroachment o f European morals and ethics in the life o f the Indian it is expected that the Indian will change, and in fact has already changed to a great extent, but it would be a wonderful thing if some o f these sterling qualities that existed in the ethical culture, before it was contam inated by European ethics and morals, could be retained by him. Father Pierre number o f crimes that might be committed by Indians from these causes. Another factor that would account for the absence o f crime among Indians besides their natural virtues o f libertfjism, truthfulness, absence o f dissimulation, and other virtues, was their ideas o f personal rights and property rights. I have already intimated that their economic wants were always considered as being communistic and that what one Indian had they all had, but I did not mean to imply that respect for the personal property o f each individual was not present in their life. As a matter o f fact, personal property rights did exist and no Indian would think o f infringing on his neighbor’ personal rights or belongings. s Their wants were few and their possessions so small that there never was much occasion for one Indian to desire the things o f others. Furthermore, it was a part of their inborn nature not to have this feeling of desire and greed for things that others have, that we moderns are possessed with. Use of drugs Other factors that exist in modern society, and which it is claimed are specific causes of crime, and which did not exist in Indian society, was the use o f alcoholic beverages, drugs, and narcotics. There were no drugs or drinks used among Indians that would in any way disturb man’ reason or ability to s know what he was doing at all times. The one narcotic that the Indian did use, tobacco, was generally used for ceremonial purposes and we have reason to believe that it was never used to excess by any Indian, at least not to the extent that it would in any way impair his sense o f reason. Peyote was not universally used in North America and prior to 1850 was unknown to Indians north of Mexico. "Tests thus far made indicate that it possesses varied and valuable medicinal properties.” Peyote is not a violent drug and seems to have no physical effect on man’ constitution. s If we analyze the reasons advanced by modern criminologists for the prevalence of crime in modern society and then apply these reasons to American aboriginal society we find that they do not fit in the picture and are not a true basis for crime in Indian life. Perhaps after all the criminologists are correct in their deductions, and their reasons given for the excessive amount of crime in present day society are exactly correct, since these causes for crime did not exist in aboriginal life, and the fact that there was a scarcity of crime among the aboriginal peoples o f America. Biard, the Jesuit priest, exclaimed over 300 years ago, “For in truth these people are not thieves and would to God that the Christians who go among them would not set them a bad example in this respect.” Does civilization pay? A study o f Indian culture might point the way to the future peace and happiness o f the world in helping us to better understand how the Indian eliminated crime and then follow in his footsteps. If we analyze the present world situation, with reference to social and moral conditions, especially with reference to crime and human relations, we have to admit that European nations are even as barbarous, cruel, and inhuman as they were when America was first discover ed. Their greed for power and riches and control, their lack o f appreciation o f human life, illustrated in the slaughter of Jews and Ethiopians by Germans and Italians, their intolerance for the thoughts and rights of others, their mad rush to invent even greater devises to kill, and exterminate their brothers and fellowmen, their gradual mental and physical collapse, the disinter gration o f human relationships, all these illustrate a greater degree o f barbarism among the peoples o f the old world than has ever been known in the history of the world. Modern races are far more blood-thirsty than they were 300 years ago, more crime exists, and more criminals are born every day. Crime and its causes seem to increase with the advance o f civilization. We might ask ourselves the question, “Does our kind o f civilization pay?” rather than “Does crime pay?” M odem science has done a great deal to forstall the collapse o f civiliza tion from physical diseases but practically nothing has been done with reference to social and mental diseases, and the stabiliz ing o f human relationships. — Ta-ka-rakwi-ne-ken-ne. EDITOR’S NOTE — William Newell is a Penobscot Indian and retired anthropology professor, living at Indian Island. This article was first published in 1936. TRIBE’ NAMESAKE — David and Mary Lamberth [she is a Penobscot Indian from S Indian Island], christened their sailboat ‘ Penobscot.’ On board in the photo, taken at Subic Bay Yacht Club in the Philippines, is Mary, daughter Angela, and son Paul. David is stationed at the Subic Bay U.S. Navy base, and the family looks forward to sailing in a paradise of 7,000 tropical islands. They hope to return to the “States” by May 1980. As for the boat’ name, “Can you think of a better way to spread the word about the Penobscots?” s Mary asks. �Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 Page 15 VETERANS ADMINISTRATION Owned Homes For Sale Throughout The State Equal Housing OPPORTUNITY Minimum Cash Down Payment Financing Available Through V,A. 30 Year Loans — No Closing Costs 9V2% Interest. Anyone Can Buy You Don't Have To Be A Veteran See Your Local Real Estate Broker Or Contact VETERANS ADMINISTRATION LOAN GUARANTY DIVISION TOGUS, MAINE 04330 Tel. 207-623-8411 Ext. 433 advertisements WHY SHOULD I JOIN THE PEACE CORPS? Opportunity. For yourself, as well as others. Tw o ye a rs d e b t-fre e . A ll exp e n se s a re p a id fo r you, in c lu d in g h o usin g, m e d ica l, d e n ta l, su b sisten ce, and in su ra n ce costs. A bonus. A t th e end o f tw o ye a rs in se rvice , yo u w ill re c e iv e $ 3 ,0 0 0 as a re a d ju s tm e n t a llo w a n c e . Status. W hen you fin is h Peace Corps s e rv ic e you w ill re c e iv e one y e a r's p re fe rre d sta tu s fo r fe d e ra l jobs. M a n y p ro fe s s io n a ls began th e ir in te rn a tio n a l ca re e rs w ith s im ila r v o lu n te e r a ssig n m e n ts. Find o u t to d a y w h a t o p p o rtu n itie s a w a it yo u in th e Peace Corps. C all c o lle c t o r w r ite : Peace Corps, 1405-M John M cC o rm ack POUCH, B oston, M A 02 10 9. (617) 223-7366. Ext. 4. Who's Who among Indian women compiled WICHITA FALLS, Texas— Nominations are being sought for the first “W ho’ Who s Among American Indian-Alaska Native Women,” to be published next spring. The search for professional Indian women is being conducted nationwide. The listing will be circulated as a guide for employment and appointments on national, regional and community levels. As a resource, the publication will identify the profcessional expertise o f Indian wo men, needed by prospective employers and policy planners in both private and public sectors. The project, funded by W om en’ Educa s tional Equity Act (WEEA), is being devel oped in cooperation with a team of consultant-advisors who were selected to provide a broad based diversity in perspec tive, profession, geography, age and organi zation affiliation. The team o f consultants includes Mar jorie Bear D on’ Walk, Salish-Kootenai and t Chippewa of Billings, Montana; Rosemary Christensen. Chippewa o f Minneapolis, Min nesota; Jacqueline Ferron Delahunt, Rose bud Sioux o f Tumwater, Washington; Agnes Dill, Isleta-Laguna o f New Mexico. U s c r I e Write Dept. 74 World’s largest Indian Crafts catalog. Kits and readymade items. Books, records, furs, feathers, beads. More than 4,000 items to choose. GREY OWL Indian Craft Manufacturing Co. 150-02 Beaver Road, Jamaica, N.Y. 2 2 526-3660 1 SUBSCRIBE TO PUBLIC NOTICE The Legal Services Corporation is a private non-profit corporation estab lished by Congress to provide financial support for legal assistance to poor people in civil matters. The Corporation will be allocating limited funds starting January 1 1980 to provide additional , legal services to serve eligible Native Americans residing on or near various Indian reservations throughout the United States. Indian Reservations in Maine under consideration for this purpose include the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot res ervations. The views of, and proposals from, all interested groups will be considered. Grant application forms and additional information may be obtained by written request to: A. John Wabaunsee Assistant Regional Director for the Indian Desk Legal Services Corporation 1726 Champa Street, Suite 500 Denver, Colorado 80202 All proposals must be received by October 15, 1979. The public will have an opportunity to review and discuss proposals at an open meeting, in or near the service area under consideration. The time and place o f each meeting will be announced at a later date. POSITION AVAILABLE IMMEDIATE OPENING Associate Director of film on Indian people o f Maine. This person will work with the pro ducer to research, script, shoot and edit a film which will explore Indian life and identity in Maine. Ideas, enthusiasm and commitment are more important than previous film experience. Contact Jay Kent at Tribal Governors Inc., 93 Main St., Orono 04473 or call 866-5526 or 8277019. Project Director is Owanah Anderson, Choctaw, a native of Oklahoma. President o f National Committee on Indian Work for the Episcopal Church, Anderson serves on' President Carter’ Advisory Committee oin s Women, which focuses on issues o f employ ment, education and health services. Nominations should be forwarded to National W omen’ Program Development, s Inc., 2304 Midwestern Parkway, Wichita Falls, TX 76308. WABANAKI ALLIANCE News of Maine Indian Country Do you have a drinking problem? « .. Wabanaki Corporation offers an alco holism program for Indian people who need help because o f problems with alcohol. If you have such a problem and need help, or know of someone in need, please contact the Alcoholism Counselor in your community or area. Indian Island — Alcoholism Counselors — Clarence Francis — Rosalie Murphy — 207-866-5577. Indian Township — Alcoholism Coun selors — James Mitchell — Bernard Stevens — 207-796-2321. Association of Aroostook Indians — Alcoholism Counselors — Pious Perley — Harriet Perley — 207-762-3571. Pleasant Point — Alcoholism Counse lors — Grace Roderick — Angelina Robichaud — 207-853-2537. Central Maine Indian Association — Alcoholism Counselor — Alfred Dana — 207-269-2653 or 207-866-5577. PLACE AN AD Wabanaki Alliance, M aine’ only s Indian newpaper, now offers advertising at reasonable rates, with preference given to Indian persons and Indian businesses. Take advantage o f an opportunity to reach about 2, 00 readers — most of them Indian persons — through a display advertisement of your choice. Call or write us for rates and other information. WABANAKI ALLIANCE 95 Main St. Orono, Maine 04473 Tel. [207] 866-4903 �Page 16 Wabanaki Alliance September 1979 M ash pee claim appeal denied Flashback photo WASHINGTON — The U.S. supreme court upheld without comment a recent ruling that the Wampanoag tribe of Mash pee. Mass., has no legal right to sue for ownership of the town, plus $500 million from current non-Indian landowners. The ruling had first been made in a lower court. Tribal council chairman Russell Peters said. "I think it’ really a miscarriage s of justice. Civil justice is not very civil.” U.S. district court Judge Walter J. Skinner dismissed the Mashpee case last year after a jury concluded Wampanoags did not legally constitute a tribe, as defined by the federal government. Mashpee Indians were the majority in the town until real estate developers moved in, about ten years ago. Indians sought 11,000 acres. Indian history text readied Island sch ool days 50 years a g o This photo of pupils at Indian Island school, taken a half century ago, yields the names of many contemporary grandparents of Penobscot students at the elementary school. School began again recently, in the same building as pictured above. There were 76 students posing for this photo; today there are going to be just about the same number enrolled at Indian Island, but the school no longer has a seventh and eighth grade. Those wide-eyed, loveable faces are, from left, front row seated: Eleanor Tomer, Thelma Neptune, Inez Love, Clara Dennis, Joan Lolar, Annie Orson, Rita Francis, Helen Mitchell, Jerry Francis, Kenneth Paul, Donald Nelson, Carl Francis, John Mitchell, Leon Lolar, Pat Shay, “Happy” Hamilton. Front row, standing, from left, are Catherine Bimkins, Gloria Ranco, Yvonne Lolar, Louise Banks, Connie Francis, Francine Lewey, Phyllis Pherson, Evelyn Dennis, Franklin Neptune, Harry Hamilton, Norman Nelson, Leslie Banks, Ernest Goslin, Irving Ranco, Clement Neptune, John Nelson Jr., Joe Ranco Jr. Third row, from left, are Julia Neptune, Shirley Ranco, Francis Gardner, Gloria Mitchell, Catherine Phillips, Berenice Nelson, Theresa Love, Ernestine Francis, Phillip Lolar, Pious Tomah, Melvin Neptune, Norman Lolar, Nick Sapiel, Warren Mitchell, Bernard Banks, Femald Neptune. Fourth row, from left, Ida Francis, Marie Dennis, Eunice Lewey, Arlene Nicholas, Madeline Bernard, Regina Mitchell, Ernestine Tomah, Rose Francis,. David Sapiel, Arthur Neptune, Paul Hamilton, Peter Nelson, Joe Sapiel, Paul Francis, William Bernard. Back row, Beatrice Phillips, Hilda Mitchell, Marvis Lewey, Josephine Sappier, Ramona Sappier, Mitch Bernard, Manfred Francis, Morris Mitchell, Bobby Hamilton, Eugene Loring, Donald Francis, Lawrence Sockalexis. [Photo courtesy of Jean Archambaud Moore] news notes Small business seminar ORONO — Department of Indian Af fairs, in cooperation with Small Business Administration (SBA), is sponsoring a seminar on starting and operating small businesses and applying for SBA loans. Speakers will include area businessmen and SBA representatives. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and will be held at the Indian Resource Center, 95 Main Street, Orono. All people interested in attending are asked to contact Russell Socoby at Depart ment of Indian Affairs, Houlton, Maine 04730, telephone 532-6577. Social service workshops for Indians slated ORONO — A series of two day work shops will consider improving social service delivery to Maine Indians, according to Gail Dana, director o f Northeast Indian Cultural Awareness Training program at University of Maine. Workshops are scheduled Oct. 15-16, in Portland; Oct. 22-23, in Presque Isle; and Oct. 29-30. in Machias. To register or get further information, call Orono, 5812539. CMIA updates lists ORONO — Central Maine Indian Asso ciation (CMIA) is updating its mailing list. Anyone interested in being added to the list is invited to contact CMIA at 95 Main Street, Orono, Maine 04473, or phone at 866-5587 or 866-5588. AUGUSTA — A new version of Maine Indians and their part in the state’ history s is being prepared in a final draft, for publication in a planned Maine history text book called "Dirigo.” Dean B. Bennett, director of the project, said he hopes to see Dirigo used by Maine’ s 450-500 junior high school classes dealing with state history and culture. ‘‘ e’ W re moving along. I'm shooting that it'll be out by spring. Right now I’ deep in the editing m process.” he said. A teacher's guide is also in preparation, to accompany the hard bound text. ‘‘ looks to me like it'll It probably be a month or so before we go to a printer.” he added. Asked about such a history becoming quickly out-of-date, as new events transpire, Bennett said that he thought a good history book should be revised every five years. Bennett, himself a teacher, hopes to embark on another project soon, involving a curricu lum for natural science. Governor Lew ey named USET board member INDIAN TOWNSHIP — Passamaquoddy tribal Gov. Harold Lewey has been ap pointed a board member o f United South eastern Tribes (USET). an organization that aids its members in political and legislative matters. Last year the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes were admitted as new members o f USET. Lewey attended a national meeting Sept. 25-26. in Nashville, Tenn. Tureen says Bell showed sympathy PORTLAND— Lawyer Thomas N. Tur een says the resignation of U.S. Atty. Gen. Griffin B. Bell— often seen as opposed to Maine Indian land claims— is not some thing to celebrate. Tureen, who represents the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes in their 12.5 million acre claim, told a reporter that Bell championed certain Indian causes. He acknowledged there have been "complaints about him from time to time," but said Bell wrote a supportive letter clarifying the "nature of federal trust responsibility” just prior to his retirement from office. President Carter accepted Bell’s quitting with "genuine regret." although Bell has criticized the President as "just not very good with people," according to the New York Times. Carter named Bell's chief deputy, Benja min R. Civiletti, as the new attorney general. ANOTHER AGE is recalled by this early photo of Molly Spotted Elk, a Penobscot Indian whose career included vaudeville, journalism, study of her people, traditional medicine, poetry and a courageous escape from France during World War H. See feature story on page 8 . � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (September 1979) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1979-09 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-407 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission. https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/d4986d66df917be64725f737239f43a3.pdf 80219604c7cd3049833dd2bbb54efd97 PDF Text Text Island youth to run in national meet GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. — A Penobscot youth has qualified to com pete m a national AAU cross country m eet W abm aki Afimnce learned a tp r e s s time. weekend first over t0 m ake the jt fo n a ls since the 1960’ when P s, Jimmy Thomas ran tor the Island. A member of Andrew Sockalexis track team, Jamie 0lyh *t esno 01 KapSepoo ad81o pgr a t e h o f 17 np-e hts n 17n a 61 0 Wabanaki A llia n ce Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid 3.1c Permit No. 15 Orono, Maine N ovem ber 1979 Report on claims due this month PORTLAND — A joint tribal negotiating committee has agreed to submit a draft on resolution o f Maine Indian land claims by Nov. 30. The written report will be presented by Penobscots and Passamaquoddies to U.S. District Court Judge Edward T. Gignoux, according to tribal claims lawyer Thomas N. Tureen. Tureen said “all parties reported sub stantial progress,” at a Nov. 1 hearing in Gignoux’ Portland chambers. A proposed s settlement has been estimated at $79 million in federal money, including funds to purchase 300,000 acres from major land holders in Maine. The state has no financial obligation in the current proposed settle ment. The tribes face an April 1 1980 deadline , in their 12.5 million acre claim to northern Maine. That date markes the federal dead line for filing Indian claims in court,under a statute o f limitations. Penobscots and Passamaquoddies argue their aboriginal lands were taken in violation o f the 1790 Nonintercourse act, which says Congress must ratify treaties and land transactions. Tureen told Wabanaki Alliance that if necessary, Gignoux will meet with the nego tiators Dec. 7. In a related development, Gignoux dismissed petitions for intervenor status filed by two off-reservation Indians. Seeking to intervene in the land claims case were Ralph Thomas o f Augusta, a Penobscot, and Frederick Meader, a Passamaquoddy. Cutbacks seen in 1980 funds for l\Aaine tribes $66,800; Pleasant Point, $109,300; Indian WASHINGTON — Passamaquoddy and Island, $134,500. Penobscot Indians will apparently receive Combined BIA and IHS funds for Pen reduced Bureau o f Indian Affairs money for obscots and Passamaquoddies this year the coming year, in a rollback to 1978 fund totaled $3,983,583, according to BIA figures ing totals. obtained by this newspaper a year ago. The tribes will be receiving their third annual BIA support payments, which began MOOSEHTOE is stretched on traditional frame for scraping and drying. Using bone in 1978 in connection with the recent federal recognition status o f Penobscots and Passa scrapers are Stanley Neptune, left, and Watie Akins. They worked as a team in the arduous process of in n in g moosehide. First they studied traditional methods. See m ore photos maquoddies. Although final 1980 appropriations won’ t on page 4. be known until late November or December, one BIA official said the expected $1.1 million for the two tribes could be described ORONO — Wabanaki Alliance re as a "drastic” reduction from previous allo ceived four honorable mentions in a cations. He said 1980 figures are “not so recent Better Newspaper Contest o f the much cutting as failing to grant increases.” Maine Press Association. BIA funds are pegged at $508,800 for Special recognition was accorded Bill Indian Island; $423,300 for Pleasant Point; O’ Neal, associate editor, for “Under the influence,” a two-part series on Indian diction. The state is attempting to appeal and $260,100 for Indian Township reserva INDIAN TOWNSHIP — Two Passama tion. The BIA official said these figures alcoholism. Also cited were stories on that ruling to the U.S. supreme court. quoddy tribal members were arrested in t The Longest Walk, and “ Indians behind Arrested by tribal police following an could change by January, but “we weren’ separate incidents recently, and have been encouraged very much” by the federal bars,” a story about state prison inmates. incident Oct. 27, at Indian Township reser turned over to FBI agents, to await trial in Wabanaki Alliance received honorable vation, was Steven Sabbatus, 21, who Office o f Management and Budget. U.S. District Court, Bangor. Also slated for the Penobscots and Passa mention for general excellence, best allegedly struck another tribal member, The federal involvement comes in the maquoddies in 1980 is an estimated $1.5 feature story (to O ’ Neal and Steve Cart Gordon Newell, in the face. Authorities said wake o f last summer’ Maine supreme court s wright, editor), and best feature series. Newell suffered cuts and may lose sight in millioon from Indian Health Service, a ruling that reservations are “ Indian federal agency formerly connected with Contest judges commented that Wab (Continued on page 4) country,” and not subject to state jurisBIA. Howard Roach, and IHS official, said anaki Alliance is “ Clearly a 'special he was unable to provide detailed infor interest’ paper, but one which serves a mation. need and does it well. Impressive BIA funds fall into three categories o f aid. coverage o f ‘ The Longest Walk to D.C. According to BIA program planning spec in the summer o f 1978, and two excellent ialist Bob Cooley, the categories are Indian investigative reports oh alcoholism and services, development and natural resources Maine Indians in prison.” management. About O ’ Neal’ report on alcoholism, s Cooley said services — which include law judges wrote: “The reader is jolted by the enforcement, housing and self-determina problem o f alcoholism among Indians. tion — are budgeted for 1980 at $110,000 The reader also gains a deep, spiritual such episode began in 1910, and died out By Phil Guimond for Indian Township; $79,200 for Pleasant understanding of why the problem exists. eight years later, before modem pesticides Spraying the forests with toxic chemicals Point; and $155,400 for Indian Island. An emotional experience.” or the means to apply them were available. to combat the spruce budworm has become In the business and human development In a related matter, Maine Press The current outbreak has endured 24 years quite controversial this year in Maine, on a category, $62,900 is set for Indian Town Association directors have elected Wab despite all efforts to suppress it by chemical number of grounds. ship; $103,000 for Pleasant Point; and anaki Alliance to associate membership means. George Sawyer, an agent for Dunn Some observers have questioned whether in the organization. Timberlands, states that he cannot see that $126,700 for Indian Island. Under natural spraying actually reduces the duration and resources, Indian Township is slated to get (Continued on page 4) severity of a spruce budworm outbreak. One Wabanaki Alliance cited in contest Passamaquoddy in federal custody FBI places m en Value of budworm spraying debatable �Page 2 Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 editorials Bad sm ok e signals The visitor to our office puffed on her cigarette defiantly, ignoring three signs asking people please not to smoke here. Well, we might say, it's her funeral. But it isn’ just a personal choice. Medical reports state t conclusively that other people’ smoking injures our own health. We s must realize as individuals that we are not alone, and our actions, such as smoking a cancer-causing substance, affect our neighbors. A recent Washington Post story states: “Tests are pointing up the damage done to the lungs o f infants and children in homes where there are smokers." A doctor estimates that the effect o f parental smoking on children is equivalent to the child smoking three to five cigarettes per day. Smoking is the most comm on form o f indoor air pollution. Smoke from cigarettes is loaded with carbon monoxide, a deadly gas. Carbon monoxide displaces oxygen in the bloodstream, and this is especially life-threatening to a person with heart disease — where the heart is struggling to get enough oxygen. Emphysema and asthma are conditions easily irritated by smoking. Also frequent are eye problems for contact lens wearers, aggravated hay fever and assorted allergic symptoms. In view o f all this, it seems particularly reprehensible that many employees o f the Penobscot Indian Health Center are heavy smokers. Oftenone must walk through a haze o f cigarette smoke to enter the clinic. The young children, the elderly, the sick — these people deserve better than to be subjected to contaminated air. WARRIORS - Proud of their Penobscot heritage are these Indian Island youngsters, Keane Francis, left, and Jason Pardilla. They were dressed for ceremonial dancing at last summer’ pageant, held annually at the reservation. s Nutrition Notes — Provide eating untensils and dishes that are easy for the child to hold and use. (A young child is in the process of Habits learned in the first few years o f life developing fine motor control) Serving remain for the rest o f one’ life, and parents s “finger foods” will also help motor develop must take the responsibility o f assisting in ment. the development o f the child’ eating habits. s — Having the child come to the table The developmental process o f the be- rested. haviorial attitudes towards the formation of — Serve foods in variety o f textures, positive eating habits must be undertaken colors and flavors. Pre-schoolers and tod with careful consideration. Children learn dlers prefer plain blandly flavored foods from their environment. Every effort should that are lightly seasoned. be made to influence the child to adopt a — Serve snacks early enough, so they healthy eating style, and to facilitate the won’ spoil the child’ appetite before the t s nutritional needs during the critical periods meal; (two hours before). o f physical growth and development. — Remember, appetite decreases as rate As a way o f providing the needed o f growth decreases. Foods may be refused. nutrients for proper growth and the Don’ force the child to eat, keeping in mind t formation o f positive eating behavior, the his essential nutrients for the day. planning o f nutritious meals and snacks in — Serve meals in small amounts. The the home is essential to accomplish these child may ask for seconds. goals. The daily meals and snacks should be — Encouraging the child to assist in the served on a regular schedule. They should preparation for the meal (setting the table, be appetizing, colorful, attractive, easy to pouring own drink, feeding himself, etc.) manipulate, palatable, offered in varieties, serves as a positive reinforcement and an and should come from each o f the four basic enjoyable time for the child. food groups (Snacks should include two or Remember the child is learning to three of the four food groups). The following associate with his environment at this time. suggestions will facilitate the formation of The child will mimic his peers. Association healthy eating habits: with a good healthy environment is a — Serve meals in a pleasant place and a positive step to the formation o f good eating calm atmosphere. habits. By Natalie S. Mitchell, LPN Health Reporter Associate Member — Wabanaki Alliance Maine Press Association Vol. 3, No. 1 1 November1979 Published monthly by the Division of Indian Services [DIS] at the Indian Resource Center, 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. Steven Cartwright, Editor William O ’ Neal, Ass’L Editor V'KNOUJ I'M & E T T IN & 1 F I& P ALL T H E S E W U//7H EROM EUROPE. Quotable Get a few laughs, do the best you can, take nothing serious, for nothing is certainly depending on this generation. Each one lives in spite o f the previous one and not because o f it. Will Rogers, humorist-philosopher Cherokee Indian DIS Board of Directors Jean Chavaree [chairman] John Bailey, Public Safety Coordinator Albert Dana, Tribal Councilor Timothy Love, Representative to State Legislature Jeannette Neptune, Community Development Director Jeannette LaPlante,Central Maine Indian Assoc. Susan Desiderio, Assn, of Aroostook Indians Maynard Polchies, President, Aroostook Indians Melvin L. Vicaire, Central Maine Indian Assn. David A. Francis Indian Island Pleasant Point Indian Township Indian Island Indian Township Orono Houlton Houlton Mattawamkeag Pleasant Point DIS is an agency of Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc. of Maine. Subscriptions to this newspaper are available by writing to Wabanaki Alliance, 95 Main SL, Orono, Me. r v ______ ti_______________ Carribu aniJ fllS a rp a nnn-nrflfit r n moration. Contn butions are deductible for income tax purposes. �Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 Page 3 letters Wouldn't be without it Most generous people Hinckley To the editor: This is just a short letter to thank you for continuing to send the Wabanaki Alliance to me here at the Hinckley Home-SchoolFarm. It keeps me in touch with the Penobscot community where I had the good fortune to be at St. Ann’ Church for the s past year and a half before coming to Hinckley. I miss the Island and its people im mensely. They are the kindest, friendliest, and most generous people I have ever known, and I treasure the privilege that was mine in being able to live on the Island and share in their community. Keep up the good work! Rev. David P. Cote, CSW Program Director Hinckley Home-School-Farm Indians in history Gardiner To the editor: Please send me any information you have. I teach Maine history in Gardiner and we need information on Maine’s natives. I am interested in newspapers or any other material. Steve Swindells Bass Harbor To the editor: Please renew my subscription to Wab anaki Alliance. I would not want to be without it. Hollis Piatt Personal interest Poughkeepsie, N.Y. To the editor: I am in the process o f collecting as much material available concerning the Indian issues in Maine. I am attempting to write a research paper on the Indian land claim controversy, and I would like to investigate many aspects related to the land case such as: the Indian’ suit, and its merit; specific s Indian human affairs; the property rights o f small landowners, and how they feel they are being threatened; and the White House negotiations for a compromise settlement. I have a personal interest in the case, also, as I am a resident of Kittery, Maine when not at school. I have already received one issue of the Wabanaki Alliance (April 1978), and I have found it very helpful. I would appreciate it if you would send me any recent periodicals which are specifically relevant to my topic. Please inform me o f the cost. Thank you so much for your time. Catherine L. Robbins Prejudice Atlantic, N.C. To the editor: I received the last issue of your fine paper today, and I was really enjoying reading it until I came to the part about the racial dispute at school. I have two children in a all white school here at Atlantic, N.C.^where we live. There are no Indian schools around this area. We are seeking Federal recognition from the government, and the locals are envious and hate the ground we walk on. They are under the impression that we intend to take the land from them. “It is a thought, after the way we have been treated.” My two sons, Jerry, Jr. and Jodie, are in grade school. Every day each comes home with a black eye or something. The children call them pigs, chiefy, dogs, and many other names. The boys fight back. I admire the spirit in them that they have, true American Indian. Their motto is, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” which is really true. We have been in this neck o f the woods for some 34 years and still can’ get along t with the residents of this area. Every time I pass someone, I get a war whoop, a how, or some smart remark, my wife gets the same. We cannot get credit anywhere; I cannot get a job anywhere in this country. I have a heart condition and a ruptured disc. The Dr. told me that he knew I could not work, but he wasn’ going to say so. All the Dr’ t s, here stick together. I have no income except for a few dollars I make through my small mail order business, TCS Enterprise, which is not much. I cannot get welfare or SSI simply because of the unfair treatment by Dr’ s., hospitals, and the public affairs workers here. You think Indians have it tough; they should live here where we do, then they would realize how tough it is. y V I would like for you to publish this letter so every true born American Indian that reads this paper can see what we face every day o f our lives. May I add, every time I go to get food from the store I am treated as if I am an animal and get waited on last. I have had a few run-ins with a few o f the locals here because o f the smart remarks. One long haired hippy got to me so bad one night at the store, asking me nothing but how, I pulled my knife, and grabbed him by the hair, and pretended to cut it off. He soon began to see the light. When he found that I could show him how, he cooled off. I do not like to fight, I’ a Christian and a minister, m but I believe I have to stand for the things I believe in, am I not correct? Jesus Christ, the Lord o f Lords, King of Kings had a disciple Peter, his rock, the Comer Stone for his church. Peter lost his temper; he cut off the ear of the guard, remember the story in the Bible? Well we have the right to stand for what is right as well, I am sure. I would really like for you to let the Indians that read your paper know how it is here in the eastern part of N.C. Let me hear from you when you will. Here is $2.00, all I have to help pay for some of your mailing of your papers. I would send more but I just don’ have t any more. We have plenty o f food, we burn wood to keep warm, so you take this money and pay postage for some papers, we don’ t really need it. I’ll get some more soon. The Lord God looks out for us very well. We are in no need at the present time, and I’m sure it will continue to be with His help. Like 1 said, let me hear from you when you will. Keep up the good reporting that you are doing. Jerry Lee Faircloth, Sr. MOVIE STAR? — Someday, maybe. Peter Dana Point’ Joyce Tomah, pictured here, said s she would like to become a model. She’ off to a good start. s Remembrance Impressed Lansing, Mich. To the editor: Michigan Indian Manpower Consortium has read your recent newsletter and are impressed. We would like to be put on your mailing list. Please bill us. Florence Babcock Compiling history Thorndike T o the editor: I would like very much to subscribe to the Wabanaki Alliance as soon as possible. As I am in the process o f compiling a history of Penobscot Indian Art styles, it will be most helpful in my work. Also, if there is any chance that I could obtain any back issues of the paper it would be greatly appreciated. Pamela Lindsay Building cabin Portersville, Pa. Dear Sir: I’ writing to thank..you for sending my m sister her newsletter, she hasn’ mentioned it t to me, but I know you people are great, and I know you won’ forget my sister. Also I t want to mention that my husband and I are planning to build a log cabin home. If you know of someone that knows how to build a log cabin home, we would like to know as soon as possible, we would give them a job and try to find a place for them to live, we own our own business. I’ give you one of ll our cards, also I raise and sell cairn terriers. I’ also send my card up. If you can put it in ll the paper I’ sure would appreciate it. d I’ enclosing a check, hope you keep up m the good work, which I know you will. Louise E. Kraly Morning Star Bangor To the editor: I would like to express my appreciation to the Wabanaki Alliance for the September issue o f the "Houlton Indians Remember ed.” Most o f those people pictured are my ancestors. I would also like to thank Mr. James Wherry for the ancestry chart he recently had done for our family. Waneta Deveau New subscriber Kennebunkport To the editor: I would like to subscribe to the Wabanaki Alliance. I have heard good things about your paper and have enjoyed the issues which I have seen in my library. If there is a subscription rate, please let me know. Thank you. Katherine Kubiak Informative Shaftsbury, Vt. To the editor: I am doing a unit on Native Americans from the New England and eastern U.S. I am looking for information to help show third graders about Native Americans today. Their view of Native Americans is very limited. I would appreicate it if you could send me some copies o f your newspaper. I think seeing the paper and reading some o f the articles will give the kids a better idea about Native Americans. If you have any other information I would greatly appreciate it. We are specifically studying the Abanaki of Vermont from this area. Thank you. Joanne Lukasiewicz �Page 4 Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 Budworm control: To spray or not to spray (Continued from page 1 ) spraying has done anything to discourage the budworm. On the other hand, he does notice a marked reduction of small bird life, and such birds are one o f the major natural control agents. Is it possible that spraying may actually prolong an outbreak by dis rupting natural controls and cycles? All parties agree that the pesticides being used in the spray program are harmful to a great many organisms besides the spruce budworm. The law requires that they be applied in strict conformity to label direc tions approved by the Environmental Pro tection Agency. All the pesticides being used in Maine this year carry warnings against contamination of streams and ponds, but there are slight differences in label wording. Dr. Harold E. Kazmaier, of the Regional Pesticides Office, o f EPA, in Boston, met with several staff members o f the Health and Social Services Department, on June 18. The question of which waters should be protected by buffer zones, and how wide such zones should be was confused by these label differences, according to Dr. Kaz maier. In written comment on the 1979 Enviro: mental Impact Statement, Dr. Kaz maier criticized the adequacy o f the provision for buffer zones. He also objected to plans to continue spraying until wind speeds reached 12 miles per hour, whereas the 1978 limit was 6 M.P.H. During our discussion, he also pointed out that due to heavy rain before and during the spray period, there was a great deal more water on the ground than is usual at this time o f year. Dr. Kazmaier was very open about sharing documented information with us. As the representative o f a regulatory agency, he could not draw conclusions, but he left us in no doubt that pesticides are, in fact, getting in the water, in apparent violation o f the law. The most effective opposition to this year’ spraying program has come from s residents of eastern Washington County. This group, in addition to raising the issues already mentioned, has charged that there have been both accidentia! and deliberate instances in which “no spray” areas received substantial doses of insecticides; and that these have included people, farm animals and orgafric farms and gardens. Commer cial organic farmers, who must guarantee that the produce they sell is chemical-free, stressed the dollar losses already experi enced or threatened. One area with a sub stantial number of organic farms was sub sequently removed from the spray program. The Washington County group and others organized a protest rally in Augusta on May 31. The main focus o f this protest was the possible health effects of exposure to pesticide sprays. Governor Brennan ex pressed the opinion that the health risk was not a major one compared to the need for wood fiber. When asked how he would feel if his own family lived in or near the spray zones, the Governor became visibly angry, and said, "D on’ get personal!” The direct t evidence that these insecticides cause cancer is not conclusive, but Bo Yerxa, o f South Princeton, writing in the Bangor Daily News, on June 14, cites troubling evidence. The most heavily sprayed counties in Maine, he indicates, have a rate o f birth defects two to four times that o f the southern part o f the state. Arguments against the spraying program based on economic, environmental and health considerations are strongly docu mented in The Case Against Aerial Insecti cide Forest Spraying, a position paper developed by a consortium o f Canadian environmental organizations. This study demonstrates that the economic argument for spraying is based on false premises. The true cost of one proposed program in Cape Breton, in 1977, is calculated as being 3.6 million dollars to protect an asset of $500,000. Nova Scotia considered a spray program for 1978, but decided against, with the following statement by the Minister of Lands and Forests: “We feel it is far better from the forestry point o f view to suffer our losses now rather than spray and prolong the inevitable. . . . The forests o f New Brunswick after twenty-five years o f spray ing are not the envy o f anyone involved in BONE scrapers made from the shank of a cow moose are displayed by Watie Akins, who said he shot his moose at Debsconeag. The moose will provide dried and frozen meat for the winter, as well as a handsome drumskin. proper forest management.” The study goes on to document the failure of spraying to reduce budworm populations over a period of years, the inaccuracy o f the spraying tech niques available, and the very serious health hazards represented by the chemicals involved. The evidence against the effectiveness of spraying, and the environmental hazards, are such that the U.S. Forest Service has announced it will not support a spraying program next year. The Maine Department o f Conservation has opposed spraying after 1981. This would seem to amount to two strikes against the program; and the serious questions’ about health effects should, despite Governor Brennan’ opinion, be s sufficient to rule pesticide spraying out immediately. Whatever the reasons of the Governor, the paper companies and the pesticide industry may be for supporting the present methods, there are other effective means to reduce the harm done by the spruce budworm. The continuation o f spraying should be of special concern to all the people o f the Penobscot Nation for two reasons. First, the rivers and lands o f the Penobscot watershed have always been the base o f our food supply and our economy. Many o f our people must still turn to the forests, the rivers and the islands to feed their families. Here also many of our people return for spiritual ful fillment and for recreation. Secondly, the lands that are being sprayed are the very lands over which we claim ownership. The immediate and long-term damage being done to this land and its resources is damage directly to us! Governor Pehrson has officially written to the U.S. Bureau o f Indian Affairs, asking assistance in measuring damages due to spruce budworm spraying, and o f a spill of TRIS (the fire-retardant for children’ s clothing which was banned as a cancercausing agent) into the Piscataquis River. If cause for action is found, the letter states, “we expect litigation to be pursued for damages to Penobscot property.” Citizen activism this year has raised the economic and political cost of the spray program almost to the breaking point. The danger is that with the end of spraying, on June 20, citizen pressure will fall off, and the decision whether to spray next year will be left once again to people with a vested interest in its continuation. If, on the other hand, citizen groups stay involved and prepare thoroughly for the hearing and legislative process which will being in the early fall, there need not be another year of spraying in Maine. EDITOR’ NOTE: Phil Guimond is S assistant health planner with the Penobscot Indian Health and Social Services Depart ment. Two Passamaquoddies arrested (Continued from page 1 ) his right eye. As Wabanaki Alliance went to press, the Sabbatus case was scheduled for a probable cause hearing in federal district court. He earlier had entered no plea, in appearing before U.S. Magistrate Edward H. Keith. Federal Judge George Mitchell, newly appointed to serve Maine’ northern region, s declined comment on the case. Also refusing to comment was Lt. Norman Nicholson of Indian Township police department. Sab batus was reportedly remanded to federal jail in lieu o f $5,000 bail. In another jurisdiction-related case, Wil liam Sockabasin o f Indian Township was reported arrested recently for allegedly attempting to bum a trailer owned by Estelle Neptune o f the Township. Socka basin was charged with malicious mischief, according to Lee Lowery, FBI agent stationed in Bangor. Sockabasin has been released on personal recognizance. Lowery said the FBI has jurisdiction over 14 major crimes. He said in reference to the Sockabasin and Sabbatus cases, “The main thing is to get them (tribes) authority to handle this kind of thing.” HOLLOW LOGS await moosehide drumskin. Stanley Neptune said the huge old tree was already partly hollow, and enlarging the hole was not particularly difficult. When completed, the big ceremonial drums may be used for powwows and other occasions. �Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 Page 5 Wabanaki Corp. m oves toward local control ORONO — Wabanaki Corporation, an agency working to end alcoholism and drug abuse among Maine Indians, appears to be shifting control toward its reservation and off-reservation constituents. Following a series o f staff upheavals earlier this year, National Institute of Alco hol and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) suspended funding of the agency, until such time as paperwork, neglected during the agency’ s troubles, was brought up to date. Although program funds have been rein stated, no money for indirect costs has been allocated by NIAAA. Indirect costs consist primarily of administrative expenses, in cluding salaries of the executive director and secretaries, and despite requests by NIAAA, had never been determined. An audit, begun in July, is still underway. According to one source, it took' three months “just to reconstruct the books. It was much worse than anyone suspected.” Upon completion of the audit, an indirect cost figure will be reached and allocated to the program by NIAAA. Until that time office employees and expenses are reportedly being payed from the direct program costs, which one official estimated could only last six more months at the present rate of spending. Sources within the agency predict that when full funding is again achieved, the reservation and off-reservation entities rep resented will exercise more control over the programs. Some of the tribal entities have requested that alcoholism counselors work ing for the agency, report regularly to the various health and social services depart ments on the reservations or at the off-reservation offices. In the past coun selors have worked at large within the Indian communities, responsible only to the central office in Orono. Vice chairman o f Wabanaki Corporation board Allen J. Sockabasin, who declined comment on the agency’ future until after s the audit’ completion, confirmed that s currenty board members “don’ know where t we are financially.” Wilderness Pursuits, a Wabanaki Corpor ation confidence-building program for youth, will reportedly be resurrected, but in a very different form again reflecting a more local approach. Instead o f organizing camping trips from the central office, local youth counselors will be hired to run more general youth alcoholism programs, work ing in cooperation with the respective tribal recreation departments. St. Regis Mohawk health director Richard Jock meets his Penobscot counterpart. Dr. Eunice Baumann-Nelson, director of Indian Island clinic. Mohawks visit Indian Island to view health center INDIAN ISLAND — St. Regis Mohawk Richard Jock, a Mohawk who is health tribal officials traveled to the Penobscot director for the St. Regis tribe, said he Nation at Indian Island last month, amid wanted to “get an idea what the problems joking about historical enmity between the are” in constructing and operating a health center through IHS. He said he admired the tribes. This time they came in peace. s Chief Leonard Garrow of the Mohawk’ Penobscot’ model clinic. For years, the s Mohawks have had a state-run health Hogansburg, N.Y., reservation, told Penob scot officials he was impressed with the center, but are now seeking federal support. Indian Island clinic, administered through Jock said 1981 is target date for com federal Indian Health Service (IHS) by Dr. pletion o f a new health center, to serve an Eunice Baumann-Nelson, a Penobscot. estimated 3,400 o f the tribe’ 6,000 mem s Formal greetings were exchanged be bers. The Mohawk reservation straddles the tween Penobscot tribal Gov. Wilfred Pehr- U.S.-Canadian border, with separate tribal son, and Garrow. “We hope that you can governments. Jock holds a master’ degree s come up and visit,” Garrow said during a in English from St. Lawrence College, and is banquet supervised by chef. Happy Hamil a graduate o f State University o f New York at Plattsburg. ton. Philip Guimond, left, and Bruce Spang, health center staff. Health center hires educator, trainee INDIAN ISLAND — Penobscot health education and planning got a boost recently with the hiring o f two staff members for the tribal Department of Health and Social Services. hired as health educator was Bruce Spang, 34, a veteran of three years with the Counseling Center in Bangor, and one year as a therapist in a Massa chusetts methadone clinic. Spang hopes to conduct educational workshops, form self-help groups, and organize training programs. He is currently trying to en courage Indian parents to bring their children to the center for immunization against measles, mumps and other diseases. Spang, a native o f Chicago, graduated from DePauw University with a degree in history and philosophy. He received master’ degrees in art and divinity from s Vanderbilt Divinity School, and a master’ degree in counseling from Uni s versity of Maine at Orono. While attending divinity school. Spang founded a folk arts school in eastern Tennessee. He is married and lives in Hampden. Hired by the center as deputy health planner and trainee was Philip Gui mond, 33, a member of the Penobscot tribe. He has studied environmental sciences at Tunxis Community College in Connecticut, where he lived for a number o f years. Guimond wants to study the “impact of the total environment” on tribal health. He is interested in tradi tional medicine, and a holistic approach to health care. Guimond hopes to start a program to monitor Penobscot River water quality; he said he was extremely concerned fol lowing a spill o f the chemical TRIS, from a Guilford mill into the Piscataquis River. Guimond is also studying the hazards o f nuclear power and radiation; and the risks involved in spraying to control spruce budworms. Bailey on Wabanaki board PLEASANT POINT — John L. Bailey, public safety coordinator for the Passamaquoddy tribe here, has been appointed to the Wabanaki Corporation board o f direc tors. Appointed by tribal Gov. Robert Newell, Bailey will represent Pleasant Point on the board of the alcoholism and drug abuse prevention agency, based in Orono. Bailey is a longtime member of the Division of Indian Services board of directors, which supervises publication of Wabanaki Alliance. Indian Island fire chief, Fred Becker, goes over operation of the Island’s new fire truck for volunteers Philip Guimond [left] and Robert [Red] Bartlett. Island gets fire truck INDIAN ISLAND — With the acquisi tion this month o f a Pierce Minipump by .Indian Island, all three Maine reservations are equipped with at least one fire truck. Indian Island Fire Chief Fred Becker said the new fire engine has a 400 gallon per minute pumping capacity and can carry 250 gallons for backup. Becker, who also serves on the Old Town Fire Dept., said the new truck should be able to handle any structural fire on the reservation. He added that because it has four-wheel drive, it is also ideally suited to fight grass fires where access to a conventional fire truck would be limited. The Island fire crew is currently 10 people strong, although few o f them have any firefighting experience. Douglas Francis is Asst. Chief, and Philip Guimond is Lieu tenant, Becker said the firefighters would receive training from a state instructor. They also have the use o f the Old Town training equipment, he said. He predicted. the Island crew would be ready in two or three months. The Island fire team will respond to fires off the Island, if requested, Becker said. �Page 6 Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 Uranium mining wreaks destruction on Navajos crops have died; the sheep that used to graze cried. Whenever we prayed, I would pray to lution on April 9, 1978, which said, in part: by Loretta Schwartz Fear of disease CROWN POINT, N.M. — Huge red on the crops have died; many o f the horses myself silently in Navaho and promise “As citizens o f the Navaho Nation we s rocks still rise out o f nowhere like giant have died; and the area’ water supply may myself that no one would ever take the place be lost. of my own mother and father. I decided that have become increasingly alarmed at pres twisted sculptures. In some places you can For the most part Crown Point is a when I became educated I would go home ent and planned uranium mining activity in still find small everygreen pinon and juniper community like Red Rock. Few o f the and help my people.” our community and are most fearful o f its trees growing near sand-colored mesas. Native Americans read or write or speak But once there were wild flowers bloom After attending grammar school and high effect on our health, welfare, property, and English. Few have ever left home. In many ing in profusion and deer and rabbits school and Brigham Young University, Elsie culture as well as the well-being o f future darting between cactus plants. That was ways Crown Point is as vulnerable to abuse did return home to Dalton Pass (near Crown generations. We hereby state that we are from the uranium corporations as was Red before the uranium mining and the tailing Point). When she got there the uranium totally and unalterably opposed to all Rock. But one thing that is different is a 27piles, before the Navaho miners began to die uranium exploration within our boundaries year-old Navaho woman named Elsie miners had also arrived. They had already from a strange, invincible small-cell car made more than 3,000 drilling holes on the for the following reasons: Peshlakai. cinoma known for 50 years to be caused by “The air we breathe will be poisoned by reservation where her family lived, and a When Elsie was seven. Mormon mission chronic radiation exposure. mine was planned 800 feet from their home. radioactive elements released into the The full effect o f early mining in Red aries began to arrive at the reservation. atmosphere during the course o f mining People told Elsie that they had heard “They told me about a grammar school 1 Rock, New Mexico, probably won’ be t activity. rumors about a place called Red Rock known for another decade, but according to could go to in Utah and they said I would “ Present environmental standards are in have ‘ parents’ there,” Elsie explained. where the drillers had come and gone and Dr. Gerald Bunker, one of many physicians adequate to prevent introduction o f these studying the situation, the increase in the cancer-causing agents into the air, and we risk o f lung cancer among Navaho uranium fear the disease which will result to ourselves miner:, is at least 85 fold. This conclusion is and our livestock ... based on a study o f more than 700 Indian “ Massive use o f groundwater during the uranium miners. course o f uranium mining will pollute our Coughing attacks present water supply and eventually cause it One o f these miners, Clark Dick, worked to become exhausted. in the uranium mines for nearly 20 years. “The pollution o f the air and water com Shortly before he died of lung cancer at age bined with the degradation o f our land by 40, he went to an English-speaking lawyer the mining activity will destroy livestock and prepared a typed statement that he raising and result in great unemployment. hoped would help his wife get compensation “Already sacred and historical sites pre after his death. It said in part: “ About five years ago, I began to cough cious to our culture have been willfully and quite a bit. The coughing attacks usually wantonly destroyed by those engaged in this came while I was at work in the mine . . . I uranium exploration and development. We thought I was just getting a little dust or dirt fear further and greater destruction o f such in my throat and it was nothing to be sites. concerned about. Over a period o f time the “ Now, therefore, be it resolved that the coughing became gradually worse and ... it Dalton Pass Chapter demands all uraniumgot to the point so that I felt my head mining activity within our boundaries be hurting and would have blurred vision . . . halted immediately and premanently. Then I noticed that I began to spit up blood "Be it further resolved that we intend to when I had these coughing attacks. I was wage a determined struggle to halt all uran having more attacks, and they were getting ium-mining activity within the Dalton Pass more severe . . . I also started feeling weak Chapter.” and was unable to do my work in the mines. To held them in their battle the chapter I quit my job . . . I told one foreman that I retained Joseph Gmuca, a lawyer employed was not going to be able to work any more, by a low-income, legal service group called but he didn’ say a lot about it ... I guess he t DNA, acronym for Dinebeiina Nahiilna Be interpreted this as my resignation.” Agaditahe, Navaho words that stand for After his death in 1973, Clark Dick’ s “economic revitalization o f the people.” widow Fannie, like all the other Red Rock On December 22, 1978, a suit was filed in widows with husbands who had worked in the U.S. District Court against the De the mines, sought compensation. To date, partment o f Energy, the Department o f the 25 deaths have been reported. Yet despite Interior, the Department o f Agriculture, the the fact that the occupational connection Environmental Protection Agency, the was.clear and a number o f politicians had Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Nu expressed interest in helping, only the late Senator Joseph Montoya (D.-N. Mex.) and clear Regulatory Commission. Senator Pete Domenici (R.-N. Mex.) actual The suit requires the defandants to ly tried to push bills through Congress. The “comply with the National Environmental bills,- which were turned down, sought to Policy Act by preparing national, regional, provide money for victims and their sur and site-specific environmental impact vivors,. reduce delays in litigation, and statements,” and it seeks to prevent all provide funds for research into the cause of involved government agencies and private “white-lung” disease. Former Secretary of corporations from taking further actions the Interior Stewart Udall recently called until they have complied. The suit would the deaths a tragedy and is presently looking also "require defendants to rescind and into the situation. reconsider” land leasing and other actions The Red Rock mines, closed in 1968, were already begun without compliance with “When I was in third grade I filled out an where everyone who worked in the mines most recently run by Kerr-McGee (the Okla NEPA. homa-based oil, gas, and uranium giant). application and signed my parents name. had died or was dying. Elsie, who had studied chemistry and biology, read every At the time this article went to press, Kerr-McGee is the same company that But when the bus came, my own parents Federal District Court Judge Harold Greene t recently lost a $10.5 million lawsuit that wouldn’ let me go. The next year I got thing she could find, talked to experts, and centered around the case o f Karen Silk- smarter, I filled out the application, but I began to go from home to home, talking to had turned down a motion to dismiss the t case and a subsequent motion to change the wood. a lab technician in a plant producing didn’ tell anyone. On the day the bus came, the Navahos about radiation. As Elsie Peshlakai traveled and explained site o f the suit from Washington, D.C., to fuel rods for nuclear reactors. Silkwood my mother was away washing clothes. I told mysteriously died while driving to meet a my sister-in-law that I was going away to what was happening, she also learned that New Mexico. school. She supported me, saying. ‘ Yes. I many had never given permission for the Water contaminated New York Times reporter in an effort to s document her charges that officials at the think you should because that’ the only way drilling rigs and the miners. Meanwhile. Crown Point is in danger of ll installation had knowingly exposed their you’ ever learn.’ "W e were told that Steven Morgan, the losing its only water supply. In a working "W e packed a few clothes and I went out -medicine man. the oldest man in the com employees to lethal doses o f cancer-causing paper entitled “ Impacts o f the Uranium on the dirt road and waited until the elders munity. gave his permission; but when we plutonium. Industry on Water Quality,” J. L. Kunkler Kerr-McGee, along with some 15 other came. They put me on a chartered Grey asked him he said he never had and never o f the United States Geological Survey put it energy companies seeking uranium, have hound bus to Provo. We rode all night. The would,” Elsie said. “We began to hold this way: “Groundwater resources are being now converged on Crown Point, a tiny next day I met my foster mother. I meetings. We would stay up nights and ask depleted by underground mining and, as a community that is part of the Bureau of remember the first time that she gave me a each other what we are going to do. Many consequence, wells that yield water from the I Indian Affairs’ Eastern Navaho Agency in bath. She said, ‘ have never seen skin quite aquifers (natural underground water reser thought it was too late.” northwestern New Mexico. The companies, this dark. I feel like 1 should keep Finally, Elsie Peshlakai and the Dalton voirs) being mined will yield less water and t which have begun to drill test holes and scrubbing.’ I was scared, but I didn’ cry. “Three and a half weeks later I went up to Pass chapter o f the Navaho Indians in may ultimately yield none.” construct mines, claim that they have Crown Point, New Mexico, drafted a reso (Continued on page 7) improved their techniques. But already the the top o f the lava rocks and I cried and �Wahanaki Alliance November 1979 Page 7 ‘ Now there is not enough food for the family because so many animals have died' — (Continued from page 6) » The Environmental Protection Agency, a defendant in the suit, came to similar con clusions in a recent draft environmental impact statement.While there is water, there is significant danger to those who drink it. According to studies undertaken in the New Mexico En vironmental Improvement Division, the water that is pumped out o f the uranium mines contains elevated concentrations of radium, arsenic, and nitrate. The discharge o f such highly contaminated mine effluents into streams creates a long-lived source of groundwater contamination. The studies also indicate that industry-sponsored en vironmental monitoring programs are in adequately designed and implemented and may not define the full long-term impacts o f mining and million operations on the groundwater quality. Nevertheless, the United States Geologi cal Survey claims that the Crown Point mining plants do not constitute a “major federal action significantly affecting the quality o f human environment.” And John Lobdell, a Tennessee Val ley Authority official, told Crown Point resi dents that proposed mining activities were not anything to worry about, though he con ceded that “the chemical reaction o f the uranium is especially hard on the kidneys while the radiation is hard on the rapidly multiplying cells such as blood, genes, or bone. I can’ guarantee there will be no t effect to you or your offspring, but then I can’ one hundred percent guarantee you t won't fall down in your bathtub tonight either.” (The Tennessee Valley Authority is the producer o f phosphate slag used to make concrete blocks that were discovered to be radioactive, but only after they were used in some 200,000 homes in the South east.) “ Nothing grows here” It was 10 degrees below zero. I sat beside Elsie Peshlakai in her blue, four-wheeldrive pickup truck. We were going to see an old Navaho woman whose land had recently been confiscated. The company had put up a sign that read, “Private Road, Keep Out.” We traveled up the long dirt road past hundreds o f white stakes; each stake marked the place where a hole had been drilled. “As you can see, there is nothing growing out here any more,” Elsie said as we approached a tiny gray hut with a red roof. Inside, I saw Hah-nah-bah Charley sitting on the side o f her bed. She was wearing a brightly colored yellow skirt and a blueflowered blouse. She greeted me softly in Navaho. Then she said: “My sheep are dead. There are three large mud pits, each the side o f this house. Some sheep drowned in the mud, others died — one right after the other, like they were poisoned. “How many animals have died alto gether?” I asked. “Three calves, sixteen sheep, eleven goats, four horses,” came the reply. “Now there is not enough food for the family because so many animals have died. A white man from the BIA (Bureau o f Indian Affairs) came out to look at the dead sheep and said it’ s probably the water since the wells they dug have a runoff that goes right into the animals' stock pond. “ Why did you let them come here?” I asked. When Elsie repeated the question, the old woman began to speak rapidly. Gesturing with her hands, she explained, “One day a white man carrying papers came with an Indian and said, ‘ Mother, because all is well with you and you use your land well, and you have no problems with your neighbors or your allotment (160 acres), we want you to put your thumbprint right here on this piece o f papei.' ” Trusting them. Hah-nah-bah agreed and pressed her thumb on the paper, not realizing that it was actually a contract givuig the oil company access to 160 acres o f some o f the most valuable land in America. Her land. “Later, I went to the BIA office,” Hahnah-bah said, “and told them what had happened. But they just said, ‘ is your It fault. You signed the paper.’” “The Bureau o f Indian Affairs was set up by the government to protect the Indian people, yet they never told any of us what they were going to do,” Elsie said angrily as we climbed back into the truck. “They just took what they wanted, even our grave sites, even our sacred springs, and went over them with a bulldozer.” “We act on behalf o f the allottee,” Edward Plummer, superintendent o f the Eastern Agency in Crown Point told me. “All the responsibilities we execute come from Congress. Our duties are assigned to us just like any other governmental organi zation. We develop the forms for the appli cant to sign. Then we make every effort to locate the allottee. O f course, if we cannot find the person, or if there are several owners and they disagree, then we make a judgment for them. We also make an esti mate o f how much damage will be done. We inform the allottee o f all this. Then the allottee makes the decision. The allottees have the legal right to the land, which is held in trust for them by our organization. If the allottees sign the contracts and change their minds after construction has begun, they would need a lawsuit to stop the companies. After all, that’ why we have a Navaho staff s to make sure they understand.” " I have heard stories from people that contradict what you’ telling me,” I said. “I re have heard that people have been pressured and forced into signing documents without knowing what they were signing.” “Well,” he answered, “we are under staffed. We have four thousand allotments out here and a Navaho staff o f four.” “Do you personally own an allotment?" I asked. “ No, I don’ he said. “The way it works t,” is that the land usually belongs to the women. The society has been set up so that the land is passed from father to daughter and uncle to niece. When a Navaho man marries, he almost always, goes to live on the woman’ land. Most o f these allotments s were distributed between 1910 and 1930. At that time Indian-owned land was reduced from twenty-four million acres to two and a half million acres. Since the government didn’ know about the uranium then, those t who were given land were given both the surface and the subsurface rights to the land.” Spoiled land “Don’ you feel that your people are being t cheated?” “Well, the Navaho doesn’ care about t money. He has a different value system from the white man. He values the land, not the money. To the Navaho the land is Mother. It brings him food.” "Yes, but the land is being destroyed,” I ventured. “That is true,” he said sadly. “I feel with them. I am a Navaho. I grew up with them. The almighty dollars has come in here and spoiled the land. We might do reclaiming of the land, but what good is it if we have ruined the water? Right now we have contaminated water running down the creek. We could move them to town bu Navahos don’ live that way. The land is t where they have their ties.” “Isn’ this a hard position for you t personally to be in?” I asked. Suddenly he hardened. ‘Tve been here for eleven years. I’ satisfied. I’ happy as hell. They have m m all these options.” He looked at his watch, “I have to be going,” he- said. “Please remember I represent the Secretary o f the Interior. I am charged by him with these responsibilities.” There are a lot o f people who feel that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is not meeting its responsibilities. Tom Barry, energy reporter for the Navaho Times, in Albuquerque, is one.' He conducted his own investigation into the BIA and concluded, “Environ mental assessments o f lease offerings and approval o f mining plans have amounted to no more than routine letters o f approval, rarely extending to two pages, and at times consisting o f only one sentence.” When asked if the BIA was fulfilling its true responsibility to the Navahos, regarding the BIA mineral-leasing program, Thomas Lynch, director o f the Minerals Division in Window Rock, Arizona, who signed the leases, replied: “Let’ put it this way, we are s taking care o f everything. We are following the regulations.” Some BIA administrators may be doing that, but the damage to Navaho land continues. Sarah McCray, a dark-eyed, highly spirited middle-aged Navaho woman, tells this story. "Back in 1974 two people came to me from what I thought was the Bureau of Indian Affaris. They said they wanted to lease one acre for a hundred dollars for one year. I signed. Trusted a Navaho "They began to bring in equipment, scattering it over my allotment. Then they began to drill. Some time later they returned. This time saying they wanted to put in one little light bulb because they had come across some bedrock and needed to look into one o f the holes. ‘ Please, please sign it,’ said one man, speaking in Navaho. Because he was a Navaho I trusted him. I signed. Then they put power lines on my land. “Two or three years later a white man with a big beard came and said the men over there saw uranium on your land and they want you to sign your name. This time I said, ‘ No. I am poor and I am humble, but I too have needs. I want you to drill over here for water so that we can have water to drink and water for our livestock and then I want you to make a road, a real good road, from the highway straight to my house because there is only one way out, over the mountains o f bedrock and we have to haul eight fifty-gallon barrels o f water over that rock every day for our animals. A Navajo elder “ He said, ‘ We will do that for you if you will sign your name.’ I said, ‘ No. I want it done first then I will sign my name.’ He just laughed then rolled up his maps and left. "Two months later he returned again and said, ‘ Have you thought about it?’ And I said, ‘ Yes. Have you thought about making me the well and the road?’ He said, ‘ No, we won’ do that. That will cost a lot o f money.’ t I said, ‘ Then I’ never sign my name. ll You’ lied to me again and again. I’ ve m going to find out what’ at the bottom of s this. I’ sure there’ a lawyer who will help m s me. I hear there’s a meeting in Crown Point and I’ going to go.’ ” m Sarah McCray did go to that meeting. That was July 25, 1978. It was there that she met Elsie Peshlakai and became an active participant in the struggle against uranium mining. She also met Shirley Roper, a young Navaho woman, who, like Elsie, left home as a young child to live with the Mormons and become educated. When Shirley returned with a college degree and two years of post graduate training in clinical psychology, she found hundreds of holes drilled in her land. “Talk about Indian givers. First they throw us on this old barren desert, and then they want to take it back. They gave it to us because they thought it was no good. Now it is their last resource for atomic energy, and we still have no electricity. Talk about defense. What are they going to defend? A radioactive field where everyone has cancer? It’ hard to know who’ more naive, the s s Navahos who signed the papers or the companies who rush blindly forward.” For Shirley’ mother, Mae Roper, the s pain is greater. “I’m so timid in front of white men,” she explains. “They said sign it and I signed it. I am an old woman. Even if I do not get cancer, I have only got a few more years to live, but my children and grandchildren will hold me responsible for opening up the mine and killing them off.” Then she turned to Elsie who was trans lating this from Navaho and said, “No more signatures, Elsie. You must go into the homes and tell them. Our whole way of dealing with life has been to accept and accept.” “Yes,” Elsie said “even now our own people w'ho don’ look beyond today think t we are taking away jobs. They forget that even with the mines on our land we Navahos are the last to be hired, the first to be fired, and the lowest paid. But we are starting to ask questions.” Then Elsie put her hand on Mae Roper’ s shoulder and said in Navaho: “No more signatures — it’ survival now.” s (Reprinted from the October 1979 issue of Ms. magazine, with permission.) PROTECTED — A new security alarm system has been installed at Indian Township ele mentary school to protect the building from vandals. At left is nearly completed kindergarten building. �Page 8 Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 Traffic ticket leads to fracas Neighbors contacted Mrs. Neptune s INDIAN ISLAND — An attempt to deliver a traffic ticket late one night ended sons, who allegedly then went to Gali peau's house and became involved in the in the hospitalization of a 58-year-old Indian melee. Island woman and an FBI investigation. Because o f recent court decisions denying Police have declined comment on the events of that recent night; however, state jurisdiction on Maine’s reservations according to witnesses of the incident, the due to the tribes' federal status. Federal disturbance began at 11:00 p.m. when tribal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was called in patrolman Darryl Massey presented Roger on the* case to consider assault charges Galipeau with a ticket for driving an against some Island residents involved. unregistered vehicle, a van belonging to FBI agent Donald Cummings, assigned to Galipeau’ brother-in-law, Stanley Neptune. the case, declined comment on the case, s According to witnesses Galipeau refused except to say that his involvement was in to sign the ticket and tried to enter his response to a complaint from Indian Island house. At this point witnesses say Massey police on an alleged assault of one of its twisted Galipeau's arm behind his back. officers. Following attempts by Galipeau’ wife, s According to Galipeau, the original Janice, to intercede, Massey allegedly grab charge of driving an unregistered vehicle bed her. as well, and twisted her arm. was dismissed by the court on technicalities. Reportedly wakened by the shouts o f her daughter Janice, Susan Neptune arrived and tried to pull her daughter free. During Obituary efforts by Massey to resist Mrs. Neptune, Roger broke free and entered the house, MARIAN L. DENNIS reportedly to change his shirt. OLD TOWN — Mrs. Marian L. Dennis, Meanwhile, witnesses say. Janice at 75, o f 66 Wilson Street died Oct. 14, 1979. tempted to prevent Massey from entering She was born Feb. 12, 1904, in Montville, the house. During the ensuing scuffle, Mrs. Neptune again attempted to separate her the daughter o f Mr. and Mrs. Fred Stewart. She was the wife o f the late Joseph Dennis. daughter and the policeman, and, according to witnesses. Massey elbowed or pushed her, She is survived by four sons, Roy Dana Sr. of STORY HOUR— Indian Township kids take advantage of the new Frances Xavier Day Bangor, Joseph Dennis of Medford, Mass., causing her to fall. Care Center at Peter Dana Point. |Kathy Tomah photo] Witnesses say at this point, when Roger William Dennis o f Portland, Claude Dennis Galipeau reemerged from his house, his wife of Old Town; three daughters, Clara Jen again tried to come between Massey and nings, Evelyn McKenzie and Myrtle Baker, him. Mrs. Neptune allegedly got up and all of Old Town; three sisters, Ruth St. John again tried to pull Massey and her daughter o f Thorndike, Esther Stewart o f Linapart. It was during this second attempt, colnville, Mrs. Maynard Hall o f Lincolnville Center; 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grand according to witnesses, that she collapsed. Again according to witnesses. Roger children; several nieces, nephews and by Kathy Tomah speaking, and also for them to learn to carried Mrs. Neptune into the house, while cousins. Funeral services were held at St. Anne Area reporter interact with each other. It helps them to her daughter called for someone to call an On Sept. 1 the Frances Xavier Day Care 9, become more independent and to be able to ambulance. Massey, allegedly at this point Church on Indian Island. Burial was in the tribal cemetery, Indian Island. Center at Peter Dana Point opened its doors do as much as they can for themselves. They called Old Town police for a backup. to Indian youngsters. sing songs together, have finger play, which Presently there are fourteen children helps them to become more coordinated, going. The center can serve 22 children. and learn to follow directions. They develop Some children that go to Early Childhood in their motor skills. the morning go to the Day Care Center in The center is an economic boost to the They also visited the United Nations the afternoon. by Kathy Tomah community. It provides excellent care for headquarters in New York. The following The children attending now are Jeremy Area reporter the children and permits their parents to day involved a plenary session and workshop Bryant, Rose' Ann Campbell, Archie Lawork and not have to worry, and also is con Carl Nicholas Jr., son of the Lieutenant in the areas of health and welfare, education Coote, Jeanne Lewey, Stephen Newell Jr., venient. Governor o f Indian Township, was one of and child development, war, peace, racism Blanche Sockabasin, Chad Sockabasin, This is a state funded program, but is also two high school seniors picked from the and sexism, child abuse and juvenile justice, Sam Sockabasin, Raphael Sockabasin Jr., being supported by the Township ele state o f Maine to attend a Youth Enrich and human survival. Maria Sockabasin, Julie Sockabasin, Tif mentary school. Admittance fee for the ment Symposium sponsored by the Sun Each symposium participant was requir fany Sacoby, Howard Stevens, Juanita children is based on family income. Company. ed to make or have made a gift representa Sopiel. tive o f his or her state or country and to tell The administrator is Sarah Miranov from This is in observance o f the United the significance of the item. Grand Lake Stream. The teacher is Robin Nations International Year of the Child. Glassman, who has a Bachelor’ degree in s There were only two selected for this trip ORONO — Small Business Administra teaching and, prior to coming here, taught from each o f the fifty states, plus District of tion (SBA) officials held a one day seminar for five years in New York. There are two this month for Maine Indians interested in Columbia. Puerto Rico, and the Virgin teacher’ aides who assist her, Linda Newell s Islands. In addition, there were two persons starting their own businesses. and Paula Bryant. Sponsored by Maine’ Department of each from Europe, England. Africa, Asia, s The day care is open Monday through Indian Affairs (DIA). the meeting attracted Latin America, and Canada, about 118 Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. The children around eight participants. Despite the low participants in all. are provided with breakfast and lunch. They turnout, most people attending expressed An excellent program was planned to go out to play twice a day, weather satisfaction with what they had learned, improve the perception o f youth leaders on permitting. This is an excellent place for according to DIA representative, Russell the "Rights of the Child.” The central these children ages 3 to 5. educationally theme o f the four days, which were October Socoby. Among those attending were Ann Par- 24 through the 27 will be on the quality of dilla. who operates an Indian craft store at life for young people in our world com Indian Island. Tina (Rhine) Coffman of munity. Participants stayed in Philadelphia, Indian Island, who with her husband, Pennsylvania near Independence Hall. INDIAN ISLAND — A reservation resi Ralph, plans to open an off-reservation beer dent. and an off-reservation Penobscot, were distributorship for Coors beer, and Edward elected Nov. 7, to fill vacancies on the Daigle, who said he was there to pick up Penobscot tribal council. some “general ideas," possibly for starting a Joseph (Jo-Jo) Francis of Indian Island grocery. tallied the largest count, with 132 votes. Next was Nicholas Dow, with 79 votes. Chicago pow wow Losers in the council elections were Violet UNITY — A selection o f American Carl Nicholas Jr. [Photo by Kathy Tomah] Francis. 60 votes, and Pat Almenas, who Indian basketry and weaving will be includes tribute received 42 votes. Francis Mitchell and Following these discussions, there was a exhibited through Nov. 16, at Unity College Theodore N. Mitchell each received one panel consisting of their counterparts from CHICAGO — First held 26 years ago, the Art Gallery. write-in vote. third world countries such as Africa, Asia Part of the Terry Indian collection, the Francis will serve the unexpired tour year American Indian Center here will hold its display features Passamaquoddy and Pen and Latin America. The following day there term of Pat Baer, who resigned from the annual powwow Nov. 23, 24 and 25, at obscot fancy and coarse basket weaving, were workshops, and /participants had a council when he and his family moved to Chicago Armory. chance to develop resolutions and recom Planned in conjunction with the event is a plus examples o f the art from elsewhere in Massachusetts. mendations regarding the rights o f young the U.S. Peter Smith Terry, 1910-1976, Erlene Paul' carried the school board memorial feast for David C. Fox, Nov. 24, at people that can be widely shared in this spent a dozen years assembling Indian arts election, pulling 95 votes from a field o f six 5 p.m. Canadian quill weaving, Zuni inlay, country and abroad. and crafts for a tribal museum in Unity. The candidates. She and Michael S. Ranco, with and Navajo jewelry making will be ex There was also time for them to go on museum, located on Quaker Hill in an old 66 votes, were the winners. Other candidates hibited, along with silversmithing. basketry Meeting House, is open seasonally. A historical tours, entertainment was pro were Merlene Couturier, 52 votes; Carol and beadwork. Indians from 17 states are Waterville resident, Terry was widely known vided, and also time to relax. On the last Dana, 49 votes; Cheryl Knapp, 42 votes and expected to attend, performing dances and day, they visited Washington, D.C. among Maine Indians. songs, and competing for prizes. write-in Theodore N. Mitchell, 36 votes. Indian Township day care more than babysitting Picked for enrichment program SBA holds seminar Council, school board slots filled Terry collection on display at Unity �Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 A HUG HELPS— Cheryl Knapp of Indian Island comforts a tired son, Joe, 12, who placed 17th in a 1.5 mile race at Readfield, where state track meet was held. At right is Penobscot track team coach Mike Ranco, with Renee Knapp in foreground. The meet at Maranacook school was something of a family affair, with two Knapp brothers in races, and Ranco’s son. Coincidentally, Mike Ranco ran against Maranacook coach Stan Cowan— a race organizer— back when Ranco was a student at Orono High School. Page 9 SWIFT-FOOTED— Three members of Indian Island’ track club— named for famous s Penobscot Olympic runner Andrew Sockalexis— line up for a 1.5 mile run at Maranacook Community School in Readfield. From left in the age nine-and-under race are Chris Ranco, eighth over the finish line in 11.1 minutes; Kirk Francis, 16th in 12 minutes; and Jamie Knapp, who placed second, in 10.3 minutes. Island sports boast record participation INDIAN ISLAND — Enthusiasm is running high this year for the Indian Island hockey team, according to recreation direc tor, Red Bartlett. The 41 kids who turned out for the team represent the largest number for any Island sport to date. Bartlett said he has had a larger than usual number o f parents show an interest, as well. Bartlett said 18 players had- gone to hockey school at the Montreal Canadiens training camp, which may have contributed to this year’ turn out. The camp guarantees s participants will improve 50 per cent. This is the first time the team will be representing Indian Island in the statewide Penobscot Valley Hockey League. There are approximately 12 other teams in the league. Bartlett said the Island is divided into three age group teams, mites, peewees, and squirts. League competition will begin toward the end o f this month, according to Bartlett, who said he is also trying to organize a program “for kids who have never been on skates.” Knapp, 17th. Ronnie Paul came in second in the 16 and 17 age group, but will be too old to enter the regionals. The runners are part of the Andrew Sockalexis track club are are coached by Michael Ranco of Indian Island. Indian Island also holds top honors with its basketball team, which has won the Orono-Old Town YMCA basketball confer ence for the last two years, with a two-year 1 record o f 57 wins to only three losses. According to Bartlett, gymnastics is also gaining in popularity among Indian Island kids. This year 27 children are enrolled in the program. Running program strong ONLY SECONDS after the first place winner crossed the finish line, Jamie Knapp of Indian Island headed for the home stretch at Maranacook school, site of this month’s state track meet. Although the hockey team is a recent addition to the Island, the Penobscots continue to excel in the more established Island sports. Following in the footsteps of Penobscot Olympian runner, Andrew Sock alexis, Indian Island is sending five runners to the junior Olympics cross-country regional championships in New York. These five recently qualified for the regional competition at a meet held in Reidfield, Maine. In their respective age groups Jamie Knapp and Greta Neptune took second place honors, Chris Ranco finished 8th, Kirk Francis came in 16th, and Joe RONNIE PAUL, 18, took second place’in five mile race at state track meet, Readfield. He ran the hilly, muddy course in 34.1 minutes. Paul is no novice, having complet ed the 26-mile-plus Paul Bunyan marathon, July 14. GRETA NEPTUNE of Indian Island came pounding in at the 1.5 mile finish line without even looking winded, to take second place at state track meet in Readfield. Her time was 11.2 minutes, just one minute more than teammate Jamie Knapp’s time in the boy’ division of the age nine-and-under s race. CMIA completes summer program By Bernice Murphy The Central Maine Indian Association (CMIA) was able to offer Indian youths between the ages o f 6 and 14 a summer recreation program this year. CMIA needed a recreational director and found Steven Googoo, a Micmac entering his senior year at University o f Maine at Orono as a Physical Educational student. Googoo taught the youths the importance o f team effort, good sportsmanship, and self-motivation in sports such as volleyball, baseball, soccer, field hockey, and horse shoes. He took them on field trips, camping, and hiking at Villa-Vaughn Beach, Branch Lake, Jenkins Beach, Cold Stream and Mattakeuk Pond, where they learned the importance o f protecting our woodlands and waterways while enjoying the out-of-doors. Steve taught them the importance o f a healthier body through physical fitness and nutritional habits and held a Junior Olym pics for them. He told them Indian stories and with the assistance of Bridget W ood ward taught them beading. The children were taught a part o f their native heritage by taking them to the Indian museum at Unity The youths had a very enjoyable summer vacation, playing games and sports, while becoming more aware o f the importance o f a healthy body and a little more informed about their world. CMIA said Googoo and his aides — Bridget Woodward, Susan LeClair, Lisa and David Pardilla made the first summer rec reation program “a tremendous success.” �Page 10 Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 A Thanksgiving prayer ACCOMPLISHMENT — These three Indian Island residents recently completed require ments for a diploma from Old Town High School. From left, the graduates are Ruby Nicolar, Gary Neptune Sr., and Pauline Mitchell. Nicolar and Neptune are Penobscots, Mitchell is a Navaho. A roostook News By Brenda Polchies Area Correspondent HOULTON — Specialist 5th Class Donald Levasseur. son o f Mrs. Shirley Levasseur of the Ludlow Road in Houlton, is currently home on leave after being honor ably discharged from the U.S. Army. He re enlisted Oct. 11th to serve another three years with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In January 1980, he plans to enter Cambell College at Fayetteville and pursue administrative courses for an Associates Degree. He is scheduled to return to Fort Bragg to receive new orders on Nov. 16th. While in the Army, he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. Good Conduct Medal, Parachutist Badge, and Expert Badge M-16. Levasseur initially enlisted Oct. 12, 1976. He is a graduate o f Houlton High School. MONTICELLO — Allen Jewell, 15-yearold son o f Mr. and Mrs. Michael Jewell of the Station Road, was severely injured in a fall from a bridge on U.S. Route 1 at Monticello, Oct. 23rd. He received massive bone fractures and is now confined at the A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital in Presque Isle. He will be recoperating for a spell and cards and letters would be greatly appreciated. Allen is a student at Houlton Jr. High School. by Big White Owl O, Thou Great and Good Spirit, Thou Supreme and Infinite One, in whom the earth and all things in it, may be seen and heard. A Great and Mighty “ Kitche Manitou” art thou, clothed with the day, yea, with the brightest day, a day o f many summers and winters long. Yea, a day of everlasting continuance. We give thanks to Thee on this day for all nature, for its wonderful and mysterious way o f life development. We give thanks for being able to hear, and to understand, the sweet music emanat ing from the trees, swaying and singing, in the gentle breeze. We give thanks for being able to identify, the medicinal roots and herbs, and for being able to enjoy the beautiful flowers in gorge ous bloom. We give thanks for being able to see, the fleecy clouds in the blue sky, and for being able to feel the wind, the rain, the snow, in our face, as we stand with uplifted arms before the altar o f the Great Mystery! We give thanks for being able to appre ciate, the beauty o f the rippling streams, leisurely flowing along winding trails, and shady nooks. We give thanks for having learned how to stand, in silent salute, as “wild geese” pass overhead in wondrous formation and ma jestic flight. We give thanks for the awe inspiring, deep blue waters, the great lakes and the seas, and all the life therein. We give thanks to Kishalehmookquaing, Our Creator, for abundantly supplying us with com, beans, tobacco, pumpkins. Omaha Indian to aid scouting DAYTON, N.J. — Joseph T. Provost, an enrolled Omaha tribal member, o f Albu. querque, New Mexico, has became the first of two project associates for the newly-an- Educational meeting WASHINGTON — National Advisory Council on Indian Education (NACIE) has scheduled a regular meeting Nov. 30Dec. 2, at Denver, Colorado. On the agenda for the meeting is election of officers, review o f NACIE’s 1980 budget, future activities, special reports and other business. The meeting is open to the public. Representing Maine Indians on the council is Wayne A. Newell. Passamaquoddy, o f Indian Township. nounced American Indian scouting out reach program. James Hess, project director said, “With out question, we have an extremely wellqualified person to serve in this position.” Provost, who is known as "Injun Joe,” has a record o f professional experience with Boy Scouts o f America, most recently as field service director for BSA’s southwest area council, headquartered in Albuquerque. squashes, potatoes, tomatoes, nuts and berries, for the beaver and fish in our rivers, for the deer, elk and bear, in our forests. We give thanks for our good health. We are indeed happy to see the leaves on the trees, red, gold, brown, purple, falling, gliding, drifting, sailing, down to the Mother Earth again. We give thanks for having lived another year, for having enjoyed the seasons of winter, spring, summer, autumn. We give thanks for “Gish’uch,” the great shining sun, for the pale moon, for the numberless stars, for our Mother, the Earth; whom we claim as our mother because ‘ the good earth’ carries all the people o f the world, and everything they need. Indeed, when we look around, we cannot help but realize that “Kitche Manitou” — Great Spirit provides all the important necessities o f life for us. We give thanks, for all o f these, and countless other blessings. “O, Katanehtooweyun,” Almighty Spirit, Creator o f All Things, Hear us, and help us! I Have Spoken. Turkeys and trimmings flown to Indians VAN NUYS, Calif. — Litton Flying Club, following the suggestion o f Indian movie star “Iron Eyes” Cody, has chosen to bring Thanksgiving dinners to Mojave Indian reservation at Needles, California. Club members are soliciting donations o f cash, warm clothing and canned food to add to their own purchases o f turkeys and “the fixings,” said Glenn Thacker, in a press release. Twenty-five private aircraft are expected to take off Nov. 10 from Van Nuys airport. The mojave tribe is comprised o f 145 families, and is situated on the Colorado River. The mojave Indian nation was visited by Spanish explorers in 1604 at the Colorado River, and the Rev. Francisco AAI director on leave of absence HOULTON — Maynard Polchies, presi dent of Association of Aroostook Indians (AAI), has taken an indefinite leave of absence, following orders from his doctor. Acting director Terry Polchies said May nard, his brother, was suffering from nervous exhauston, complicated by arthritis. Polchies’ wife said in recent months AAI programs had gotten “too big, too fast," and that the pressure on Polchies had been tremendous. Staff at AAI said they are far behind in the paper work. Polchies has been out for most of this month, his staff said. He is expected to continue convalescing for another month at least. de Escobar wrote, “ We found them very friendly, and they gave us maize, frijoles and calabashes which is the ordinary food of all the people of the river.” The U.S. Congress in 1865 established the Colorado Indian Reservation where the Mojave and other Colorado River tribes lived. In 1911, the present Fort Mojave Indian Reservation was set apart for the tribe. In 1967 the Arizona Village was developed when the Mojave tribe received 100 homes from the U.S. Marine base at Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif. Approximately 22 thousand acres of the Mojave reservation have a high potential for development as irrigated cropland, and three thousand acres are situated for rangeland use, with the remainder composed of brush and wild lands. According to tribal chairman Llewel lyn Barrackman, the Mojave tribe now is making agricultural progress on the reservation and has leased land to various companies for that purpose, all with the objective o f keeping native members o f the tribe on the reservation rather than forced to move to urban areas to maintain a minimum standard of living. Litton Flying club has delivered around 50,000 pounds of food and clothing to the Manzanita, Jamal, Pala, Havasupai, Paiute, Tule River, La Jolla and Pauma tribes, since 1972. SUBSCRIBE T O WABANAKI ALLIANCE VISITORS FROM BOSTON - John [Sammy! Saplel and Duma MacDonald from the Boston Indian Council [BIC] recently visited Indian Island. Sapiel is sitting on the Penobscot Indian Nation Judicial Advisory Committee [PDUAC], which is charged with developing laws for the Island’s new judicial system. News of Maine Indian Country �Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 advertisements Blackfeet and Sioux men get BIA jobs WASHINGTON — Three assistant area directors for the Bureau o f Indian Affairs’ office in Aberdeen, South Dakota, have been named. Richard D. Drapeaux, formerly deputy area director in Aberdeen will be the assist The Housing Authority of the City o f Westbrook is accepting applications for the Section | ant area director for human resources. This 8 Rental Assistance Program. The program will financially assist 30 low and moderate: office will supervise the office o f employ income families in paying their rent. The income limits for applicants are as follows: ment assistance, social services, tribal gov Maximum Persons in ernment, law enforcement, housing and Income Family Indian business development. $ 9,800. *1 Drapeaux, 50, a member o f the Yankton 11,200. 2 Sioux Tribe, is a graduate o f South Dakota 12,600. 3 State University and entered federal service 14,000. 4 in 1952 as a teacher on the Pine Ridge 14,850. 5 Indian Reservation. He subsequently served 16,600. 6 at the Turtle Mountain, Fort Totten, Fort 17,500. 7 *SingIe persons must be 62 years of age or declared disabled by the Social Security Act. j: Berthold agencies in education, employment assistance and housing positions. In 1975, Participating families will pay between 15 and 25 percent of their income for rent and the;: he was appointed deputy area director, a Housing Authority of the City o f Westbrook will pay the balance. Applicant preference!; will be given to persons living in. employed or accepted for employment in the City o l : position he held until the reorganization of Westbrook. Present applicants must re-apply for this Section VIII Rental Assistance; the Aberdeen area office in May which established assistant area directors for ad allocation. ministration, education, human resources TO APPLY/OR REQUEST INFORMATION and natural resources in lieu o f the deputy CALL 854-9779 and division chief s positions. Between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.tn. Dennis L. Petersen, 53, enrolled member Owners requesting information on participating in this rental assistance program are; o f the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe will be also asked to contact the above number. the assistant area director for natural Minorities are encouraged to apply. resources. His office will supervise the overall responsibility for roads, rights pro tection, real estate services, forestry, range ANNOUNCEMENT management, environmental quality and POSITION AVAILABLE The Penobscot Indian Tribal Court of energy resources. Petersen is a graduate of Unclassified State Service offenses has an opening for a part-time South Dakota State University and did post Maine Human Rights Commission position as judge. graduate work at Colorado State and the CLERK TYPIST III Qualifications must be: University o f Arizona. He served with the For Portland, Maine field office. 1 Knowledge o f State o f Maine Laws. . U.S. Infantry in WWII and again during the Minimum o f 2 years experience in an 2. Be willing to familiarize him/herself Korean conflict. He was with the South office providing service to the general with Penobscot Tribal Ordinances Dakota State University Extension Service. public. Excellent typing and receptionist and Laws. skills required; ability to work with 3. Be o f high moral character and minimum supervision and the ability to JOB OPENING physically sound. accept varied job duties is a necessity. Central Maine Indian Association has an 4. Not have been convicted or found Submit resume to: guilty o f a tribal felony or a felony opening for Director o f Health and Maine Human Rights Commission elsewhere or within one year last past Social Services. Applicants must have a State House o f a misdemeanor, excepting minor B.S. degree in Social Welfare, or the Augusta, Maine 04333 equivalent in work experience. They traffic violations. Salary Range: $181.60-$229.20 must have a driver’ license and be able s 5. Not holding at the time o f appoint to travel. Applicants must be able to ment an elective office. communicate well with both Indian and Salary negotiable. Non-Indian groups. Resumes will be An equal opportunity employer. UF0PI HEWS, has i brand new newspaper about accepted until November 28,1979 at: Please submit resume to: UFO and the O ccu lt Packed with opportunities and Central Maine Indian Association Jerry Pardilla fu n packed readini for everyone. A single copy of 95 Main Street Community Building UF0PI news sells for just $2.00. Send your money for your first copy today: UF0PI HEWS, P.O.B. 161, Orono, Maine 04473 Indian Island, Me. 04468 Atlantic, H. C. 28511. ATTENTION: Personnel Committee HOUSING ASSISTANCE soosecoocc VETERANS ADMINISTRATION 1=1 Equal Housing OPPORTUNITY Owned Homes For Sale Throughout The State Minimum Cash Down Payment Financing Available Through V.A. 30 Year Loans — No Closing Costs 9Vi% Interest. Anyone Can Buy You Don't Have To Be A Veteran See Your Local Real Estate Broker Or Contact VETERANS ADMINISTRATION LOAN GUARANTY DIVISION TOGUS, MAINE 04330 Tel. 207-623-8411 Ext. 433 ^OOC>SOSOCOCO=OCOOOOOOOOOCCOCiOOOCOOOCOOOOOC>=OOCO©!>» Page 11 FOR SALE CONTENTS OF WORKSHOP: Includes two power lathes, drill press, other power tools. Buy all, or separate machines. Write or call — Mrs. Edna Becker Indian Island Old Town, maine 04468 827-5467 Loren J. Farmer, 41, will be the assistant area director for administration and will supervise general areas of financial man agement, budget, personnel services, real property management, procurement and contracting, and safety and planning. Farmer, an enrolled member o f the Blackfeet Tribe o f Montana, is a graduate of Haskell Institute and joined the BIA in 1959. He has served in administrative and management positions in western Washing ton, Portland and Cheyenne River office and was superintendent o f the Yankton and Fort Belknap Agencies. The Aberdeen area office administers programs and services for 15 Indian tribes with a population o f 61,300 in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. JOB OPENING Community Health Representative The Community Health Services Pro gram at Indian Township Reservation will be providing services to Federally recognized Passamaquoddies and Penobscots resident in Aroostook County. This is part o f the Federally funded Indian Health Service program being set up at Indian Township. A full time Community Health Repre sentative is needed to work in Aroostook County. This person will help to locate eleigible people and develop a health care program for them by working with medical providers in the County. The person hired will be under super vision o f the Community Health Services Program at Indian Township but would spend most o f their time in Aroostook County. The person hired: 1 must have a ) strong interest in health care and should have some health care experience; 2 ) must be able to work well with the people and the health care providers; 3) must be able to work well on their own to carry out their assignments; 4) must have a drivers license and car; 5) must be willing to attend training sessions in and out of state to upgrade skills. If you are interested, please contact Wayne Newell, Director, Community Health Services, Indian Township Tribal Government, Box 301, Princeton, Maine 04668. Attend The Navajo College Write or call: Office of Admissions Navajo Community C ollege Psalie, Navajo Nation, Arizona 86556 fully accredited SELL THINGS FAST Wabanaki Alliance, Maine’ only s Indian newpaper, now offers advertising at reasonable rates, with preference given to Indian persons and Indian businesses. Take advantage o f an opportunity to reach about 3,000 readers — most of them Indian persons — through a display advertisement of your choice. Call or write us for rates and other information. WABANAKI ALLIANCE 95 Main St. Orono, Maine 04473 Tel. [207] 866-4903 �Page 12 Wabanaki Alliance November 1979 Flashback photo news notes Documentary film project underway OLD DAYS IN AROOSTOOK — Levi Joseph, an Indian from “the County” and father of Ramona Stackhouse of East Eddington, looks like he’s not going anywhere in a hurry, in his handsome Oakland auto, deep in Houlton snows. [Photo courtesy of Ramona Stackhouse] Workshop builds cultural bridge by Brenda Polchies Area Reporter PRESQUE ISLE — A two day workshop, sponsored by the Northeast Indian Cultural Awareness Training (NICAT) program, of the University of Maine at Orono, was held at the University of Maine at Presque Isle Oct. 22 and 23 with attendance o f human service workers and representatives of various agencies offering human services from throughout Aroostook County. The workshop was aimed specifically at human service workers to inform them o f the differences of Indians in terms o f culture and heritage. It is hoped that this workshop will enable human service workers and agencies dealing with youth to better service Indian- people-after listening to members of the Indian community. There was a problem in getting a good dialogue going because of difficulty getting appropriate questions and responses from human service workers and agency repre sentatives regarding Indian culture and heritage, and especially about Indian child ren. The big questions asked were, why are Indian people different? Are Indian people different? Do Indian children have to be treated differently in order to accomplish what is best for the Indian child? Towards the conclusion o f the workshop, it became evident and there was agreement among the participants, both Indian and non-Indian, that there were no significant differences between non-Indians and Indians in north ern Maine except for the fact that culture and heritage is still a part o f life for the majority o f Maliseets and Micmacs. Among topics covered were concepts of ownership possession and competition, his torical perspective on present day Indian organizations in Aroostook, economics in the Aroostook Indian community, and alcoholism. Films were shown and there were small group disucssions with a special emphasis on problem solving. An extensive and in-depth discussion on alcoholism among Indians was featured. On the first day o f the workshop, initial results o f the NICAT field surveys were presented to the group. Statistics, comments, and recom mendations were discussed. Gail Dana is Project Coordinator and trainer for NICAT and she conducted the workshop along with Indian Presenters Terry Polchies and Berek Dore. Other re source people who participated in the work shop were Professors Lloyd Brightman and Stephen Marks o f the University of Maine at Orono; state Commissioner o f Indian Affairs Charles Rhynard; Gary Ennis, director o f Aroostook Indian Education at Caribou; and Louie Paul, alcoholism coun selor for AAI. Staff from the Department of Indian Affairs at Houlton and staff from the offices o f the Association o f Aroostook Indians at Caribou and Houlton were also present. Indian leader se e s grim year ORONO — A plan for a 60-minute documentary film on Maine Indians is moving ahead, according to producer Jay Kent. Funding is being channeled through Tribal Governors, Inc., of Orono, and Kent hopes to hire an Indian person to direct the film, he told Wabanaki Alliance in an interview. He said he wants to encourage Indian participation in all facets o f the film. “ I’ very serious about having people get m in touch with me. If people don’ get t involved this is just going to be another honky movie,” Kent said, adding, “ I think one of the failings o f all the other films I’ ve seen is that it’ Indians or non-Indians s talking about Indians. I want to minimize the talking and get into the showing.” Asked about the purpose o f the film, Kent said, “I know that saying ‘ trying to increase cultural awareness' is getting to be a cliche, but that’ what we’ trying to do.” The film s re will portray Micmacs, Maliseets, Penobscots and Passamaquoddies. Serving on a film advisory committee are Dr. Eunice Baumann-Nelson o f Penobscot health center, Penobscot historian Glenn Starbird, Joyce Tompkins o f Association of Aroostook Indians, Central Maine Indian Association director Tom Vicaire, former Passamaquoddy bilingual program director Robert Leavitt, Passamaquoddy official Roger Gabriel, Indian Pride director Joseph Nicholas, Penobscot official Jean Mitchell, and Rick Cross, former head o f Aroostook Indian Education. MONTREAL — Canadian govern ment was strongly criticized for cutbacks in Indian services, at a recent annual meeting o f National Indian Brotherhood (NIB). NIB President Noel Starblanket said Canadian bureaucrats offer "nothing new and exciting,” and that vital programs may get the “axe.” Public works projects on a number of Canadian reservations have been cancelled. However, Starblanket praised NIB’ s efforts during the past year, citing in particular a visit to London and the Queen's representatives. The visit in cluded 300 chiefs and elders, and was, “ An irreversible step toward entrenching Indian aboriginal and treaty rights,” Starblanket said, in an article in Native People, a Canadian weekly. CLAREMORE, Oklahoma — Famed humorist Will Rogers would have been a century old Nov. 4, if he were living today. He died in a plane crash Aug. 15, 1935. A cowboy, wit, philosopher, vaudeville star and newspaper columnist, Rogers had a playfully ironic sense o f life’ foibles and s real possibilities. When introduced to President Coolidge, he said, “ Pardon me, I didn't get your name.” This was apparently the only time anyone saw the President laugh. On the eve o f the Depression, Rogers said, “ It just ain’ in the book for us to have the t best of everything all the time. If you got more money, the other fellow maybe has better health, and if another’s got some thing, why, some other will have something PLEASANT POINT — A fire caused by a else. But we got too big an overbalance o f woodstove resulted in minor damage to a everything, and we better kinder start looking ahead and sorter taking stock and reservation home here. An alarm was turned in at 9:30 a.m., Oct. seeing where we are headed for.” 15, for a fire that broke out at the home of Rogers may have been at one time the Donald Stanley o f Pleasant Point. Tribal most popular person in the U.S., but not Public Safety Director John Bailey credited everyone knew he was part Cherokee. The a speedy and efficient tribal fire department New York Times said, “Will was an Indian with extinguishing the fire and saving the — only part Cherokee, but a full-blooded house. The Pleasant Point Fire Department Indian nonetheless, in his and everyone has undergone training and has acquired a else’ eyes at a time when Indians were not s particularly admired in the West.” fire engine. Damage to the Stanley house was Known as a Claremore native, Rogers was actually born in nearby Oologah. He used estimated at $300. the Claremore address, however, since Two bonds “nobody but an Indian could pronounce Oologah.” seek recognition Fire causes slight dam age WASHINGTON — Department of the Interior is putting a notice in the federal register on its proposal to acknowledge the Grand Traverse Band o f Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Northern Michigan as an Indian tribe, Bureau of Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard said. Schaghticokes mark tenth anniversary AVON, Mass. — Chief Broken Arrow (George Hopkins) and wife Necia, a princess, presided at the 10th anniversary dinner o f New England Coastal Schaghticoke Indian Association. The recent powwow included Indian films and a show, and awarding o f plaques to invited guests. Several tribes were repre This year CMIA is trying to obtain sented at the festivities. The first association donations o f food, money and toys to be dis meeting took place in October 1969, at tributed to Indian families that need the Schaghticoke Indian reservation, Kent, help for Christmas. It also has about 60 Conn. Indian people in different institutions in CMIA seek s n ew logo Maine and would like to do something for them, too. Anyone wishing to make a donation is ORONO — Central Maine Indian Asso asked to indicate whether it is to go towards ciation is looking for an artistic person to the families or people in institutions or both. design a new logo for the Orono-based (Donations will go to both, if a preference organization. isn’ stated.) Donors are asked to contact t Anyone wishing to try their hand at a logo either Marta Conlin or Tom Thurlow, Out design should submit their work to CMIA, reach Workers at CMIA, 866-5587 or 866- 95 Main Street, Orono, Maine 04473. The 5588. Any assistance will be greatly appre logo should have an Indian motif and be ciated by CMIA and the people it will be suitable to represent all activities o f the offhelping. reservation social service association. CMIA to play Santa Claus HA’ ^ING A CHAT at Central Maine Indian Association supper meeting are board members Ramona Stackhouse, left, and Helen Devoe. Will Rogers was a Cherokee � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (November 1979) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1979-11 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-408 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission. https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/61dbb8153a6de998dd979471a17802c1.pdf 6ff5b113e78d24b3acee4e1edf50d2fb PDF Text Text W . A . ZI LESSK I RFC 3 Bi.-TFORD* ME . Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid 3.1c Permit No. 15 Orono, Maine 0 * 0 Os W abanaki A llia n ce December 1979 Indian court holds first session The Penobscot Nation held court for the first time ever, in modern form, on Dec. 13, and with its 10-case initial docket, quietly took a giant step toward asserting tribal jurisdiction. A committee of Penobscots headed by paralegal Jerry Pardilla has .worked painstakingly long hours in recent weeks to draft and codify a working plan for a court system and set of enforceable laws. Their hard work follows the landmark Sockabasin-Dana jurisdiction case last summer involving two Passamaquoddy men convicted of arson, in which a state supreme court ruled that the offense on a reservation was subject to federal, not state authority. Pardilla said the Holmes case — involving a non-Indian who said the state has no jurisdiction in a murder case last summer on Indian Island — “forced our hand,” and led to the hasty establishing of a tribal court and criminal justice system for minor offenses. Originally, the tribe planned on a two-year study period. Asked about the first session of Penobscot court, Maine Indian land claims lawyer vThomas N. Tureen, who has consulted with tribes on jurisdictional matters, told this newspaper, T in pleased that it’ functioning.” s Pardilla commented, “I think it went along well. I was just hoping that things would run smoothly and that we'd have respect, and we did.” Essentially, the Penobscots are devel oping a criminal justice system to handle non-major crimes involving only Indian persons. Crimes involving non-Indians will — if they occur on an Indian reservation in Maine — be handled by federal authorities. {Penobscots may choose to challenge the non-Indian aspect of jurisdiction at a later date.) Passamaquoddies Take Action Although Penobscots have taken the lead in establishing their own court, Passamaquoddies have not been idle. A s it turns out, each of Maine’ three Indian s reservations (one Penobscot, two Passa maquoddy) are going their separate ways in establishing new jurisdiction. Each reservation faces the challenge of filling the void left by the removal of state jurisdiction — a result of SockabasinDana. At Pleasant Point, paralegal consultant Valerie Em ery explained that a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) court will be set up “in a month or so” through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Much remains to be worked out, she said. [Continued on page 14] Ex-drug smuggling yocht given to tribe PLEASANT POINT — A 42-foot yacht has been presented to th * Pacsam.anuoddy » tribe free o f charge, and is expected to « nve this month at the reservation. Declared surplus property by the General Services Administration, the vessel was seized near Miami because o f its use in running illegal drugs. Three other boats seized in drug raids are also scheduled to be delivered to Pleasant Point, according to tribal Lt. Gov. Gifford (Giv) Dore. Dore, a sometime fisherman himself, said the vessels will probably net groundfish, and he hopes to see the as yet uncompleted fish processing plant in operation. The proces sing plant, built several years ago on reser vation land, has been used for storing housing materials. Discussing the first session of Penobscot tribal court at Indian Island are, from left, Jerry Pardilla, chairman of a judicial committee, tribal judge Andrew Mead, and tribal policeman TV??— ••I M v v ’y. Penobscots get their day in court...their o w n court INDIAN ISLAND— The somber tone of the courtroom couid not mask the excitement, as Indian Island completed another rite of passage into nationhood, the institu tion of its own court system. Even some of the defendants seemed to display embarrassed pride in their roles in the fulfillment of this long-awaited drama. [Although the docket was small and the infractions minor, the importance of the event was evident in the faces of the spectators, which included Island Governor, Nicholas Sapiel, and current Governor Wil fred Pehrson.) The session began with an explanation of the jurisdiction and [Continued on page 6] Cancer victim grateful after 50-50 life odds John Mitchell INDIAN ISLAND — There he is, looking like old times, enjoying everyone, young and old alike. He’ got the unlit cigar in his s mouth; “I chew tobacco,” he says with a grin. John Mitchell age 54 is a happy man. He was always a generous and kind person with an easygoing disposition. But a few months ago things began to change. Mitchell, a Penobscot who worked as project engineer with the Young Adult Conservation Corps at Indian Island, began acting a little strangelyAs Mitchell recalls it, “I was driving my car down the road and all o f a sudden I saw two cars coming at me, exactly the same, one in my lane. That was my starting point, with my left eye." Friends and co-workers noticed Mitchell just wasn’ quite himself. His wife Delores t was worried. Mitchell remembers: "I we:?f down to check my boat, and I saw a log beside the board, but when I stepped on it, there was no log there and I was in the water. Then the headaches started. It made me hurt so bad it made me cry.” So Mitchell went for a routine hospital checkup. The news was bad. Mitchell was informed he had cancer, and he became quite frightened for himself and his family. Today, when jovial John Mitchell takes off his woolen cap, his head shows the scars where massive surgery took place, using the most advanced skills and equip ment available at Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor. Until his hair grows back, Mitchell’ scalp resembles football-stitch s ing. The scars are startling, but Mitchell isn’ t embarrassed: he is proud. The tumor re moved from his head weighed more than nine pounds; more than many babies weigh at birth. Mitchell’ chances of surviving the s operation were put at 50-50. Even with Eastern Maine’s sophisticated equipment, not to mention specialists, the doctor’ didn’ know what caused Mitchell’ s t s [Continued on page 6] �Page 2 Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 editorials Set the record straight The men and women involved in writing and editing a new Maine history book, "D ingo,’’ are to be commended. It’ high time a book s was written which tries to correct some o f the many misconceptions about Indian people and their culture. It gives substance to the belief that Maine's tribes have endured a history o f injustices, not only at the hands o f the state, but historians as well. It should be noted, however, that in their zeal to shatter stereo types found in earlier texts, the editors have occasionally strayed from the role o f historians. Toward the end o f a second chapter devoted to the tribes, subjective statements take the place o f facts, with little or no explanation. The opening o f a Department o f Indian Affairs office for off-reservation Indians in Aroostook County is cited as evidence "the state had finally accepted responsibility for the loss o f Indian land and rights in Aroostook." The state might offer a different opinion. In another case, after an informative section on the Micmacs who settled in Maine following the American Revolution, the unsubstan tiated statement is made, “it is clear that the Americans have not lived up to promises made to them." A few facts are needed here to prove the point. Without the weight of evidence, such statements become mere opinion, not history. In striving the rectify wrongs o f past historians, the producers of this book have suffered some o f the same pitfalls as their prede cessors. In this case they have erred on the side o f a people abused throughout history. It would be tempting to say this is all right; but where a history book does not serve the truth, it loses strength. Let the facts speak for themselves. bv dl The April 1 deadline The celebrated Maine Indian land claims case will most likely be settled peaceably before April 1 1980. , That’ because a federal statute o f limitations takes effect on that s date. After April 1 no new Indian claims can be filed through the , federal government. This means that Penobscots and Passamaquoddies must settle their land and monetary claims prior to the deadline, or their legal clout will be wiped out. True, as some Indians argue, there is still the possibility o f World Court or other actions “outside the system,” but this seems a long shot at best. As w e’ said on this page before, a negotiated settlement appears ve to be the best o f all solutions to the valid claims o f the tribes. Right now, Penobscots and Passamaquoddies face the prospect o f 300,000 acres in an estimated $79 million total settlement, with a variety of special benefits in the form o f loans, grants and continuing support. In the past, we’ made overly optimistic predictions on these pages ve about the settlement timetable, and so we are cautious in viewing the latest proposal. But we can say without any doubt that as 1979 draws to an end, so does the decade o f struggle by Penobscots and Passa maquoddies to regain some o f what is rightfully theirs. The tribes have done their homework, and the deadline is no major threat to their long term efforts. They are ready to move. A dedicated negotiating committee has worked very hard to secure a claims settlement that is both realistic and beneficial to the Indian community. W INDIAN FRlENPsWE HAVE 50/V\E FINE PROPERTY H E R E , FOR A M 0 P E 5 T PRICE. Drugs an insidious force by Brenda Polchies I am an Indian person who is aware, is conscious o f problems confronting the Indian community today, and I am aware of the pressures which are placed on our Indian leaders. But I have come to realize and fear that a sickness is infiltrating the Indian community and the white com munity through the guise o f legitimate agencies employing certain Indian and nonIndian persons. The sickness I will name specifically here is drugs. Illegal, immoral, and hypocritical. These drugs are being ingested by certain individuals o f the Indian community and the white community in the state and out o f state who are in decision making capacities. Decisions are being made for me and for you by Indians and non-Indians whose minds and bodies are saturated with these illegal drugs. I do not want decisions being made for me by these people. I do not want a drug-in duced mind to determine my life, my future, and my happiness. I do not want these druginduced individuals to determine the life of my child. A thorough inner community and inner agency house cleaning needs to take place soon before it’ too late. These people s have to either butt out completely and crawl around their own sick world, or they must come forward and answer to someone. They are kidding no-one but themselves. They are the fools. I know others are aware o f the problem, and from the silence on this matter, I see they choose to ignore it. Many times I have broached this subject to key people I thought were knowledgeable, intelligent, and concerned, and many times an invisible door was shut in my face. Why? What are they afraid of? People with alcohol prob lems, who are labeled as medically sick, would soon enough find themselves kicked out into the street if they showed up drunk at their jobs. They would be arrested and put in jail. Appropriate help is available to them. Is it so different with this drug situation? Just because the effect o f illegal drugs is not obvious to an average individual, does that make it more respect able, more acceptable? Where is the appropriate help for drug users and drug addicts? I have heard a lot about public awareness about drugs. Where is this public awareness? I do not want to impede the progress and great strides the Indian com munity has made in the last few years, nor do I want to just stand aside and allow this problem to exist. Once upon a time, I was very proud o f these Indian leaders. I was proud to be a part o f the Indian community. I felt safe and secure in knowing the fact that my Indian brothers were intelligent, sensitive, and very capable in expressing my views, concerns, and problems to the white community and to political representatives. But I don’ feel t safe and secure anymore. I don’ feel t especially proud o f my Indian brothers either. Many of my friends are into drugs; they avoid me and they no longer look me straight in the eye; they turn their heads away. Obviously, they have a guilty con science. Why did they succumb to this insidious evil? How does one stop this epidemic? I say the word epidemic because it is touching on all human aspects — Indian, white, youth, and adult. And it isn’ just the kids and t adults on the street anymore who are affected by this problem. Teachers, lawyers, people in social agencies, health agencies, federal agencies, state agencies, personnel in jails and prisons, doctors and nurses; counselors in hospitals — who purport to be helping drug addicts and alcoholics — are playing a hypocritical role because I have come across an instance where a counselor was into drugs himself; people with profes sional backgrounds, people with advanced university and college educations are all included; are susceptible to this disease. To me, the enemy is drugs. They have become as easily available as aspirin, but the damage they do in terms o f destroying physical health, mental health, and family relationships is paramount. I have not seen legislation or laws which put legal restraints on dealing specifically with drugs. Since it seems virtually impossible to stop the source o f illegal drugs, I would like to see legislation enacted to some way, somehow, make it mandatory for persons to submit to a blood test, urine test, whichever way is more feasible, to keep these people from being employed in jobs which help pay for these drugs. A system can be developed which will make it mandatory for employees to be accountable for their absences, where abouts — their time on the job to their superiors, their board o f directors, and their executive staff. I know this sounds like a naive way of solving a problem, but does anyone else have a better solution? Since this message is directed more towards the Indian community, I offer this last statement: Indian people today are as vulnerable to society’ illicit, contemporary s temptations as they were many, many years ago. Is anyone out there listening? Does anyone care? �Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Page 3 letters to the Bread and light PRINCIPAL AND PUPIL — Sister Anselma Colford, Indian Township elementary school, and student Jay Mazzadra, son of Martha Malec, enjoy one another’ com s pany in this recent photo. Great teaching Indian Township To the editor: I sure enjoy your nice paper and am sending a clipping o f my son Jay, age 9, with Sister Ann Anselma o f Peter Dana Point. She is out sick and 1 hope she feels much better soon. She's been a very good principal at the school. My son is learning Passamaquoddy and all the teachers have been very great in teaching him. He loves the reservation and hopes to live here. Merry Christmas to all of you and keep up the good work. Martha Malec Indian Township To the editor: People o f God . . . Peace and comfort be with you. My feelings for you are best expressed by Paul and Timothy in the opening remarks of the letter to the Prayer Community of Philippi . . . Philippians 1 2-6, “Grace to : you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And, 1 am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." As the Irish say, with a slight variation, “Strangers are merely friends you have not yet met." The few I have shared with in the past, proved a grace in my life. I can only look forward with anticipation to the joy of meeting the rest of you in person. Mean while, this letter will have to suffice to express my thanks for your fellowship and support. Quincy, Boston, Plymouth, Brockton and many places in between, have been a wall of strength and disciple-ship for us Indians. You cannot know here on earth just how deeply your love has shaped us in the Lord and our ministry o f sharing Bread and Light. Your love has allowed Jesus, as Lord of Nations, to open up for us those “New Horizons” we share as a common vision. Again, our thanks in Him, Partileas Susap (The Rev. Joseph Laughlin) Indian crossroads Denver, Colo. To the editor: The Denver Native Americans United, Inc., has been publishing a monthly news letter for over two years. This newsletter covers national as well as local news and is a focus for the Native Americans in this region. Denver has been called the “Crossroads of Indian Country," and rightfully so. There are approximately 10,000 Indians living and working here. They come from all over the country representing all tribes. The DNAU Center itself serves approximately 4,000 people, providing emergency assistance, educational programs and employment resources, as well as diverse social and cultural programs. Sam Gardipe, Jr., Editor Reinforcing pride Tucsen, Arizona To the editor: Your paper is like a letter from home. It serves to reinforce m y pride of my heritage. Congratulations on a well-edit ed, illustrated, informative and pure journalistic production. I’ enclosed a small contribution. ve Merry Christmas to you and staff. Normand T. Nelson Dominica To the editor: My name is Hilary Frederick, Chief of the Carib Reserve, on the island of Dominica, in the West Indies; the last remaining o f the Carib race. This is the last reservation .. . the only one in the Caribbean island. I am writing to you because I received your news paper, the Wabanaki Alliance, and I find it very interesting. There is a lot of history that has to be told about Caribs. First, I will just give you some informa tion. The Carib Reserve is situated on the east side o f the Island o f Dominica; it contained originally 7,760 acres of land, but the government took some land and there now remains 3.700 acres, which I have a certificate o f title to. At the age o f 22, I find the Caribs. the minority on the island, we are left back, as the majority are the black, and the rulers are black also. And the problem which- faces me now is that, there are many black, or illegal residents on the reserve. I would like to put them out, but no help. I am writing to link with my fellow Indians overseas, to get acquainted with their leaders. And the people too. The Caribs number 500 pure caribs; 1,000 mixed; 500 black. Maybe you have heard o f the hurricane that struck my island very badly. In the Carib Reserve there were about 125 homes damaged. We have no materials to rebuild. We would like galvanized board nails, chain saws and other building materials. Along with that 2,000 acres o f tree crops were damaged and 1,100 acres o f forest land. So I am asking my fellow brothers to help me in my poor situation. The hur ricane occurred on the 28th o f August, 1979. I would like to write news o f the Carib for your newpaper in the near future. Ala-qua-bou-tauAla-cou-nar, maul Aquichah Hilary Frederick Seeking members Leesburg, GA. Imprisoned Redding, Calif. To the editor: I am a sixteen-year-old Indian boy in a correctional institution. I would like to receive your newsletter soon. Thank you. Danny Black Hawk Worthen Wabanaki Alliance A Carib describes his people To the editor: The Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy, Inc. is a non-profit organization. We are accepting members with 1/16 or more of Indian heritage, but they can’ belong to two t tribes at one time. For more information write to Principal Vice Chief Jim Little Hawk Jackson, Southeastern Cherokee Con federacy. Inc., Rt. 1 Box 112, Quitman, GA , 31643. Vol. 3, No. 12 December 1979 Published monthly by the Division of Indian Services [DIS] at the Indian Resource Center, 95 Main St., Orono, Maine 04473. MEMBER — MAINE PRESS ASSOCIATION Steven Cartwright, Editor William O’Neal, Associate Editor DIS Board of Directors TROPHY ANGLER — Joe Lola, 12, of Indian Township caught the biggest fish last summer at Camp Roosevelt in East Edding ton. The trophies were presented to Joe on August 23rd by the Camp Director, Tom Herbert. [Photo by Kathy Tomah] Jean Chavaree [chairman] John Bailey, Public Safety Coordinator Albert Dana, Tribal Councilor Timothy Love, Representative to State Legislature Jeannette Neptune, Community Development Director Jeannette LaPlante, Central Maine Indian Assoc. Susan Desiderio, Assn, of Aroostook Indians Maynard Polchies, President, Aroostook Indians Melvin L. Vicaire, Central Maine Indian Assn. David A. Francis, Public Safety Department Indian Island Pleasant Point Indian Township Indian Island Indian Township Orono Houlton Houlton Mattawamkeag Pleasant Point DIS is an agency of Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc. of Maine. Subscriptions to this newspaper are available by writing to Wabanaki Alliance, 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. Diocesan Human Relations Services and DIS are a non-profit corporation. Contri butions are deductible for income tax purposes. Picture raises questions Iowa City, Iowa To.the editor: I’m writing in order to share a theory about the enclosed picture and to ask whether you have any information which might correct or support it. It is a portrait of “Joseph Porus, Pen obscot Chief," painted in Washington. D.C., 1842. by Charles Bird King. It belongs to the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Okla homa, where I took this photo o f it in June. You can also find a black and white reproduction o f it in THE INDIAN LEGACY OF CHARLES BIRD KING, by Herman J. Viola (Smithsonian Inst. Press, 1976), p . 111. My theory is that “Porus” is the same man who. 15 years later, was the “Joe Polis" who guided Thoreau. (See the 3rd part of THE MAINE WOODS.) T h o rea u sa y s that Polis had represented his tribe in Washing ton many years before and was age 48 in 1857, making him 33 in 1842. His descrip tion o f Polis fits the man in this portrait, and he also says that Polis had difficulty pronouncing r’ and l’ sometimes using s s, one for the other, which would explain the two spellings and further support the identity. Is there somebody in the Penobscot tribe or among the Abanakis (Wabanakis?) who knows any more? I learned about the existence o f the portrait from a man in Schenectady, N.Y., Andrew Farry, who wrote after reading my book THOREAU AND THE AMERICAN INDIANS, to ask why I had used a picture o f Joe Aitteon but none o f Polis. He’ never d seen the picture, but had seen a reference to it in an article nearly 25 years before and had always assumed that Porus and Polis were the same man. What a memory! 1 have a little more information about “Porus" and the painting if you are interested. My home address is R.R. 1, Box 66, Oxford, Iowa 52232 (tel. 319/683-2692). Robert F. Sayre Native fashion show Lincoln. Nebraska To the editor: The Native American Special Events Committee o f the University Program Council would like to do a Native American fashion show with traditional and contemp orary fashions. We are planning on doing the show sometime between April 21 and 26, 1980, when we are also planning a traditional program. 1 would like some information concerning clothing designers in your area. Please send names, addresses and telephone numbers by December 14 if at all possible. Send to: Kim Otto, 200 Nebraska Union, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588. Thank you for your cooperation. Kim Otto �Page 4 Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Indian woman files complaints in job hassle MILLINOCKET — Mary Francis Isaac sits calmly in her Katahdin Avenue living room and recounts a series o f events that have escalated a personality conflict into a human rights case. A founding member of Central Maine Indian Association (CMIA), Isaac, a Penob scot, does not believe in being pushed around. She maintains that her boss, Millinocket Town Manager William J. Ayoob, has unfairly attacked her in her job as bookkeeper/payroll clerk in the town office. Isaac is currently vice president o f CMIA, and a board member o f Tribal Governors, Inc. As Wabanaki Alliance went to press, a hearing was scheduled to take place in Bangor on an unfair labor practices charge, presented by Isaac to the Maine Labor Relations Board. Also, the Maine Human Rights Commission was planning to file a report if Ayoob and Isaac could not negotiate a settlement by Dec. 1 . 7 All of this action began July 25, according to Isaac, when she received a written repri mand from Ayoob. The strongly worded letter said in part: “You are spending too much time at the counter and on the telephone talking, much o f it about town business not within your scope o f respon sibility or authority; much of it that has nothing to do with town business at all, and offering information not within your auth ority to do so.” Ayoob also said Isaac was causing a morale problem. The letter further stated that Isaac was “hereby placed on notice that a continuance Mary Francis Isaac of said action may result in suspension or termination.” The next day, Isaac sent a brief letter asking Ayoob to clarify the charges. On Aug. 1 Isaac decided she had waited long 1, enough for an explanation. She wrote Ayoob that she had “no alternative but to request your utmost cooperation in proceeding to bring this grievance to the Personnel Appeals Board. I believe I am being singled out for reasons unknown to me and apparently non-justifiable in writing.” Oddly enough, although a fiery dispute was carried on in the mails, Isaac and Ayoob continued to work in the same offices, with much daily contact. On Sept. 13, Ayoob responded to the Aug. 1 letter from Isaac. 1 Ayoob defended his initial reprimand, but said “no further action is contemplated if the letter o f reprimand is taken seriously and those types of actions mentioned are corrected.” Ayoob wrote: “ I have complimented your neatness, cleanliness, and technical ability. You were, however, reprimanded for poor attitude, wasting time, unnecessary talking at the counter, too much time on the telephone on non-professional matters, and involving yourself in dispensing information not within your authority to do so.” Ayoob concluded the letter with a warning to dis continue “insubordination, disrespect, and the attitude o f isolationism,” or be fired. Asked if any o f Ayoob’ charges were s valid, Isaac said that she had occasionally handled Central Maine Indian Association business on the town office phone, but that she had always made up the time, and had not let it interfere with her usual duties. Isaac said she is convinced Ayoob wants to punish her for taking time to hear the case o f distant relative Ronald (Sonahbeh) Francis, charged with building an illegal fire at Debsconeag Deadwater. On July 18, in Millinocket, Judge Jessie H. Briggs ruled that although Francis, a Penobscot, clearly had built a fire without permission o f the landowner. Great Northern Paper Co., the state had not proved beyond reasonable doubt that Great Northern’ title was s superior to the Penobscot Indians’ abor iginal title. The finding: not guilty. “If anything,” Isaac said, “ I’ guilty of m gloating over the opinion." On Oct, 12, Ayoob ordered Isaac to report to the public Works Director for work as a secretary, on Monday, Oct. 15, at the same rate o f pay as she received in the town office. Supreme Court agrees to government appeal on Black Hills award Penobscot tribal Gov. Wildred Pehrson chats with St. Regis Mohawk Chief Leonard Garrow, at recent reception for Mohaws at Indian Island health center. Elected Mohawk officials oppose traditional movement ST. REGIS (AKWESASNE) — Three chiefs o f the Mohawk tribal council here have accused a small group of Indians o f dis rupting the reservation in the name of tradi tional longhouse leadership. One of the chiefs recently visited Indian Island Penob scot reservation. According to a New York State news paper, the duly elected — and officially rec ognized— government o f Mohawks opposes the efforts of a radical group that has barricaded itself in a reservation encamp ment. The group had earlier seized a tribal building, but later relinquished it. The disputed leadership at the St. Regis reservation began with an incident involving the federally funded Young Adult Conser vation Corps (YACC) and Loran Thompson, a traditionalist chief. Thompson and Joseph Swamp, another Mohawk, apparently want to challenge state sovereignty on the reservation, and they have refused to return YACC equipment seized last May, in return for dropping o f charges against them. Chief Leonard Garrow of the Mohawk tribe visited Penobscot Health and Social Services recently, along with Mohawk health service staff and council members. During an informal conversation, Garrow told Wabanaki Alliance that the traditionals were trouble-makers, some of whom came from elsewhere to join the rebellion. Garrow and two other chiefs wrote, “If the traditional Indian people at St. Regis want to take over the government of the St. Regis tribe and govern the affairs through the historical form o f government, then they must convince all the Indian people at St. Regis to accept that type of government. This does not seem probable,” they added. Akwesasne Notes, an Indian newspaper with national circulation, has become spokesman for the insurgent Mohawks, and a recent issue contains a long article in defense of the traditionalist faction. The Supreme Court agreed Dec. 10 to hear the government’ challenge of the s $105 million award made to the Sioux Indians for the taking of seven million acres of land in the Black Hills area where gold was found, after the land had been set aside for the Indians. The settlement is the largest court judgment ever won by American Indians. The U.S. Court of Appeals, in ordering the settlement, ruled that the Govern ment violated the Constitution in taking the land without compensation. Though the Government is appealing < the award, many of the Sioux leaders have argued that they do not want the money, claiming they are entitled to the return of the land. Corrections A sports photo caption in last month’ s Wabanaki Alliance incorrectly identified a young runner as Jamie Knapp. The boy pictured is Kirk Francis o f Indian Island. Both lads competed in the track meet at Maranacook Community School. In another sports photo, a caption incor rectly stated coach Mike Ranco was an Orono High School graduate. Ranco grad uated from Old Town High School. Mar anacook coach Stan Cowan attended Orono High, and the two ran against each other in their student days. The editor apologizes for his errors. The reassignment, he wrote, was caused by Isaac’ “attitude” and relationship to s Ayoob, which had not improved satisfactori ly, in the manager’ opinion. s The next day, town councilors Nathalie V. McGibbon and John Pelkey wrote separate letters to the Personnel Appeals Board in support of Isaac's protest at her transfer. Isaac herself filed a formal grievance with the board Oct. 14. Two days later the Personnel Appeals Board responded to the councilors, saying that Ayoob’ transfer of Isaac was legal, s and an appeal would not be considered unless she was terminated. Isaac will have worked three years for the town this January. “Nowhere, as long as I have worked, has anything like this been done. I felt singled out,” she told this newspaper. Isaac said she decided to try to organize town office employees as a union. “I felt the non-union employees didn’ have any power. t The girls were actually being intimidated. We figured we better protect ourselves,” she said. Seeking union recognition did not bring Isaac and Ayoob any closer to an understanding. On Oct. 23,_ a field representative of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a complaint with Maine Labor Relations Board. The com plaint alleged "intimidation” o f those persons wishing to unionize, and improper transfer o f employees (such as Isaac) from one job to another. Results o f the hearing, slated Dec. 19, were not known at press time. The Maine Human Rights Commission became involved in October when Isaac filed a complaint alleging discrimination by the town o f Millinocket. A closed-door hearing was held by the commission in November, to determine if an informal resolution of differences was possible. Isaac declined to discuss the hearing publicly. Ayoob was hesitant to discuss the Isaac case in a telephone interview. “I’ not going m to get into a debate,” he said. But he commented that “some of her friends have done her in,” in reference to a petition reportedly bearing 400 signatures of support for Isaac. “ In all honesty I made some transfers, and I did it for the good o f the service,” Ayoob told Wabanaki. Alliance. “I’ not m going to go out and hurt anybody,” he said. Would he fire anyone? “ God help us, ab solutely not.” Ayoob said. Isaac said 1 town employees have 1 resigned since last spring, and five depart ment heads will have resigned by Christmas. Do you have a drinking problem? Wabanaki Corporation offers an alco holism program for Indian people who need help because o f problems with alcohol. If you have such a problem- and need help, or know o f someone in need, please contact the Alcoholism Counselor in your community or area. Indian Island — Alcoholism Counselors — Clarence Francis — Rosalie Murphy — 207-866-5577. Indian Township — Alcoholism Coun selors — James Mitchell — Bernard Stevens — 207-796-2321. Association o f Aroostook Indians — Alcoholism Counselors — Pious Perley — Harriet Perley — 207-762-3571. Pleasant Point — Alcoholism Counse lors — Grace Roderick — Angelina Robichaud — 207-853-2537. Central Maine Indian Association — Alcoholism Counselor — Alfred Dana — 207-269-2653 or 207-866-5577. �Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Page 5 Textbok revises Indian history “It was a struggle ... many years after the coming o f the Europeans, we united into an alliance called the Wabanaki Confederacy ... this idea of a confederacy set an example for the bringing together many states under one government. It served as a model for the United States and the United Nations.” That is an excerpt from the draft copy o f a textbook which will take an unusual approach toward Indians and their role in the history o f the state. Prepared for junior high school history classes, “Dirigo: The Story o f Maine” is intended by its compiler. Dean B. Bennett, to present in a new light Indians, FrancoAmericans and other aspects o f state history that have been avoided or misrepresented in the past. Operating under a grant through the state Department of Education and Cultural Services, Bennett has enlisted the aid of American Friends Service Committee and a panel of Indian volunteers who served as an advisory committee on the chapters o f the book dealing with Indians. While the textbook had not been deliver ed to the printers as o f press time, and further revision was possible, a draft copy of Dirigo was in nearly final form. The first section of Dirigo dealing with Indians is told in the first person, and describes encounters with European explorers, settlers and French priests. “Many o f us felt that our own spiritual leaders had failed us, so we turned more and more to the Christian missionaries for help,” the narration says. Told from a con temporary Indian viewpoint, the text says, "Alcohol was even more damaging to our culture than all the epidemics." “In our way o f life, we worked very hard to settle disagreements peacefully. For instance, every person’ opinion was listened s to with respect. No wonder we thought Europeans w ere uncivilized,” the narrator says. A section on the “war years” tells o f the European view o f Indians as "children of the devil;” o f the quest for land, and a divide and conquer approach. A particularly vivid incident is recalled, when English sailors took an Indian baby from a mother to see if it could swim at birth, “like animals.” The baby, son o f Abenaki Chief Squando, drowned in the Saco River. A section on “the spirit o f freedom” notes the Maine Indians “had given many lives for the Revolutionary cause, but when the war was over, the Americans, it seemed, no longer needed them.” Earlier, in 1775, Joseph Orono (part white), said “Our white brothers (Americans) tell us that they came to our land to enjoy liberty and life. But their King (of England) is coming to bind them in chains and to kill them.” A fateful treaty was signed in 1794, in which the Passamaquoddies gave up most of their lands, saving only six square miles near Princeton, several islands in the St. Croix River, plus 23.000 additional acres. In 1796 and again in 1818, the Penobscots are recorded as giving up lands. Knew not what they did According to the Dirigo text, “ In spite of the many deeds signed by the Abenakis, it is clear they did not understand what they were doing. To sell land was something unheard of to the Indians. They did not understand English law. And because they could not read they never really knew what was written into the land deeds.” As early as 1698, Wabanaki Indians of Maine agreed to be ruled by the English and respect settlements. The agreement didn’ t stick, with apparent violations on both sides. Maine Indians generally sided with the French, and the Wabanaki Confederacy, or Great Council Fire, was an attempt to present a united front. In 1724 Father Rasle — a French Catholic priest who compiled a Wabanaki dictionary now in Harvard’ s library — was killed in the Norridgewock Indian massacre. The English attitude was further evidenc ed by a bounty on Penobscot scalps, issued in 1755 (1756, according to Dirigo). Such attitude leaves suspect a later English proc lamation that Penobscot “lands and prop erty rights and liberty shall never be invaded or distrubed.” At the chapter’ conclusion, questions are s posed for the student, such as, "D o you think the early history o f Maine could have been different? Do you think the Europeans and Wabanakis could have found a way to live in peace? How do you think truth can help people understand each other?" The second chapter devoted to Indians traces each o f the four Maine tribes from the early 1800's to the present, beginning with the Passamaquoddies. The role o f the state Indian agents in “leasing” tribal land and the influence these people held is discussed. The setting up of a trust fund by the state, using profits from the sale of tribal timber is mentioned, and it is stated that it is the money from the Indian’ own trust fund which finances their s welfare program, not the generosity o f their white neighbors, as is commonly believed. The growing dependence o f the Passama quoddies on welfare is chronicled, as they shifted from hunting to guiding and craft making. 01d~an3~5lew Parties which formed follow ing introduction o f Protestant schools to the reservation as well as the debate over whether to keep the lifetime chiefs or hold regular elections. The book demonstrates the attitude o f the By His H O N O U R state toward the tribes in pointing out that Maine did not grant the right to vote to Maine tribes until 30 years after this right had been recognized by the federal govern Lieutenant-Govcrnour and Commander in Chief, in and over H is Majcfly’s Province o f the M affacbufeltsBay in N ew-England. ment. Dirigo outlines the struggle of the tribes to get out from under the state’ influence, s beginning with formation o f the Depart H E R E A S the Tribe o f Pem bfcot Indians have repeatedly in a perfidious Manner adted con ment o f Indian Affairs (DIA) and cul trary to their folcmn Submiflion unto H is Majefty long fince made and frequently renewed ; minating in the Indian land claims. The sab* thereto*, attheaNOKofthc^oufeofmeprefentatibes, totfl tljc 2Db(ceof Passamaquoddy section concludes by stat SfS © attftp’ Council, thought fit to rffuc th(s proclamation, anb to Declare the ing that Indians are beginning to control s Penobfcot xribe of 3nDfans to be enemies, Rebels anD Xraitojs to $fs © ajeftp iting G E O R G E the S econ d : 2lnD 3 Do Ijctcby require Sis fi@ajeftp’ Subjects of their own lives, although specific examples s this probmee to embrace all iOppojtunltfes of purfulng, captibating, Hilling anD D e* are not given. The section on the Penobscots traces a Croplng all anD ebetp of the afojefalD JnDlans. similar decline into dependence on the state A N D W H E R E A S the General Court of this Province have voted that a Bounty or Incouas the tribe lost first its land and then its ragement be granted and allowed to be paid out o f the Publick Treafury. to the marching Forces that Ihall livelihood. Penobscot Lt. Gov. John Neptune have been employed for the Defence ol the E oficrn and W eflern Frontiers, from the F ir jl to die Twentypermitted the state to remove timber from fifth o f this Inftant November ; tribal lands, but asked to be allowed to § abe thought fit to publitt) the fame; anD 3 Do hereby iDiomifc, -Chat there 0>nll continue hunting the game on the lands. be paiD out of the ^roblnce-iCceafurp to all anD any of the faiD jfotets, ober anD However, the resulting heavy timbering abobe their JBounty upon ^nliftmcnt, their (KUagcs anD SmbOfrcncc, tfje premiums oj drove the animals away. In addition, it $onnty following, viz. greatly reduced the number o f birch, killing For every Male Penobfcot Indian above the A ge o f Twelve Years, that fiiall be taken within the T im e the canoe-making industry, according to the aforefaid and brought to Bofion, F ifty Pounds. book. For every Scalp o f a Male Penobfcot Indian above the A ge aforcfiid,brought in as Evidence o f their being The book again emphasizes that welfare killed as aforefaid, Forty Pounds. money received on the reservations comes from tribal trust funds started long ago in For every Female Penobfcot Indian taken and brought in as aforelaid.and for every Male Indian Prifoncr under the A ge o f Twelve Years, taken and brought in as aforefaid, Twenty-fve Pounds. exchange for use of the tribe’ lands. s Some of the questionable land deals the For every Scalp o f luch Female Indian or Male Indian under the A ge o f T w elve Years, that fiiall be state made with the Penobscots are high killed and brought in as Evidence o f their being killed as aforefaid, Twenty Pounds. lighted. For example, the book states that in Given at the Council-Chamber in Bofion, this Third Day of November 1755, and in the Twenty-ninth Year of 1833 the state sent two men to the the Reign of our Sovereign Lord G E O R G E the Second, by the Grace of GOD of Great-Britam, Penobscots to purchase as much land as France and Ireland, KING, Defender o!: the Faith, 6 -" <possible, resulting in the sale o f four town B j H I j Hononr'r Command, ships. Only four tribal members signed the 3. C lU , Sect. H acD agreement, of which two of the signatures are of doubtful validity, the book says. The state then sold the land to one o f the two negotiators. The book mentions a decline o f the Pen B 0 S T O N : Printed by John Draper, Printer to Mis Honour the Licutenam-Goveinour aud Council. 1755obscot culture, although this section ends S P E N C E R A P H I P S, Efq; P R O C L A M A T I O N . W I 1 S. Phips. GOD Save the KI NG. with the comment, “and there is a real movement on the part o f many Penobscots to live in keeping with their traditional values.” Next, the Maliseets are discussed. The presence o f early Maliseet hunters in Aroostook County is discussed, and the fact that Maliseets were living in the Houlton ara is noted. Stating, "Never once did the Mali seets sign a treaty giving up their hunting territory in Aroostook,” the book questions the state’ failure to recognize the Maliseets s as a tribe. The effects o f the state’ unwillingness to s recognize Maliseets are considered, and the section concludes, “All in all, these Mali seets have come to be treated as unwanted strangers in their own land.” The book turns to the role o f Micmacs in the American Revolution and their settling in Aroostook afterwards. The tribe’ plight s since that time is mentioned; the unem ployment, poor housing, poor health, and discrimination are all noted. The text discusses the formation o f offreservation agencies, Association o f Aroos took Indians (AAI), and Central Maine Indian Association (CMIA). The conclusion o f this final chapter on Maine Indians deals with current develop ments in tribal history, primarily through a discussion o f issues such as sovereignty and Maine Indian land claims. Federal grants aid Indian pupils WASHINGTON — The Department of Health. Education and Welfare has award ed S43.6 million for projects in 42 states which are designed to meet special educa tion and culturally related academic needs of American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleut children. 1,148 public school districts during the 1979-80 school year. On the Honor Roll PLEASANT POINT— The following students received 85 per cent or higher grades in all subjects the first quarter of this school year at the Beatrice Rafferty School: GRADE 1 Starr Nicholas, Rene Altvater, Tonia Smith and Jonathan Homan. GRADE 2 Timothy Newell, Adam Moore, James Gibson, Steph an ie Francis, M elvin Francis, Elizabeth Francis, Tekewitha Doten, Nancy Clement, Victor Bassett and Lisa Barnes. GRADE 3 Percy Moore and Jacinta Altvater. GRADE 4 . Maria Bailey, Treena Graham. Sebas tian Moore, Ernest Neptune, Hounie Newell, R oger Newell, Joseph Nott and Lisa Smith. GRADE 5 Claire Francis, Sarah Dana, Rolfe Richter, Venus Murphy, Theresa Farrell, James Bailey, Lois Soctomah, Sebrena Sockabasin, Patrick Newell and Lori Cantara. GRADE 6 Sam Newell, Kelly Emery, Joey Barnes, Cheryl Paul, Evelyn Newell, Peter Clement, Lisa Gardner, Darrell Francis, Phillip Nicholas and Marie Newell. GRADE 7 Stella Dana, Mary M oore Robert Newell, Evelyn Lewey, Mary Aubrey, Denise Moore, Sandy Yarmal, Ralph Dana, Rhonda Emery, Harvard Socto mah, Esther Altvater, Rachael Nicholas, John Stanley and Susan Francis. GRADE 8 Rena Newell, Jodi Yarmal, Veronica Newell, Gail Mitchell, Ruby Smith, Lynn Bailey and Sheila Doyle. �Page 6 Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Penobscots handle first docket [Continued from page one] procedures of the court by Judge Andrew A. Mead, a Bangor attor ney. In his opening statements, Mead pointed out that the tribe had adopted most of the criminal, motor vehicle, and juvenile codes of Maine, as well as Maine’ criminal s and civil procedures. He said the maximum fine which could currently be imposed was $500 and maximum imprisonment, six months, adding that, until the court is more firmly established sentences and fines would be lower than in state courts. The first case to appear before the court was that of Eloise Francis, charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. To the first charge Francis pleaded guilty and was fined $15. To the charge of disorderly conduct she pleaded not guilty and was scheduled a jury trial. In other cases James Paul, Ronald Paul, and Richard Hamilton, Jr. each pleaded nolo contendere to charges of disorderly conduct and were fined $15. Hamilton also Cancer patient wins pleaded guilty to possession of a useable amount of marijuana after first asking Mead what a useable amount was and how the court was sure the substance had been mari juana. Mead declined comment, saying as judge he was not permitted to offer legal counsel. Hamilton was charged $10. In another disorderly conduct case, Christine LaCasse pleaded not guilty and was scheduled for a jury trail. [Continued from page one] huge tumor. “They didn’ really know what t it was,” Mitchell said with a sense of wonder. Doctors did diagnose cancer, however, and Mitchell has undergone 40 cobalt radiation treatments. When the choice had to be made, Mitchell is happy to report that “the decision to operate on me was made by the entire family.” Not only that: “Both sides of my family stood behind me,” he said. A brother, Gary, traveled from Mississippi. In three traffic related cases The entire family, children included, fav Kelvin M. Francis and Elizabeth ored the operation. Murphy pleaded guilty to operating Brothers Matthew and Ted “Goodluck” a motor vehicle without a license, were close at hand, and sister-in-law Mary and Calvin E. Tomah pleaded guilty Isaac from Millinocket was helpful in the to permitting an unlicensed driver crisis. to operate his car. All three were “You know, you never know who your fined $15. friends are until you’ on your back . . . re The only scheduled case not until a man lays $100 on your bed when you processed was that of Stanley haven’ worked three months and says t Neptune, who also had refused to sign a summons to court according Merry Christmas.” Tears welled in Mit to Bailiff Darryl Massey. Mead chell’s eyes and he had to stop talking issued a bench warrant for N ep awhile. tune’ arrest. s Mitchell has unrestrained praise for The next court session will be Doctors Donald Stillwagon and Ernesto held Jan. 9, 1980. Ballesteros of Eastern Maine Medical Center. He is grateful beyond words. “The biggest thing that pulled me through was the Lord God, and the surgeons,” he said, adding, “They are the best team that there is.” Mitchell said that he wasn’ always the t Kenneth Black, executive director of the model patient in Bangor. “I had a hell o f a National Tribal Chairman’ Association, time in the recovery unit. For two weeks I s sent a telegram to the Iranian Embassy gave them an awful hard time. They had to asking for Kupke’ immediate release. strap me in,” he said. s Black said that “Indian tribes o f America Now Mitchell must protect himself, so he have extended hospitality and entertained wears a helmet when he is in a place where Iranian students in this country . . . we expect your country and officials would reciprocate in a like manner.” Kiowa Chair man Jacob Ahtone also sent a telegram INDIAN ISLAND— A national confer asking for Kupke’ release. s ence on Indian museums included some very worthwhile workshops, according to a Penobscot Indian representative who attended the Washington D.C. meetings. Pumpkin Soup Francis C. Sapiel, president of the 1small pumpkin newly formed Penobscot National Histor V i cup butter, divided ical Society, said “every one of the 1quart chicken or beef stock workshops was very worthwhile.” Sapiel 1tablespoon sugar and other active members of the society Salt and pepper to taste plan to establish a tribal museum in a new Pinch of ground allspice building at Indian Island. To join the Milk or light cream society or participate in regular meetings, Peel, seed and cut pumpkin in small contact Sapiel or his wife Edwina, at Oak chunks. There should be 1 quart of Hill, Indian Island. The North American Indian Museums pumpkin wedges or pieces. Place in a sauce pan with half the butter, the stock, sugar Association regional training workshop and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, lower was held at the Smithsonian Institution. heat and simmer 35 minutes, or until pump kin is tender. Press through a sieve and JOB OPENING return pulp to saucepan. Season with Sioux suggests Indians take place of hostages in Iran Caleb Shields, a tribal councilman with the Assiniboine-Sioux tribes o f Fort Peck, Montana, offered to call for 100 Indian volunteers to exchange with the hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. Shields said, “we will not stand by and let the country o f Iran use the minority issue as a weapon against this country o f ours.” He said that if the offer was accepted they would carry to Iran "a sacred pipe and sacred colors o f the Indian people.” No word from the Department o f State on the possibility o f accepting the offer. Fredrick Lee Kupke, 32, an employee of the communications section o f the Embassy in Tehran, Iran, is one of the Americans held hostage by Khomeini supporters. Film highlights Indian gathering CONCORD, Mass. — A celebration of “native first people” was held Sunday, Dec. 1 , at Concord Academy, starting at 3 p.m. 6 Called Millennia Celebration, the event included a film titled "more than Bows and Arrows.” Also scheduled were work shops on education, planning, a museum, park and university. For further information contact Fox Tree at Boston State College; Slow Turtle, executive director o f Massa chusetts Commission on Indian Affairs; Dr. Helen Attaquin, Boston Children’ Mu s seum; Lenore Stiffarm, Harvard University. A flyer for the event says: "The deep spiritual message o f the millennia age is for all .people who strive for unity to work to achieve peace, goodwill, and understand ing.” AAillinocket students on honor toll MILLINOCKET— Two Indian pupils at Steams High School have made the Honor Roll for the current quarter. They are Jackie Isaac, 16, and E. John Isaac. 1 , the children o f John and Mary 8 Francis Isaac o f 70 Katahdin Ave. Jackie is a junior, and John is a senior who plans to attend EMVTI in Bangor. They have a sister. Laura, 1 , also a student at Stearns. 4 Dean Anthony Francis, son o f Mary Francis Isaac, and his wife Margaret are the parents of a son, Nicholas Joseph, born Oct. 23. The family lives in Millinocket. Sapiel offends meeting he might bump his head. “ I’ regained my ve physical strength,” Mitchell says, but adds that emotionally, “I’ still kind of choked m up.” He was especially moved by the fact that masses were held on his behalf at both Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Catholic Churches. By signing a release, Mitchell allowed a special film crew from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to film the delicate operation to remove his tumor. “They can use that.” Mitchell said, thinking out loud . . . “if it’ an isolated case like up s in Alaska in the tundra, they can use it.” Mitchell calls Eastern Maine “outstand ing,” possessing in his opinion “one o f the best cancer-fighting teams there is.” He should know, and he’ willing to help, s through the film and in person. “After what I’ gone through, I believe ve there’ no need o f getting scared o f cancer. s Learn to live with it. Talk with someone that’ already had it. I’ willing to talk to s m anybody,” Mitchell said. Mitchell himself was helped a great deal by counseling from fellow cancer patients. Delores and John Mitchell have five sons: Alan, Kirk, Keith, Keane and Andy Francis from her first marriage; and two sons from his first marriage: John Mitchell Jr. and Randy Mitchell. A former governor and lieutenant gover nor o f the Penobscot tribe, Mitchell spent 19 years on the tribal council, and was elected representative to the Legislature from Indian Island. A graduate o f Old Town High School, he worked many years in construction, and as a shoeworker. He earned several bronze and silver stars during nine years serving in the Armed Forces, with two hitches overseas. The final radiation treatment took place Dec. 13. Right now, the greatest joy is a good cigar and just being alive. Indian Cookery pepper and allspice and additional salt if necessary. Add remaining butter and enough milk to make soup of the desired consistency. Heat but do not boil. Serve with fried bread if desired. Makes about 6 servings. Navajos receive 808 acres Outreach Worker Specialist Must have valid Maine driver’ s license and be able to travel around the state, as well as attend workshops and training sessions, whenever deem ed necessary. Must be able to communicate well with off-reservation Indian people. Anyone interested may apply in person or submit resum es to Central M aine Indian Association, 95 Main St., Orono, Maine 04473. Deadline for applications is Dec. 28, 1979. WASHINGTON — Secretary o f the Interior Cecil D. Andrus has signed a decision returning jurisdiction over 808 acres in Arizona to the Navajos. The land, known as Antelope Creek Recreation Development Area, in Conconino County, was held by Water and Power Resources Service, formerly the I Bureau o f Reclamation, o f the Department I of the Interior. The land will be held in trust I by the federal government. INDIAN ISLAND The lands were originally transferred I All auto repairs: foreign and domestic from tribal jurisdiction to the Bureau o f I CHRISTMAS SPECIALS Reclamation on September 2, 1958, for use Retread snow tires, mounted I in the development o f the Glen Canyon and balanced — $24.50 I Unit. Colorado River Storage Project. Oil change (5 qts., oil filter, grease The Antelope Creek Recreation Develop I job, fluid level check) — $9.95 ment Area was not needed for Reclamation I FREE ICE SCRAPERS purposes, and was ordered restored to the I tribe. LOVE'S AMOCO I I • J I 1 I g ! HARDW ARE & G U N SHOP TOM VTCAIRE, Proprietor The only Indian-owned hardware business in the State o f Maine “We’ eager to do business with people re in the Indian community,” says Tom. The store carries a full line o f tools, electrical and plumbing supplies, paint and housewares. Also, a selection o f fine new and used guns, plus high quality woodstoves. For all your hardware and hunting needs, visit — MATTAWAMKEAG HARDWARE & GUN SHOP and sample some good Indian hospitality and service. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Central Maine Indian Association Applicant must have food manage ment and communication skill and be able to deal with the public. Must have understanding o f operation o f Federal programs and be able to understand the Federal and regulatory process. Must have complete understanding and appreciation o f Indian needs and culture and be able to gain the coopera tion and confidence o f the constituency represented. Interested persons should submit letter o f application and resume to Central Maine Indian Association, Inc., 95 Main Street, Orono, Maine 04473. Applica tions will be accepted until December 28th, 1979. �Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Page 7 Indians hear critics of budworm policy at hearing BANGOR — Two Penobscot tribal the state for refusal to pay my spruce members attended what turned into a budworm tax. I keep much o f my land in a polarized debate on Maine’ spruce bud- wild, natural state,” Fitzgerald said, ex s plaining that he prefers "natural cycles” to worm control program. Present at the Nov. 20 hearing were chemical control systems. Fitzgerald said he paid his taxes under Penobscot council member Joseph Francis, and tribal health official, Philip Guimond. protest, with assurances he could press his case in court later. He believes landowners Chaired by state Conservation Commission er Richard Barringer, the hearing dealt with should pay for spraying. George C. (Pete) Sawyer, woodlands findings and recommendations for a 1980 manager for the Timberland company in budworm control policy. Those who favored continued spraying northern Maine, remembers the "worst from planes to kill off budworms appeared budworm blight” that occurred in 1917to represent pulp and paper interests, while 1918. He said the budworms left o f their smaller landowners and individual citizens own accord, without chemical spraying. seemed concerned about harmful effects of Sawyer says he keeps notes on winds, spraying, and doubt about long term temperature and crops; after spraying last summer, he did not get a buckwheat crop, effectiveness o f the state policy. Bo Yerxa of South Princeton, who won a for the first time in 60 years. Sawyer said he requested his farm not be lawsuit after his organic farm was sprayed with chemicals, mentioned that spraying of sprayed, "but I looked out one day to see a nearby Indian Township Passamaquoddy 'copter spraying the horse barn.” Sawyer reservation threatened the Indians’ water would like to see long term funding of supply. Big Lake was sprayed last summer, budword parasitism, or natural ways to control the blight. “We certainly are short he said. Yerxa advocated an immediate halt to all sighted,” he said. Doc Hodgins o f Eastport, an environ aerial spraying operations. He pointed out Newfoundland and Nova Scotia had stopped mentalist and activist, said paper companies all spraying after researching effects. Yerxa unwisely cultivated softwood forests for high said using tax money to pay for spraying is yield — susceptible to budworm infestation — and are now facing their shortsighted “a total misuse of public funds.” Another outspoken critic o f spraying was ness. “The paper and pulp companies have Charles Fitzgerald o f Atkinson, who flew his in the past few years had incredible profits,” own plane behind, and above, spruce he said. "The public issue in my mind is liability. I budworm spray planes. He filmed the spraying operation, including rescue of a would like to see the state out o f the position o f being between the public and the com downed plane at Eagle Lake, in the Allagash panies,” Hodgins said. Ron Davis of Wilderness. The film, screened at the hearing, showed Natural Resources Council suggested an 28 violations o f spraying policy within a agency should be independent of the state three-quarter hour period, including spray pesticide control board to honestly evaluate that drifted onto lakes and rivers. “It makes policy. He said he is concerned about side effect of spraying, such as higher accidental the technology look pretty foolish,” Fitz gerald said. Barringer at first objected to abortion rates, birth defects, contaminated any discussion o f the film, but later allowed gardens and Christmas tree plantations. Dick Jones, executive director o f Sports comments when Fitzgerald protested that men’ Alliance of Maine, urged industry s the film was part of his agreed-upon presen and the state to seek alternatives to tation. “This year I nearly lost all o f my land to spraying. Alice Conlin and Joyce Tomah of Indian Township share a joke during a recent visit to Orono. Heat, rent aid available PRESQUE ISLE — Assistance aimed at lessening the impact o f high energy costs — including increased rent — for low-income households is available, according to Nor man Fournier, head of Aroostook County Action Program, Inc. Fournier said $300,000 is available in Aroostook County to assist 7,000 poor families. The funds are available as a result o f the recent special session o f the Maine Legislature, and action taken by Congress. Fournier said additional energy assistance funds are expected in January. Paula Carter, ACAP staff member, explained that eligibility guidelines are different than previous programs. If a head of household receives SSI (Supplemental Security Income) the household automa tically qualifies for assistance. If a head of household received a 1979 Elderly House holders Tax or Rent Refund or is eligible for a 1979 or 1980 Tax or Rent Refund, then the household qualifies. In all other cases, eli gibility is based on income. To be eligible, household income cannot exceed 125 per cent of poverty guidelines. Fore a single person, the annual income cannot exceed $4,250; for a family o f four, $8,375. Carter noted that applicants must provide proof of all household income for at least the 90-day period preceding application and no more than twelve months preceding application. Carter went on to explain that no funds under this year’ program can be used to s pay outstanding fuel or energy bills. "This year’ program is designed to provide fuel s through the winter in order to prevent energy related crises. Assistance will be provided in the form o f credits to energy suppliers or direct payments to energy suppliers for emergency fuel delivery,” stated Carter. Maximum financial assist ance for households paying their own heat is $ 200. Carter explained that applications will be taken beginning Friday, December 7, 1979. Beginning that date, persons wishing to apply may do so at the ACAP Office at Sky way Industrial Park, Presque Isle; 794 West Main Street, Fort Kent; or 97'/i Military Street, Houlton. Offices are open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays. These three offices will also be open Saturday morning from 9 a.m.-12 noon on December 8th and 15th; and open Wednesday evening from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. on December 19,1979. Emergency Energy Assistance locations HEAD OVER HEELS — Sherri Mitchell of Indian Island makes this tricky backwards wheel on the balance beam look like child’s play. Sherri and fellow Island gymnast, Christa King, practice over twenty hours a week at Vickie Daigle’ School of Dance in Bangor in s order to learn such feats. ORONO — The following list of certifica Addison. Piscataquis County — Penquis tion sites for Emergency Fuel Assistance CAP, Brownville. Sagadahoc County — Program (EFAP) to homes seeking assist Coastal Economic Development Agency ance with their fuel bills has been provided CAP. by Central Maine Indian Association Households meeting the requirements (CMIA). may apply for assistance directly for fuel York County — Community Action Pro bills, or for expenses related directly to fuel gram Office (CAP), Elliot, Waterboro. needs such as housing repairs, medical care, Lincoln County — Coastal Economic De food, and clothing. velopment Agency (CAP), Jefferson, WisAll payment will be made to the vendors casset. Somerville. Franklin County — CAP. providing the needed services. No cash Aroostook County — CAP, Allagash. Cum payments will be made. berland County — P.R.O.P.— Peoples Re Maximum benefits available for federally gional Opportunity Program CAP, Harpssubsidized tenants are $100 or 60 per cent of well. Knox County — Mid Coast Human , Resources Council CAP. Kennebec County the monthly household rent as o f Oct. 1 1979, whichever is less. All other households — Kennebec Valley CAP, Wayne, Windsor, may receive up to $200. Oakland. Penobscot County — Penquis Deadline for applying is April 30, 1980. CAP, Winn, East Millinocket, Eddington, To monitor participation o f its members Holden, Lee, Orono, Brewer, Orrington. in EEAP, David Rudolph, CMIA adminis Androscoggin County — Task Force on Hu trative assitant, has requested that people man Needs CAP, Wales. Waldo County — served by CMIA contact the Orono or CAP, Thorndike. Somerset County — Ken nebec Valley CAP, Detroit, St. Albans. Portland CMIA office, if they plan to apply, Oxford County — CAP, Porter, Mexico, or have had a problem in applying. The Orono office is located at 95 Main Rumford, Buckfield. Hancock County — Street, Orono, Me. 04473, tel. 866-5587. In Penquis CAP, Sorrento, Blue Hill. Wash the Portland area contact CMIA at 615 ington County — Penquis CAP, Milbridge, Steuben, Columbia Falls, Dennysville, Congress St., Portland, 04101, tel. 775-1872. �Page 8 Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Claims negotiator rebuts allegation of secrecy, stalling Pleasant Point public safety director John Bailey [right] presents certificates of merit to Maine Indian Transportation Association [MITA] drivers, Paul Richardson [left] and Peter Neptune, for driving their MITA buses for over a year without an accident. Neptune has been with MITA for two years and is now a supervisor. Richardson, a resident of Eastport, is a volunteer for MITA and, as a licensed ambulance attendant, has offered his services for the ambulance planned for the reservation. Congress may see claim legislation by January PORTLAND— The lawyer for Penobs cot and Passamaquoddy tribes says legislation to resolve their 12.5 million acre land claim could be brought to Congress as early as next month. Thomas N. Tureen— the tribal counsel who has steered the claims through a decade of negotiation and litigation— told Wabanaki Alliance, “I think the major obstacles have been cleared away. He said legislation could be introduced by the maine Congressional delegation sometime after Jan. 1, 1980. Tureen said the tribes are “prepared to move,” and the April 1 deadline is no threat to their case. Tribal representa tives met Dec. 7, with US. District Court Judge Edward T. Gignoux in Portland, and a written report was presented. Gignoux has been a pivotal figure in several decisions establishing the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy case, and bringing the tribes federal recognition and atten dant benefits. Gignoux at first specified monthly progress reports and meetings in his chambers, but he is apparently pleased with the progress of negotiations and that requirement has been dropped. In any case, Maine Indian claims will likely be settled before April 1 1980, the , expiration date of a federal statute of limitations on filing Indian claims. The date represents the end of an extension to the statute; currently there are several thousand claims pending across the nation. After that date Maine Indians could no longer press their case in court. The current settlement proposal in volves a total of $79 million worth of funds, benefits and land. The amount of land to be purchased by the federal government at fair market value is set at Committee has held to review the entire negotiation process taking place between the “selected elite,” as Coulter states, and federal/state officials. For the past two and one half years we have been negotiating with the federal and state governments. During that time there have been forty-seven (47) negotiating local strategy sessions held alternatively at Pen obscot Indian Nation, Passamaquoddy Na tion at Indian Township, and Passama quoddy Nation at Pleasant Point.” Every session o f the negotiating team has been public. Love asserted, adding that three general voting meetings were also open to all tribal members. Love said the tribes desire land, not dollars, and that contrary to Coulter’ view, s Maine Indians are not intimidated or manipulated by Bureau o f Indian Affairs officials and other federal bureaucrats. “We do our own thinking,” he said. Coulter wrote in the original story that "negotiated settlements are especially dan gerous,” because they may be unauthorized or unwise agreements. Love disagreed, stating that Coulter himself is “dangerous.” The final decision. Love said “belongs to the people.” about 300,000 acres. That acreage will be composed of various parcels in northeas tern Maine now owned by major pulp and paper companies. The firms’ lawyer, Donald Perkins of Portland, has been m eeting with a tribal negotiating commit tee. The state also has been meeting with the tribes, although Maine has no financial role in the proposed settlement. The state’ participation is in regard to s criminal jurisdiction on reservations, an issue that has not been entirely spelled out. (See story this issue on tribal courts). In a related action, the U.S. Supreme Court has this month asked the Justice Department for an opinion on whether the authority to prosecute crimes committed on reservations belong to federal or state officials. The opinion stems from a Maine supreme court decision in SockabasinDana, a case involving two Passamaquoddies convicted of arson. The court said last summer that federal, not state jurisdic tion, applies on reservations when major crimes are involved. The state wants to appeal Sockabasin-Dana, but the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet said whether it will hear the appeal, Tureen said. State Atty. Gen. Richard Cohen has said the federal request for a criminal jurisdiction opinion has “no impact” on claims negotiations. Cohen said publicly that officials are “very close” to an agreement on resolving the entire claims case, through out-of-court talks. “I don’ disagree with Dick Cohen,” said t Tureen, after he was asked if a settlement was near. Oneidas file land claim The Oneida Indians of Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada have filed suit to claim some five million acres of land stretching in a strip from Ogdensburg near the Canadian border to Binghampton near Pennsylvania. The suit seeks billions of dollars in damages and eviction of landowners of more than two-acre parcels in the claim area. Attorneys for the Oneidas said the suit exempted homeowners with two acres or less because “W e don’ want to t evict people from their homes." The Oneidas of New York, who have no recognized governing body and are Are Maine Indian land claims being conducted in secret by an elite that has delayed action? Not so, says Tim Love, a Penobscot. Love, member o f the Penobscot-Passama quoddy land claims negotiating team says there is no truth to publicized accusations that the Maine tribes are negotiating in secret, and delaying a settlement. Timothy Love, a Penobscot tribal official, responded in print to a story that appeared recently in Wassaja. a California Indian newspaper. In that story an Indian Law Resource Center employee, Tim Coulter, said various land claim cases are cloaked in secrecy and indecision. “It is thus under standable that the Indians in Maine had not yet accepted or rejected the deal that was announced last November (1978, by Sen. William D. Hathaway o f Maine).'' In a later issue of Wassaja, Love count ered that Coulter’ allegations were worth s “only the ink and paper it is written on.” Love said Coulter chose “a very poor example for negotiations of secrecy or in decisiveness based on secrecy.” Love continued, “obviously he knows not the number o f public meetings that the joint Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Negotiating divided by internal factions, are not represented in the suit. The Oneidas asked for Department of the Interior support for their claim but were told in November that the Depart ment would not support their claim. Most of the eastern Indian land claims have been based on violation of the Indian Non-Intercourse Act of 1790. The Onei das, however, lost most of their land through treaties signed in 1785 and 1788. The tribe contends that a 1783 proclama tion by the Continental Congress, similar to the Non-Intercourse Act, should have the same effect. NEW CLINIC Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Health and Social Services Department will have new headquarters soon, in the large building behind brothers Jamie, left and Ray Moore. District courts neglect the poor PORTLAND — A court monitoring study recently done by Maine Civil Liberties Union (MCLU) reports steps have been taken by Maine courts during the past year to protect the poor. The study also discloses that serious violations o f the rights o f the poor continue to occur. The study reveals that in spite o f some improvement, several district court judges continue to violate the rights of defendants by failing to inform them o f their right to counsel and by failing to hold indigency hearings in cases where such hearings are required by the district court rules. Since indigency hearings are not regularly held, indigent defendants who are clearly eligible for court-appointed attorneys do not receive proper legal counsel. These failings constitute serious infrac tions o f the rights o f indigent persons. Maine court rules clearly require judges to conduct indigency hearings. The Maine law court and the U.S. Supreme Court have ruled that court-appointed counsel must be provided for indigent defendants accused of serious crimes. The project focused on district courts in Biddeford, Brunswick, Kittery, Lewiston, Portland and Springvale. The monitors found that some of the judges who were monitored are doing an excellent job of protecting uie rights o f accused persons and are not violating any rules or court decisions. The MCLU has submitted its study on court monitoring to Chief Justice Vincent McKusick, who has been supportive o f the MCLU’ efforts to improve the functioning s o f the district courts. The organization will continue to monitor district courts in various parts o f the state during the coming year in order to bring to light any inadequacies and injustices that continue to exist. Child welfare grant available WASHINGTON — Applications for grant funds for Indian tribes and organiza tions to use in the establishment and operation o f Indian child and family service programs are now being accepted, Bureau of Indian Affairs official Forrest Gerard announced. A notice published in the Federal Register sets January 18, 1980, as the deadline for this initial application period. The grants are authorized under Title II of the Indian Child Welfare Act o f 1978 (P.L. 95-608). Additional periods for the receipt of grant applications will be announced later if funds remain available after the first grant application period. The Assistant Secretary said that the grant fund distribution formula, designed to provide a proportionately equitable share of available funds to all approved applicants, is also being published in the Federal Register. Application materials and related infor mation may be obtained from Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Offices. �Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Page 9 Priest finds Island presents good challenge INDIAN ISLAND— “The important thing for a priest is you’ got to keep ve active,” said the Rev. John D. Civiello, new priest at St. Ann’ Catholic Church on s the Penobscot reservation. Father Civiello should have no problems there. He can be seen running several miles every morning on a regular circuit around Indian Island, across the bridge, and back to the rectory. He has arranged with an old friend to take Penobscot youngsters bowling at a Bangor alley — at no cost. was all-state in football and basketball. "Basketball is still my first love,” he said. What he lacks — if anything — in physical exercise, Fr. Civiello makes up in vigorous Church activities. He recently visited 98 Penobscot families, in the first Parish Visitation in 15 years at Indian Island. He said it was a great opportunity to get to know people, and he is glad he took the initiative. “I’ really delighted to be here. I've m enjoyed it, but it’ been hard work,” said s Fr. Civiello, a graduate of St. John’ s Seminary in Brighton, Ma., and youngest in an Italian immigrant family of 12 children. (He has various caps with “Civiello” on the front, from family reunion golf games.) Although Fr. Civiello has been ordained 12 years, he said the Island post is “the first real challenge I’ had.” ve Asked if he specialized in a particular field or discipline, Fr. Civiello said, “I Representing Indian Island, Phyllis McGrane gives Tom Thurlow a $200 check lor the want to work with all people...I like to Prisoner Program Christmas fund. consider m yself just an all-around priest available to the people. I think this specializing is a cop out. “I feel I have an acute responsibility to witness the Gospel m essage to the people I am serving," the Priest said. Concerning a strong Charismatic move ment among Maine Indians, Fr. Civiello said he was tolerant but not one of the Tom Thurlow, outreach worker at the homes and families over these coming Charismatics. “You can’ let them come in t holidays. and take over the Parish,” he said, adding Central Maine Indian Association (CMIA). Thurlow suggested that Christmas that he certainly was “not going to turn visited with Phyllis McGrane and Bruce Spang at the Indian Health Services on baskets with gifts would be a tremendous these people off. “They (Charismatics) have done marv the Indian Island Reservation to speak lift in their spirits, but had not yet found anyone interested in contributing their elous work in keeping this Parish open with them about the “Prisoners Pro time or money. McGrane spoke with when (the Rev. David Cote, his immediate gram.” the Governor of Indian Island, Wally predecessor) was only here one day per To date it is only the Penobscot Indian Pehrson, and the Penobscot tribal council week. nation that recognizes the program and “I’ not Charismatically inclined at all,” has been the only groiip wishing to help and was able to donate $200.00 for the m Prisoner Program Christmas fund. Fr. Civiello said, “but I’ open to them.” the Prisoner Program. m The entire staff of Central Maine Indian With the Christmas holidays approach Association wishes to express their many ing us again McGrane wanted to know thanks to the Penobscot Indian Nation for how the Penobscot Indian Nation could their concern and help during these help Christmas be a little brighter holiday months, making Christmas morn for these persons separated from their ing that much brighter for all in spirit. CAAIA, Island bring Christmas to prisoners The Rev. John Civiello Because of serious medical difficulties, Fr. Civiello, 40, cannot be quite as active physically as he once was. At his hometown high school, in Millinocket, he Pleasant Point adds area reporter to Alliance staff Francis named to newspaper board PLEASANT POINT— Pleasant Point now has its own area reporter in the form of Roberta (Ruby) Richter. With her addition to the Wabanaki Alliance staff, all five reservation and off-reservation groups in Maine have local reporters. The newest addition to the staff was born in Calais and spent her grammar school years at Pleasant Point. After graduating from Portland High School, Richter attended Northeastern Business School in Portland, where she met her husband, Karl. Following graduation the couple spent several years in Illinois and Massachusetts, finally moving back to the reservation in 1968. They have three children. Richter has submitted articles to Quoddy Tides in Eastport. She has served on the Pleasant Point school board, woman’ club, literacy volunteer group, s the bowling league, and is currently employed as Pleasant Point tribal clerk. Educating Indian children in hands of tribes WASHINGTON — Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest J. Gerard says educating Indian children is in the hands of tribal governments. Gerard, speaking to the eleventh annual convention o f National Indian Education Association in Denver, said tribes face a challenge “to raise a whole child, to instruct the intellect in the laws o f nature, to educate a nation.” “ Children o f the 1980’ will s determine the future o f the Indian people,” he said. “The generation o f the 1980’ will receive s the benefits of the crucial federal Indian policy changes of the 1970’s — just as the legislation of the 1970’ resulted from the s unfinished agenda for racial and social justice in the 1960’ s,” said Gerard. “The coming generation may take passing aca demic note o f many of the bold initiatives achieved through great personal sacrifice by many in this assembly.” Gerard said another example o f the Carter Administration’ support o f Indian s education was the last stages of the implementation of public laws 95-651 and 95-471, Indian Education Amendments Act and the Indian Controlled Community College Act. He said that both of these acts were “milestones in Indian education which place authorities in the hands o f the tribes and school boards unlike any o f the past.” PLEASANT POINT— The Passamaquoddy tribe here has a new representa tive on the Division of Indian Services board of directors. He is David A. (Martin) Francis Sr., 62, a native of Pleasant Point and father of ten children. Division of Indian Services, an arm of Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc., is a non-profit agency that sponsors publication of this newspaper. Francis, a graduate of Shead Memorial High School in Eastport, spent five years in the U.S. Army as a staff sergeant in radio communications. He is married to the former Marion Neptune. Francis has recently worked as a bi-lingual language developer for Pleasant Point and Indian Township Passamaquoddy children, in a program to teach the native language. He is also a consultant to the CETA supervisor at Pleasant Point. In the past, Francis worked as grounds keeper for Dr. James C. Bates of Eastport. David A. Francis Passamaquoddy dictionary project needs funds PLEASANT POINT — A beginning Passamaquoddy Indian language dictionary has been compiled with 5,000 word entries, but a principal author says it should have another 35,000 entries. David A. Francis, Passamaquoddy lin guist, said he has worked some ten years on the project, primarily assisted by Philip LeSourd, a non-Indian who studied linguis tics at MIT. Now, Francis said, the project needs funds. He said he is not sure where to turn. Francis said there is no lack of coopera tion; the elders of the tribe have been especially helpful supplying words and meanings. Each entry in the new book contains a definition, root word, singular and plural usage, and how to write the word using the 17 letter Passamaquoddy al phabet. LeSourd has not visited the reservation in a number of months, and Francis said he wished LeSourd would again work on the project in Maine. Other persons who have worked on the dictionary are Wayne Newell o f Indian Township, founder of the Passa maquoddy bi-lingual program, and Robert Leavitt, former director of that program. �Page 10 Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Book Nook CEREMONY by Leslie Marmon Silko. Viking Press, N.Y., 1977, 262 pages. Ceremony is a story about the power of stories. It is a story of a battle pitched between the forces o f good and witchery, with the stakes the sanity and soul o f an Indian man. Tayo, born of a white father and Laguna Pueblo mother, returns to his reservation as a veteran of World War II, shattered by months of torture and the sight o f his brother being killed in a ditch by enemy soldiers. Resented by the people of his village because of his mixed blood and frequent relapses into mental illness, he finds accept ance only among the other Indian veterans • of his reservation and comfort only in the bottle. Although his body begins to heal, his mind continues to deteriorate until even his family is considering sending him back to the veteran’ hospital. As a last resort,.the s village sends a medicine man to see him. Unable to help him, the old man directs him to an ancient medicine man named Betonie, living in a hovel in Gallup, New Mexico. At first, Tayo thinks the old man is a fraud and resigns himself to returning to the hospital. However. Betonie tells him in white hospitals he has no hope. “. .. you could go back to that white place.... In that hospital they don’ bury the dead, they keep them in t rooms and talk to them.” Betonie begins telling Tayo the old stories and performing ancient ceremonies. Re peatedly Tayo becomes angry with himself for believing the old man, but stays to hear more. Gradually the power of the stories begins to work on him, as Betonie gives him the only weapon he has to fight for his sanity. As the days pass, Tayo is able to see, through the stories, that he is not alone, but part o f a continuing story; that he fits in. Through the legends, Betonie enables him to step outside himself to view his problem. As with Betonie’ story o f the boy captured s by bears, “They couldn’ just grab the child. t They couldn’ simply take him back because t he would be in between forever, and probably he would die. .. . Step by step the medicine man brought the child back.” Tayo is possessed by the white man, both in his war experiences and in his blood. Betonie exorcises the white man’ hold on s him. By enclosing the white man’ world s within the stories, Betonie makes it psycho logically accessible and controllable, like a voodoo doll. Betonie warns Tayo that the white man is merely a tool o f witches, and not the ultimate source of evil. The witches use hatred o f whites as a decoy to keep Indians from seeing the true evil. Armed with the new confidence that his life has meaning as a part of a long ceremony, generations long, designed to fight witchery, Tayo returns to the reserva tion. Upon his return, as he wanders the hills, he meets and falls in love with a halfmagical woman, Ts’ eh, who deepens his understanding of the workings of,the cere monies and warns him that he soon must test that understanding in battle with Emo, another veteran, who is the embodiment of witchery on the reservation. That battle, which forms the climax of the story, determines whether Tayo will survive the struggle to give his people a new story for fighting witchery, or be consumed by his hatred of Emo, and, thus, hand victory to the forces of evil. Silko stays very close to the consciousness o f her main character, Tayo. Often narra tive, like Tayo’ initial delirum, swirls in and s out with few' reference points as to time or place. Flashbacks appear inside of flash backs only to be replaced without warning with a dreamlike present. As Tayo’ mind begins to heal, the s narrative begins to lose its undefined, smoke-like quality. Instead of the parched bleak world of before, the readers sees through Tayo’ eyes more and more beauty, s and the dry, dusty tone o f the early part of the novel is quenched. Silko’ one departure from the conscious s ness of Tayo is a brief visit into the mind of Helen Jean, a bar-hopping woman who left her reservation "to find a good job.” This departure from Tayo’ consciousness is s distracting and unnecessary, as though Silko wanted to break away from the male consciousness o f Tayo to show a female view, one closer to her own and so haphazardly threw this section in. Despite Silko’ skill in showing Tayo’ s s feelings at each stage of his evolution, the reasons for that evolution remain unclear. This is largely because his relationship with such pivotal characters as Betonie and Ts’ eh seems only sketched in and" incomplete. Betonie and Ts’ eh both catalyze great changes in Tayo, but the process o f change is not seen, making Tayo’ transformation s less believable. Admittedly, describing anything as esoteric as spiritual change is difficult, but literature abounds with examples o f succes sful attempts; e.g., Hesse's “Siddharthra.” Despite these stylistic flaws, “Ceremony” provides us with a well-written look into the destruction of Indian culture and captures the torment of a people so close to the earth that its rending by great machines is like cutting into their own flesh. It shows well the strength o f the old stories in getting people into harmony and holding chaos at arms length. — Bill O ’Neal Basket weaver Jeannette Neptune, Passamaquoddy, fashions decorative split ash birds, while tending her table of wares at recent University of Maine Christmas craft fair, in Orono. She is a member of the board of this newspaper. Poetry For Richard Tompkins, My Cousin LISTENING... to what might have been KNOW ING... what has been And still... I wonder why. ^ C. M. Abumadi Can’ seem to understand t or maybe I’ just closed my mind, ve Afraid I’ be hurt ll Because I’ had my share. ve I want more to look back upon than tears or heartbreak, pain and sorrow ... A smile, A love, A happy tomorrow. C. M. Abumadi Maliseet moonlight & frost icy white dew moonbeam snapped in two. frozen people in time and space there is not time but now and no place but here. flow, go on, ooze thru eternity, at peace, like the tide, wind. Indian Island basket maker Eunice Crowley, Penobscot, at right, displays her work at recent University of Maine at Orono crafts fair, assisted by Hilda Chow-Schlechter, left. Passamaquoddy Bay There’ a home for me s By the changing sea, With its rising, falling way; Where the current swirls, Where old sow whirls In Passamaquoddy Bay. Where colors and hues O f the changing views, The slick-calm clearly mirrors; Where reflected sky May sparkle and die; In windy, stormy terrors. There’ a rushing tide s By the old sea-side, ’ an ever-changing view; N As the swell reflects Some glimmering specks, ’ you hear the sea gulls’mew. N Yes, that’ home for me s Where I’ rather be. d Near the rising, falling way; Where the current swirls And old sow whirls In Passamaquoddy Bay. Charles A. Lewis Pleasant Point Your machinery shakes my core. Bones jar in the earth. We will rise to chase the predators from our land. A band of skeletals, will haunt. The spirits feel through the bodies of our living, that which you’ blown apart ve the soul o f our earth, within each rock. Red Hawk �Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Page 11 Teacher Harriet Doherty assists student Lisa Nicholas. BOXER — Gene Stevens, gets some coaching from tutor Monique Pratt. A Passamaquoddy sophomore at Calais High School, Stevens is a welter weight fighter at 155 pounds. The 15-year-old boxer works out two hours per day, and is coached by fellow tribesman Frank Newell, a former boxer. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Stevens, Indian Township. Calais High helpful place for Passamaquoddy pupils Richard Stevens and Franny Neptune, outstanding Passamaquoddy students. Christmas m e s s a g e from CMIA With the Christmas holidays fast approaching us for another year wouldn’ it be great if all people t could join hands and contribute a little of their time to help others less fortunate than ourselves have a better Christmas morning. How much better we would feel on Christmas day for knowing that we helped som eone else that might not have had a Christmas, if we hadn’ t been there for them. Isn’ that what t Christmas is all about, “sharing”? Any people wishing to help in any way they can may contact the Central Maine Indian Association in Orono, Maine, Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. by calling 866-5587 or 866-5588. Indians bring culture to Paris PARIS — Apache, Hopi, Yaqui and Navajo Indians have visited France the past two years, dancing for their foreign friends and spectators, and showing that they are not the stereotyped “savage.” French people are reportedly fascinated with Indian culture, and have invited their visitors into their homes. Parisians were de lighted when Hopis spilled into the aisles and involved the audience in a circle dance. The sponsoring Center for Relations with Indians from America, three years old, has among its sponsors American journalist Pierre Salinger. “ People move too fast here,” said a Hopi from Arizona, who said he kept getting lost. The center’ director, quoted in a New s York Times story, said, “The Indians have a profound respect for everything that exists. They are still very humanist. They are very sincere, and know how to live in their universe without anything. I think we should read a message of existence through the Indians.” CALAIS — A few years ago Passama quoddy Indian students did not attend Calais High School. It’ a 45-minute drive s from Indian Township, and it's not the nearest high school to the reservation. But it's by far the best, say students and education counselors alike. Indian students at Woodland High School received little if any academic or non-academic support. So, even though Woodland is “next door” to the reservation. Passamaquoddy pupils now get up at 5 a.m.. and spend a lot of time riding the bus to Calais and back. They miss many sports and extracurricular activities after school, but it's still a better deal than Woodland, or for some, a boarding school far from home. Monique Pratt, federally funded migrant tutor at Calais High, takes care of about 25 Passamaquoddy students as her special charges. It has become her exclusive job. and she loves it, she says. It’ her second s year tutoring, and she is aided by Harriet Doherty, wife of Alan Doherty, migrant tutor at Indian Township. Pratt is a Lewiston native and graduated from Univer sity of Maine at Portland-Gorham. Both women, although non-Indian, have an obvious understanding and rapport with students. Still, the dropout rate is high. Eight Passamaquoddies left Calais High in recent months, two because of pregnancies. The dropouts included three seniors, one sophomore and four freshmen. Typical of successful students in the program are Frances Neptune, 16, and Richard Stevens, 1 . 8 Fran Neptune, one of five daughters of Jeannette Neptune, says Pratt works with her “every day.” A shy sophomore — at least when talking with a reporter — she says she “wants to become a legal secre tary.” Her “least favorite” subject is English, while she enjoys biology, business math, and geography. Her sister Janet attends Calais High. Neptune says the biggest problem at the Township, for young people, is finding "something to do." She said a lot of destructive drinking goes on. She believes the Indian Township elementary school gym should be open at all times for community use. She thinks she will move away, at least for awhile. She attended Intermountain, a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school in Utah, but quit after a few weeks to come home. (She was one o f seven Passama quoddies at Intermountain this year, and several others have also left the school, com plaining of bullying by other students and some homesickness.) At lunch time, Neptune says, all the Indian students sit together, but not because of any discomfort with non-Indians. It’ s simply that they all know each other. Asked if she spoke Passamaquoddy, Neptune said no, but she would like to. She said she w a ras little skeptical about traditional medicine, but found a root that “tastes awful” cured a toothache in short order. Stevens is an Honor Roll student, looking forward to joining the military. Like Nep tune, he may move away from the reserva tion — for awhile anyway. He too sees the problem of what to do when home from school. He says he would like to see basketball courts and tennis courts opened on The Strip, a portion of Indian Township along Route 1 Princeton. , Stevens, son o f Mr. and Mrs. George Stevens, is one of 16 children; a brother Jerry attends Calais High, and sister Judy is at Intermountain; she may quit at Christ mastime. Stevens thinks it's important to speak Passamaqouddy. He spends about half his time at Calais with Indian students. An avid hunter, Stevens keeps in shape by running four to six miles per day. Enrolled students Other Passamaquoddy students attending Calais High and participating in the migrant tutor program are Colleen Dana, Dawn Fitch, Carla LaCoute, Linda Lank, Dinah Levesque, Gerard Levesque, Matt Lewey, Kathy Mitchell, Janet Neptune, Donald Newell; Andrea, Carl, David, Leslie and Lisa Nicholas; Karen Sabattus, Gene Stevens, Gerry Stevens, Wanda Dana, Daniel Lola and Alexander Nicholas. y �Page 12 Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Island readies 40 new homes IN D IA N IS L A N D — A fter sev en months and 4.000 cubic yards of ledge, Phase II of Indian Island Housing Authority is nearing completion. Richard Mitchell. Housing Authority director, predicted the last house would be finished by March, 1980, barring particularly bad weather. The housing project, which will cost over tw o millin dollars when completed, is funded by a Department of Housing and Urban D ev elop m en t (HUD) grant. Mitchell said a number of factors are involved in deciding who will tenant the houses, including age. steadiness and amount of income, and number of children. Rents will vary from a minimum of $40 to a maximum of $175 per month, although these figures are likely to increase, Mitchell said. Under HUD guidelines the Housing Authority will own the houses and land for 25 years, at which time it is handed over to the family living in it at the time. Under the contract agreement each head of household must stipulate a successor in case of death. In this manner, the property can stay with one family through the 25 years. According to Mitchell this is standard procedure in such HUD projects. The only tenant obligation is to maintain the house and submit to periodic property inspections. Rent payments go into two accounts, one which is^ essentially a returnable security deposit and the other, an earned home payment account which is used to for general maintenance and Housing Authority expenses. The former houses seem ed more suited to the Southwest, he said, with no eaves to shed snow. The new housing, he said, has large eaves. Other improvements, he noted, were greater room and storage space, better insulation, and vented attics. Also, future tenants were permit ted to offer suggestions about how their particular homes would be built. Like the tw o Passamaquoddy reserva tions, Indian Island Housing Authority is involved in a law suit with a former contractor. The Passamaquoddies are negotiating with IBEC, Inc., an Oklahoma firm, for alleged defects in construction and design. In the Island case the Housing Authority is being sued by its general contractor for withholding a portion of its fee. Mitchell said the contractor allegedly was failing to pass on tribal money to the sub-contractors for whom it was intended and did not seem willing to make corrections to alleged construction errors which resulted in water damage to some of the Phase I houses. The tribe also has claimed that the contractor completed only 16 percent of the former project during six months of prime weather, resulting in repeated delays in the completion date. According to Mitchell, at one point the company had set a day for occupancy, but, when the day arrived, cancelled the opening. Mitchell said moving vans and U-Hauls were “lined up and down in front of the housing office. W e stormed the gates (of the general con tractor’ office, s and demanded the keys.” When the dust settled, the tribe had the keys. Partially as a result of this experience, Mitchell said the present housing is being conducted under a "modified force ac count” system. With this method, al though there is a “construction manage ment team" similar in function to a general contractor, all sub-contractors are controlled and paid directly by the tribe. With Phase Two winding down, the tribe is beginning to consider the next lot of houses. The proposed site on the northeast side of the Island poses a number of problems, Mitchell said. In addition to being unsettled and mostly swamp, it has even more ledge to dynamite than the current site. SCALE MODEL OR THE REAL THING? In this ease it is very real. This is part of the new housing at Indian Island as seen from 300 feet up. Tribes vote on funding formula WASHINGTON — American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages have completed balloting on a distribution formula as required by the 1978 Education Amendments Act (P.L. 95-561). After a year long effort, the Indians and Alaska Natives voted to keep the Johnson-O’Malley Act funding formula used by the Bureau ol Indian Affairs during the last four years. The Johnson-O'Malley Act provides fund ing assistance for supplemental programs in non-Federal schools serving Indian stu dents. In fiscal year 1979 the appropriation for this purpose, serving approximately 171,000 students, was $31,675,000. Public Law 95-561 established that the distribution formula should be chosen by a Indian fishing majority vote of the tribes and Alaska village groups. A task force appointed by the Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs published proposed formulas, received numerous comments and held hearings before submitting eight formulas to tribal vote last spring. Since none received the necessary' 51 percent, a run-off election involving the two formulas receiving the greatest number of votes was held this fall. The winning formula, by a vote of 153 to 108, provides straight per capita payments for all students, with increases allowed for states which spend above the national average for education. The other formula was a straight per capita plan which made no allowance for cost of education in the state. Forestry Department budworm session INDIAN TOW NSHIP— “W hat in the world is a spruce budworm and why does this character create so many problems?” In an ironic twist, according to Mitchell, That’ how an announcement of a s WASHINGTON — Regulations govern because the tribe is federally recognized ing the off-reservation treaty-rights fishing meeting Dec. 12, at Indian Township now, a joint HUD-Bureau of Indian Housing Director Richard Mitchell community center, began. The meeting of the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Affairs (BIA) agreement may mean BIA featured Gordon Mott, research scientist Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians In comparing the new housing with the has to build the roads for the next project. with the U.S. F orest Service. Mott spoke in Michigan were published in the Federal at the Passamaquoddy reservation at the 29 HUD units built several years ago, The Bureau is five years behind in its road Register November 1 . 5 Mitchell sees great improvement, he said. projects, he said. request of Bruce Francis, director of the The Federal regulations were developed tribal forestry department. “Hopefully pursuant to a Sept. 5 memorandum of everyone that attends will leave with a understanding between the tribes and the better understanding” of the destructive Interior Department concerning the regula budworm blight in the Maine woods, tion of treaty Indian fishing in the Great Francis said. Lakes and connecting waters. Under this agreement the tribes were to Announcement of develop one joint comprehensive set of regulations governing the fishing of their members. These regulations were to be job openings developed in consultation with, the U.S. Fish During the fiscal year 1980. the and Wildlife Service and the Michigan Penobscot National Tribal Court System, Department of Natural Resources. The in operation of a contract & grant with Interior Department was then to review the the U.S. DOi. will require the following joint tribal regulations to see that they met conservation needs and to publish them as court staff positions: (1) ASSOCIATE JUDGE, (3 APPEL ) Federal regulations if they did so. LATE COURT JUSTICES. (2) PROSE Several suggestions made by the State of CU TO R S and (2) PUBLIC D E Michigan have been incorporated into the FENDERS with requisite backgrounds/ regulations, with the acquiescence of the experience; AND (1 CLERK OF ) tribes. The Secretary has also included in COURTS with a related clerical back the regulations a closure of the Lower St. Mary’ River to net fishing as necessary for s ground. All positions are part-time except conservation purposes. This provision was Clerk of Courts. Salaries are negotiable. inserted, without the consent o f the tribes, Please send resumes to: Jerry Pardilla, under the Secretary's authority to act to PINJAC Chairman, Community Build protect the fishery resource. ing. Indian Island, Maine 04468. or call Because of the immediate need for regu 827-7776 Ext. 9 for further information. latory protection of the resource, the PHASE TW O STYLE — This house is typical of the style developed for the new Indian regulations became effective upon publica Equal Opportunity Employer tion as interim regulations. Island HUD project. laws published �Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Page 13 A tribe finds itself CARLA NICHOLAS, daughter of Lt- Gov. Carl Nicholas of Indian Township, practices her tennis swing, in gym class that started this fall for first time. Ju dge says act null for states WASHINGTON — An unofficial opinion by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White states the Non-intercourse Act, basis of Maine Indian land claims, applied to Indian territory, and not to states. White did not mention Maine Indians in his statement, which concerned Blackbird Bend land claims by the Omaha Indian tribe. The supreme court justice said that when Congress passed the law it “had in mind only disputes arising in Indian country, disputes that would not arise in, or involve any of the states.’’ White dated the act 1834, although the date used in Penobscot-Passamaquoddy claims is 1790, when Congress first passed the law to protect Indians from unauthoriz ed and unfair land deals and treaties. According to Vince Lovett of U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, W hite’s reference is to a renewal of the 1790 act. Federal lawyer Wade McCree brushed aside White's comments, stating “The question was not explored in the courts . . . nor was it briefed or argued (in the Supreme Court).” McCree said W hite’s opinion played no part in the Blackbird Bend decision, which involved a claim to land “lost” by a changing river course. Omaha Indians were considered losers in the decision. Maine Atty. Gen. Richard Cohen has requested the Supreme Court review the meaning o f “Indian country,” and whether the Non-intercourse Act applies to eastern states. The tribes have filed an opposing memor andum through their lawyer, Thomas N. Tureen. INDIAN CRAFT c q c c 148 Page r n c c Catalog _ . 4, For free catalog, write Dept.7 4 T lw world's largest Indian Crafts Catalog. Mora than 4,008 Items tocfaoosa from! Trade Beads. Tin Cones. Brass Beads. Moire Taffeta Ribbon. Ermine Skins, Bone Elk Teeth, Shawl Fringe and tarn. GREY OW L In d ian C ra ft M a n ufactu rin g Co. .150-02 Beaver R d . Jam aica, N.Y. 212 5 2 6-3 6 6 0 by Paul A. Francis, Jr. Lying pronely, face earthward, on a rich, white cloud that is eternally drifting slowly from north to south, I first came upon the Penobscot Indian reservation in the winter of 1948. My m ind’ eyes were yet too inex s perienced to comprehend, but yet I observ ed. The Indian community below me appears to be asleep with the winter, paralyzed into dormancy by the cold and snow o f February. Intermittently, however, I see a stir o f activity as someone ventures outside o f his house for an armload o f wood or a bucket o f water. Then I see an individual, no two, wending their way across the frozen river, the one heading for town to buy food at a store, the other aiming for Orson Island to hunt deer or rabbit. And I can see the Catholic church, an impressive structure of stained-glass windows and towering spire; and its bell, tolling sharply in the air, beckons the people to celebrate the mass o f ethereal salvation. And I can see the houses o f these children of the universe — deteriorating clapboard siding and tarpapered structures that can only whimper to the wind. I note how ill-contrasted these abodes are to the general picture of sublimity my panoramic view extends over. My nascent power of comprehension quickly leaves me weary and saddened at the plight of these people, my people, and so I accept solace in sleep. I curl up in my blanket and drift slumberously for ten years. When I awaken it is the season of summer, and the warmth o f the sun and the gay chirpings of birds dispel the unpleasant dreams that caused me to sleep a restless sleep. Remembering the forlorn picture of the Indian community that I previously beheld, I reluctantly look down upon the village to satisfy my curiosity of the present status o f my people. My eyes immediately notice that there is now a bridge spanning the river. Technology, at last, has made its advent! I scan the village for other signs of technological salvation, and I am not dis appointed. Television aerials stand atop many o f the houses, their tentacles grasping the invisible energy waves; electrical and telephone wires are strung high on limbless trees that line newly-tarred roads; motor VIEWPOINT lofty perch — nothing has changed! The community has become abeyant, the people are in a technological limbo, the fruits of progressivism have wizened. The aspect of this disheartening revelation virtually brings vehicles, passenger and commercial, rove tears to my eyes, as I lament the vagarious the streets like automated canines, sniffing nature of a people who had previously for undiscovered recesses where they may displayed such noble promise. mark their intrusion. But it is not an In despair I allow my body to dissipate unwelcome intrusion, for the people seem to into a mist, and this mist, heavy with sorrow, rejoice in the abounding presence o f the rains down upon the community where it white man’ technology, and these children materializes into the mundatie being of s o f the universe display a juvenile infatuation myself. I am ready to accept my lot amidst with their newly-discovered toys. this community that apparently, enigmati Yes, the community is undergoing a cally has renounced its quest for a better cultural transformation: it has bitten into existence. But, to my amazement and the apple, the fruit of modem American gratification, I soon discover that there has society, and has found it delectable. It has indeed been a change. That which I could ravenously devoured the pulp of the techno not perceive from my lofty perch has become logical apple, exposing the core, and the evident now that I have commingled with seeds have fallen to the virginal earth, where the people — a change has occurred in the they have sprouted roots and begun to consciousness o f the people. For it has flourish. Aloft, on my cumulus, I smile with become evident that the people are no approbation to see that my people have longer fascinated and enchanted with pure dissolved the rust o f tradition and have materialism; they have resuscitated a long discovered and applied the pastels of pro dormant spirit o f cultural traditionalism. gressive Americanism. Who says assimila Let progess make its inexorable intrusion, tion is a debasing policy, who is to deny that the tribal consciousness seems to say, we will acceptance o f the white man’ culture not repulse it. But heed this: we have, over s cannot but guarantee comfort and pros the centuries, through deception or design, perity? Does not the tolling o f the church been disrobed of our culture. We had bell symbolize the celebration o f man’ become a tribe in name only, not in spirit. s conquest over all that is deplorable in this But at the crucial point at which the flame world? I am satisfied, content with my o f ancestral pride was about to expire, people’ progress, and the tranquillity perhaps forever, we realized our error. And s causes my mind to edge into the blissful now the flickering flame, fueled by the repose of sleep. And so I sleep for not ten, desire of the people to regain their prideful but fifteen years. estate, has been revived, and day by day it When I awaken my eyes are cast heaven intensifies until one day it will consume the ward, and I perceive that the sun is just universe. Yes, let our people partake of the emerging from an eclipse. Notwithstanding fruits of materialism, but also let them the ominous nature o f this celestial spec relate to the cosmos that they are one in tacle, I contentedly mull over the marvelous unison with all that is natural and sublime. dream I have just awoken from. Oh, what a These children o f the universe are free to splendid civilization must lie below me. play in the house of the Creator. With heightening anticipation I roll over Editor’ note: Paul A. Francis, Jr., a s and gaze downward. The shock at what I student at the University o f Maine at Orono, saw nearly caused me to tumble out o f my is a member o f the Penobscot tribe. Water rights cases returned to state Seven lawsuits filed by the Federal Government to support Indian water claims have been dismissed because two Federal judges decided that state courts are the proper forum for the controversy. When five of the suits w ere filed last April, Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus said he had requested the action because “any litigation of Indian claims should take place in Federal courts.” The Montana legislature was then in the process of passing legislation to give the State courts jurisdiction over Indian water rights. Interior Solicitor Leo Krulitz expressed surprise when informed of the dismissal. He said the Justice Department “never would have filed the suits in Federal Court if they hadn’ felt that was the proper t forum." Senator John Melcher of Montana said the suits w ere “ill-conceived and ill tim ed” and added that he had reason to believe that the Justice Department would not appeal the district court decision. SUBSCRIBE T O WABANAKI ALLIANCE News o f Maine Indian Country WILL ROGERS — Commemorated in a centennial stamp this year, humorist an philosopher Will Rogers is best known for his comment: “I never met a man I didn’ like. t Not so well known is the fact he was part Cherokee Indian. This photo was lent to Wabanal Alliance by Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma. �Page 14 Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Tribes assert jurisdiction through Indian court [Continued from page one] Indian Civil Rights Act, as background for According to Emery, Pleasant Point the committee he chairs — known as Passamaquoddies plan to take advantage PINJAC, the Penobscot Indian Nation of BIA help and training, and eventually Judicial Advisory Committee. Established recently by tribal govern employ tribal members as judges and jury. Penobscots on the other hand have ment, PINJAC was reponsible for select said they preferred to handle their own ing the tribe’ new judge, Andrew Mead. s jurisdictional affairs as much as possible, Mead, 28, is a Bangor lawyer experienced without BIA intervention. in trial law, who has also handled Indian Em ery said Pleasant Point tribal cases. “W e’ re not now planning on members have held three general m eet processing any major crimes, w e’ leave ll ings on jurisdiction related issues. that to the feds," Mead said. The Indian Civil Rights Act specifies At Indian Township, Passamaquoddy Lt. Gov. Carl J. Nicholas said tribal that jail sentences can be no m ore than six members voted in a referendum to retain months’ duration, and fines may not state jurisdiction for a four-year transi exceed $500. “I anticipate that the fines tional period, after which a CFR court will will be less than state court, and as far as probably be established. He said tribal I’ concerned, jail sentences will be a last m officials hope to m eet with a U.S. district resort,” said Mead, explaining that he attorney and the state attorney general to favors alternative sentencing such as work out how the state can retain — or alcoholism counseling, restitution and regain — interim juridiction on the work details. Mead and Pardilla said PINJAC has for reservation. Spectators at Indian Island's first day of tribal court: At the center Penobscot governor Nicholas said federal marshalls or the the time being adopted Maine Revised Wilfred Pehrson confers with former governor Nicholas Sapiel [seated]. * FBI can be summoned to the reservation Statutes as their set of laws. Pardilla said, at this time, but must travel from Bangor. “We envision this court to cover the whole Shared Training gamut of civil and criminal” jurisdiction. “E xcept where Congress has expressly Valerie Emery, 29, and Jerry Pardilla, 22, are both graduates of a now limited us, we retain our powers,” discontinued Indian paralegal training Pardilla said. Indian Legal View Sought program sponsored in Washington, D.C. In an action that could directly affect by Antioch College. Em ery described the nine month course as “a whole new tribal jurisdiction, the U.S. Supreme Court this month asked the Justice Mead said reciprocity would also mean outlook. I have to give all the teachers INDIAN ISLAND— As the first tribal credit,” she said. Em ery spent six years Department for an opinion on the judge in Maine’ history, 28-year-old Island residents could lje sued in tribal s applicability of federal versus state working for Tureen. court by non-Indians, while tribal court Andrew A. Mead breaks new legal ground As an intern with the Quinault Indian jurisdiction over crimes committed on suits brought by Penobscots against with every decision he hands down. Nation in Washington state, Pardilla got Indian reservations. While attempting to apply laws which in non-Indians would be honored by state Justices asked Wade McCree, solicitor first hand experience with tribal courts. “I many cases are still being written, Mead courts. general, to submit a legal opinion in did some prosecuting for some administra Mead, a non-Indian, holds a B.A. in said was aware of the precedent-setting connection with the state of Maine’ s tive departments,” he said. Psychology from University of Maine at possibilities of his job and the gray areas, Pardilla has been studying things like intention to appeal the ruling in the Orono and received his J.D. (Juris but stated he would “extend the jurisdic the Assimilated General Crimes Act, and Sockabasin-Dana case. Doctor) from New York Law School in tion (of the tribal court) as far as it will 1976. The New Jersey native has been a go-” Native American high school creative writing awards summer intern with Pine Tree Legal In comments following first m eeting of Assistance, Inc. and has been in private the Penobscot tribal court said he will be Requirements for entering the Native SANTA FE, N.M. — The Creative practice for the last three and one-half serving the dual functions of judge and American High School Creative Writing Writing Program of the Institute of Ameri consultant in setting up the court. He said .years. can Indian Arts announces its first annual Awards competition are: The contestant He does not view his position as the system is still unfinished and would Native American High School Creative must be an Indian currently enrolled in a require another six weeks to be fully permanent. “I think I will be replaced by high school program. The student may an Indian. I think it’ appropriate,” he Writing Awards. s operational. According to the new judge, The Institute's Creative Writing Program submit up to three pieces o f creative writing said. numerous forms still have to b e composed In light of the many unknowns involved. was founded in 1978 and offers in its two (poetry, fiction, plays), but all work must be and printed and procedures developed. He admitted that he was worried that in Mead said he was “very impressed with year program an Associate of Fine Arts typed, double spaced. No work submitted to the first session a case would arise for the Penobscots’ ambition to set up a full degree in Creative Writing. In addition, it the competition will be returned, so students produces “Spawning the Medicine River,” a are urged to retain copies. which the court was not prepared, and court.” magazine o f predominately student writing, was pleased that everything had gone Deadline for submission is February 1 , but which also publishes authors. smoothly. Despite the embryonic state of 1980. the court and the questions of procedure which still must be worked out, there was no question of the courts authority, he said. "W e have jurisdiction coming out of our ears." INDIAN ISLAND— A man who says he He was less certain of the court’ future is part Micmac Indian may face extradi s if the U.S. Supreme Court finds in favor of tion, in connection with a fugitive charge the state of Maine on its pending appeal to involving a manslaughter case in Califor overturn a Maine supreme court ju dge nia. ment denying state jurisdiction on reser The case of Michaelangelo Giovanni vations. Benete, a man described as in his early Mead predicted that the Penobscot thirties, is pending in Superior Court in court would be similar to other Maine Bangor. Benete, who has lived at Indian courts. Although some minor differences Island for some time, prefers the name exist, he said, such as placement of chairs “Runningwolf,” and said he is of Micmacin circles in some cases, tribal courts have Sicilian descent. usually been fashioned after their Anglo Benete claims in his defense that the counterparts. state has no jurisdiction over him, During the court session Mead routine following a state supreme court ruling last ly asked defendants if they would need summer that said federal jurisdiction time to pay their fines. Although this applies to “Indian country,” such as the right exists in state courts, he said it is Penobscot reservation. seldom pointed out, adding that he had seen welfare mothers use food or rent money to pay fines, not realizing they could delay payment. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Ed Driving For Mead a major step in establishing Hawk was elected president o f the National the validity of the Penobscot court will be Congress of American Indians at the annual made if full reciprocity is established with meeting held October 1 . 5 state courts. He said this would “elevate Driving Hawk lost a different election, the prestige of the tribal court.” Recipro Oct. 25. He was defeated by 35 votes, 1,277 city is a mutual recognition of authority to 1,242, in his reelection bid as president of between court systems. It would mean Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. SWEETGRASS FOR TOP BRASS — Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan accepts Passama court action against an individual in the Norman Wilson is new tribal president. state system such as speeding convictions quoddy sweetgrass basket from Alberta Bailey of Pleasant Point, at last fall’ Eastern States s could be taken into consideration in the NCAI, founded in the early 1950’ is the Exposition in Springfield, Mass. Alberta and husband John represented Maine Department s, Island court. largest Indian organization in the US. of Indian Affairs at the exhibit. Brennan toured the exposition. New tribal judge sees Indian law as challenging Island resident nabbed as fugitive Win some , lose some �Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Page 15 Penobscot injured when auto swerves OLD TOW N — A woman has been charged with attempted homicide and aggravated assault, following an incident in which she.allegedly drove her car into pedestrian D oug Francis of Indian Island, a Penobscot. Francis, 37, suffered severe injuries to both legs, and was admitted to Eastern Maine Medical Center, after the 10:30 p.m. occurrence on North Brunswick Street. Old Town Police said Francis was walking near Old Town Canoe Co., when he was intentionally struck by a vehicle operated by Sandra Williams, 25, of Hampden. Francis had apparently met Williams earlier that evening, and a disagreement ensued. Williams has been arraigned in court, and her case continued for a probable cause hearing next month. Francis, a roofing and siding worker, said he is worried about whether he will ever work again in that business. He was employed at Old Town Applicators, owned by Miles Francis of Indian Island. Francis, who has no family, says his legs are in a bad way, but his “spirits are up. Must pray for m e hope I get better,” he said. Indians featured in public TV films LINCOLN, Neb. — Native American Broadcasting Consortium has announced expanded programming. The NAPBC distributes programming about Indians to PTV stations for broadcast use and to schools and community groups for non-broadcast use. The twenty-seven total hours in the NAPBC library were selected by a national screening committee made up o f PTV program managers and Indians employed in communications. All programming selected must appeal to both general audiences and to Native American viewers, a press release said. The “new additions” are from a variety of sources and address diverse interests. Included among the nine new titles is the recently completed seven-part series about New England Indians, “People o f the First Light.” This complements the Northwest Indian series, “The Real People” and the Woods Indian series, “Forest Spirits” also in the NAPBC library. Another NAPBC addition — “American Indian Artists” — features Southwest Indian artists. Two programs by independent producers were added. “Dineh: the People” in an indepth study o f the Navajo Indians, largest Indian tribe in this country. The other pro gram, “The Long Road Home," tells the story o f the Creek Nation’ history. s “Miss Indian America Pageant” is a special interest program showing young Indian women in traditional costume. A second special interest program is "The Eagle and the Condor” which features a group o f young Indian college student per formers on tour in South America. Over two years NAPBC has been opera tional, its screening committee has pre viewed some Indian programming and has selected only the highest quality for distri bution. However, a critical need still exists for additional top-quality Native American programming. “The Omaha Tribe” — a three-program series on the life-style of the Nebraska Omaha Indians will be available in No vember. Productions “in the works” — but not yet completed include “Wisdom o f the First Americans,” a 13-part series which will show Indian contributions to American society. Township boasts seven GED graduates INDIAN TOW NSHIP— Sherri Riggs, a teacher who prepares students to take the Graduate Equivalency Diploma test, announced that seven of her students, including 62-year-old David Soctomah, received their diplomas this month. The other six graduates w ere Gail Stevens, Martha Ann Barstis, Dale Newell, Dana Newell, Martina Stevens, and Cathy Lank. R iggs said she has been teaching the course, which lasts up to ten weeks, if needed, for three years at Indian Township. The diploma is generally recognized as equivalent to a high school diploma, she said. m VETERANS ADMINISTRATION § Owned Homes For Sale Throughout The State Equal Housing OPPORTUNITY Minimum Down Payment Financing Available Through V.A. 30 Year Loan — No Closing Costs 11V2 % Interest. Anyone Can Buy 8 You Don't Have To Be A Veteran See Your Local Real Estate Broker Or Contact VETERANS ADMINISTRATION LOAN GUARANTY DIVISION TOGUS, MAINE 04330 Tel. 207-623-8411 Ext. 433 A word to the wise Tapestry at S t Ann’ Catholic Church, Indian Township. s Indian leaders sign 'energy treaty' Representatives of 10 western states and m em bers of the Council of Energy Resources Tribes (CERT) signed an agreement in Phoenix this month to attempt to insure that the goal of national energy independence is not reached at their expense. Governor Bruce Babbitt of Arizona said that the agreement showed “we have common interests in developing the mountain W est to make sure that our energy resources are used wisely, utilized for the benefit of the West, the people DIRECTOR, NATURAL RESOU RCES The Director of Natural R e sources is generally responsible for the administrative and program management duties of this newly established Department. He/She must process technical knowledge and skills in the areas of forestry, and administration. Must be con cerned and be interested in the protection of the environment. SPECIFIC D/R 1. Implement, manage the Forest Management Plan. 2. Responsible for Administrative functions of the Department on a day to day basis. 3. Responsible for the supervision of staff within Department. 4. Must report monthly to Tribal Governor and Council. 5. Must work closely with Wildlife and Parks personnel to protect the wildlife within tribal lands. 6. Responsible for the supervision of all cutting and planting of trees on all tribal lands and oversee the continued tribal silvaculture p roj ect. 7. Responsible for all the develop ment coordination and maintenance of a forest fire protection pian. 8. Responsible for coordinating all efforts against forest diseases, harmful insects and establish action plans accordingly to protect the total forest and environment. 9. Responsible for coordinating all development of the watershed plan within tribal lands. EDU CATION/EXPERIENCE/ SKILLS REQUIRED A Bachelor's D egree with a major in forestry is essential, but equiva lent education and experience can be considered if candidate meets, all general qualifications listed in P.E. 8 level. P.E. Scale of P.E. 8 with starting salary of $15,080. who live here and future generations. He said that the W est would not “b e overrun by the overwhelming political pow er of the Eastern states.” The ten states are Alaska, Arizona, C olorado, M ontana, N ebraska, N ew Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Department of Energy announced that the U.S. w ill commit $24 million in the next ten months to speed development of Indian energy resources in the West. That funding would continue in future years. Peter MacDonald, CERT chairman, said “Santa Claus has com e earlier than we expected." Santa won’t skip Indian kids Fear not, faithful children, Santa Claus will not forget you. He plans to alight at Pleasant Point to visit Passamaquoddy children on Christmas eve. The tribal fire department w ill help out by giving him a ride on a nice red firetruck, about 6 p.m., Dec. 24. At Indian Township, Passamaquoddy youngsters will be treated to a party and special film at the elementary school, on Friday, Dec. 21, in the morning. Indivi dual class parties will follow. Not to be left out, Penobscot children will have a school party Thursday, Dec. 20, at the Indian Island school, at a bright and early 8:30 a.m. In the evening, at 7, pre-schoolers are invited to the Commu nity Building, where a party will be given for them, sponsored by the Beano Committee, tribal government and school, and assisted by Island teenagers. It's rumored Santa may show up, so get ready. At the Association of Aroostook Indi ans. Micmac and Maliseet families will benefit from an estimated 100 Christmas baskets packed with good things, accord ing to Betty Joseph in Houlton. Central Maine Indian Association in Orono is doing the same sort of thing, and is also putting on a Christmas party for kids and their parents, Saturday, Dec. 22, at 1 p.m. at 95 Main St., Orono. Their announcement says: “Any people wishing to bring a drum or to dance — come." Court rejects water rights The United States Supreme Court refused to intervene in a dispute over the proper forum for litigating Indian water rights issues. The Court rejected a Jicarilla Apache request to rule on whether state or federal courts should be used to litigate contro versies over the water rights of tribes. �Page 16 Wabanaki Alliance December 1979 Christmas message from this newspaper Penobscot rendering of Crucifixion This faded late 18th century painting of the Crucifixion was painted by a Penobscot, Joseph Paul Orson, who had no formal training and was almost totally blind. Orson reportedly used cranberry juice and other natural colorings for paint. The 50 by 90 inch work of art hangs at St. Ann’ Church, Indian Island. In this photo, the Rev. John Civiello, center, looks on, as s Michael Gramlich, right, and Greg Hart, both Maine State Museum employees, point to decayed areas of the painting. The museum staff plans to temporarily remove the work, photograph and restore it. Note the Indian features the artist gave the figures. news notes Township principal undergoes surgery INDIAN TOWNSHIP — Sister Anselma Colford, principal o f Indian Township ele mentary school, is recovering from major surgery, and is doing well, according to reports at press time. Sr. Anselma is residing at St. Joseph’ s Convent. 605 Stevens Ave., Portland, 04103. until she is strong enough to return to her duties at the Passamaquoddy school. She is up and walking, according to Joseph Stewart, Township education counselor and interim school principal. Stewart suggested friends may wish to send her a card or letter at the abovementioned address. Wax up: slope nearly ready PLEASANT POINT — A small ski area is about ready for use, at the coastal Passamaquoddy reservation here. Tribal officials say that $5,500, obtained through then Sen. William D. Hathaway a couple of years ago as a federal grant, has been used for leveling and filling o f a slope below the tribal water tower. Light poles have been erected, and there is the possibility of a tow, to take skiers to the top of the hill, at a future date, according to Passamaquoddy Lt. Gov. Gifford Dore. Until then, there’ plenty o f good exercise s to be had by hiking uphill. Supreme Court eyes Indian construction firms WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has announced it will review a ruling that the federal Interior Department must publicly advertise bids before signing con tracts with Indian-owned construction com panies in the West. Government officials argue this policy could ruin some Indian businesses. The court made its announce ment Nov. 26. ORONO — There is much over which to rejoice, and much to be thankful for, as this year and a decade called the “70’ become history. s” It has been a decade of tremendous forward strides for Indian people throughout the U.S., but particularly in Maine. Notably, the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies have won federal rec ognition as Indian tribes, making them eligible for a host o f services and forti fying their land claims. The claims, of course, overshadow many smaller gains. The settlement o f the claims — probably very soon — may bring prosperity, pride and new challenges to the tribes, but the smaller steps are not insignificant. Alcoholism and unemployment are getting the attention they deserve on and off the reservations. They are persistent problems. Homeless Indian children are now getting the chance to be placed in an Indian foster family, so that their heritage isn’ brushed aside at an early t age. Health clinics are operating, or are being built, to serve Indian people. New' reservation housing is booming, and while the design could be more energy efficient for this climate, the news is nonetheless good. Another thing that has happened is this newspaper. Wabanaki Alliance be gan monthly publication in August 1977. We’ had our ups and downs, but we ve haven’ missed an issue, and we hope you t haven’ either. We have tried to be a t voice and medium of communication for all Indians in Maine, and even those else where with an interest in the goings-on of Passamaquoddies, Penobscots, Micmacs and Maliseets. In some ways, we’ succeeded. We ve were complimented for our “general excellence” by Maine Press Association. But it’ the letters from readers that tell s us if we’ doing our job. They say we re are. We acknowledge some o f our faults, and we hope you will help us correct them. We need you We are proud o f our Indian reporters and correspondents. We’ like in par d ticular to mention Brenda Polchies of Association o f Aroostook Indians, Na talie Mitchell of Penobscot Health and Social Services, Mary T. Byers o f Indian Island, Kathy Tomah of Indian Town ship, Roberta Richter o f Pleasant Point, and many others who have written articles and contributed photographs to make this an informative newspaper. We cannot think o f a better way to serve and reflect the Indian community than to have Indians doing the reporting. Now, if you are still with us, we come to the money part. Operation o f this newspaper, including office rental, type setting, printing, staff salaries, postage and materials, costs about $40,000 per year. That’ a considerable amount of s money, but we believe the function o f the newspaper makes it a good investment. Wabanaki Alliance has had the bene fit o f a start-up grant from Campaign for Human Development. It has helped us through two full years of successful operation. But grants do not last forever, and this one expires next fall. We hear from our readers that they want the paper to continue, so we are looking at alternatives. An obvious way to help pay the cost of this non-profit operation is to charge a subscription rate, and our board of directors has considered $5 per year. We think most people could afford that. If in some cases a person could not afford it, other arrangements could be made. Another way to help finance the paper is to request support from the tribes. We are exploring this possibility as Wab anaki Alliance goes to press. We will report to our readers what happens. Readers, let us hear from you. You are the reason we exist as a newspaper. We wish all of you the Merriest Christmas, and a Joyous New Year. — Steve Cartwright, editor. CMIA hires new health director ORONO— Marta Conlin, 21, has been hired as director of health and social services for Central Maine Indian Associa tion. Conlin, who learned of the CMIA personnel committee decision at press time, said she was delighted by the appointment. She was chosen from a field of several qualified applicants. Conlin, an outreach worker for CMIA the past few months, grew up at Pleasant Point and Indian Township reservations. A gradu ate of Hinckley School, 1974, she is currently working toward a bachelor’ s degree in philosophy at University of Maine at Orono. Conlin succeeds Linda Collinson as health and social services director. Collinson resigned for a job elsewhere. Pleasant Point fills school board slots PLEASANT POINT — Three new mem bers have been elected to the Pleasant Point school board, according to chairman John Nicholas. Winners in a field o f several candidates in the recent polling were Joseph Hartley Nicholas, Shirley Bailey, and John Dana. Nicholas will serve two years; Bailey and Dana will serve three year terms. Penobscot addresses civil rights workers PORTLAND — Dana Mitchell, a Pen obscot tribal member from Indian Island, spoke to an audience at a recent national conference o f human rights workers, held here in October. Mitchell said he discussed emerging Indian civil rights. Mitchell has himself won a job discrimination case through the Maine Human Rights Commis sion. - TRADITIONAL D R ESS — These Passamaquoddies display Indian clothing, beads and feathers, as well as young and old faces. Left to right are Lizzie Lola Stevens, Seraphine Lola Stevens and Sabattus Lola. [Photo courtesy of Mildred Yatroussis, a Passama quoddy tribal member who resides in Connecticut.] � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (December 1979) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1979-12 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-409 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission. https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/30a88e15df2e2dc8a5af914abf7ba9fd.pdf 31966ed296855e143d2d5e49c8ec21d6 PDF Text Text W abanaki A llia n ce Non-profit org. U Postage .S. Paid 2.1* Orono, Maine Permit No. 14 April 1978 __________ BIRTHDAY SURPRISE— Sister Elizabeth Desjardins was given a special birthday party recently by pupils at Indian Township elementary school, the fourth and fifth grades. ____________ ______ ____________ __________________________ ________ _________________ __________ State's advisor said settle case out of court AUGUSTA — Widely-known Wash ington, D.C. lawyer Edward Bennett Williams advised the state of Maine to pursue an out-of-court settlement of Indian land claims, a source says. A well-informed source who has worked wiith Williams told Gov. James B. Longley and Atty. Gen. Joseph Brennan that the state should not try to litigate the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy claim s to two thirds of Maine. The state has consistently maintained the claim s are without merit, and should be settled in court. Williams reportedly recomm ended state officials try to negotiate with Indians for a compromise settlement, such as the current White House to negotiate with Indians for a com prom ise settlement, such as the proposal that would give Indians $25 million, 500,000 acres plus $1.7 million for 1 years. Only the annual payment would 5 com e from state coffers. Williams was retained for a while by Longley, and p rovided co n sid era b le assistance to the state, according to Rep. James E. Tierney (D-Lisbon Falls), member of a legislative com mittee on the Indian claims case. But Tierney said he doesn’ know what t advice Williams gave the state, nor does he know if Williams was paid for his services. “I really don't know, I haven’ t had any input” he said. Tierney said that as a ‘‘ lawyer for a defendent (the sta te) ” he sh ou ldn ’ t comment on the case, but that he was ‘working toward a position.” ‘ Both Longley and Brennan refused to answer questions about Williams. Brennan refused to reitum repeated phone calls to his Augusta office. (Continued on back page) where she teaches |Cartwright Photo] Land case deadline finds Indians impatient, State indifferent ORONO — A deadline for responding to Penobscot-Passamaquoddy Indian land claim s arrived as Wabanaki Alliance went to press, but like a holiday nobody observes, the deadline seem ed a hollow date. April 1 was the day by which state 0 officials, and spokesmen for 14 m ajor pulp and paper com panies in Maine, were asked to respond to a White House proposal to settle the Indian claim s out of court. The proposal would give the tribes 500,000 acres of privately-held land, $25 million from the federal government, and $1.7 million annually for 1 years, from the 5 state. Wayne Newell, P assam aqu odd y negotiator, said Gov. Jam es B. Longley and Atty. Gen. Joseph Brennan are ‘blocking’ resolution of the claims. Newell called the request from the Deadline extended WASHINGTON — A one-month extension on an April 1 land case 0 proposal deadline has been granted by Maine Indians to the state. State officials had been given until April 1 to respond to a proposed 0 settlem en t of PenobscotPassamaquoddy claim s to two thirds of Maine. The extension was announced jointly by Thomas N. Tureen, lawyer for Indians, and the White House task force negotiating with the tribes. Maine Atty. Gen. Joseph E. Brennan had sought a 60-day extension. White House for an extension a “ stalling tactic on the part of the Governor to try to sway public opinion. We’ re anxious to know which way it’ going to go. Indian s people are getting very impatient, and I don’ blam e them,” he said. t Deputy Atty. Gen. John Patterson, how ever, com m en ted that ‘‘Frankly, nobody is particularly worried about the deadline.” Patterson and Brennan have been researching the state’ position that s the Indian claim s are without merit, and can be beaten in court. Thomas N. Tureen, lawyer for the two tribes said, “The negotiating com m ittee’ s position is that they are willing to grant an extension of time to the state and papier companies, if there is a clear indication that they want the time to discuss a settlement.” Tureen explained that if the state and pa per firm s re fu se the p r o p o se d settlement, the federal government can still proceed with efforts to implement payment of $25 million to the tribes, in exchange for Indians dropping their suit against all landowners in the claim s area except those owning m ore than 50,000 acres (the 14 firms). The actual lawsuit, which could be brought by the federal government against the state and large landholders, will not be set in motion until June 1 , Tureen said. 5 Tureen said he remains confident that an out-of-court settlement of claim s can be reached. Rights panel backs Indian INDIAN TOWNSHIP — A young Passa maquoddy woman’s allegation of race dis crimination was found valid recently by the Maine Human Rights Commission in Augusta. Regina Petit, Passamaquoddy, filed a complaint in May 1977 stating a non-Indian Princeton camp owner had refused to rent her one of the camp units. The Human Rights Commission voted that ‘‘reasonable grounds” exist for the housing discrimina tion complaint. Petit said the case has already been resolved, and camp owner Robert Carles will be required to pay her $640 in damages. But Jane Lepore, on the com mis sion staff, said the case was still in a “ conciliation” stage, and would not be (Continued on back page) Regina Petit �Page 2 Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 editorials On fires and fear Indian Township is, first and foremost, a hospitable community of Passamaquoddy people. There are the usual, age-old problems of poverty, abuse of alcohol and long standing discrimination perpetrated by non-Indians. And there is the internal problem of arson. Almost nothing is more frightening than fire in a rural area, and nothing more threatening to the security of a home. A mobile home was recently lost to fire at Indian Township — whether or not it was a case of arson wasn’ known. t But there have been a dozen fires in recent months that have destroyed homes at Peter Dana Point and the Strip (both part of the reservation). Those conflagrations were clearly set. We don’ understand the motive for deliberately setting fire to a t home, especially if the action comes from within the Indian community. And we will never understand — no matter how many reasons are brought forth. We know arson is an intolerable act of violence, one that disrupts the community and leaves both physical and spiritual scars. W e’ not looking for culprits. They know who they are, and finding re them is somebody else’ official job. W e’ looking for peace. Let the s re community work together, heal the wounds and get on with the business of creating a good life for all its members. Fire breeds fear, and fear causes suspicion, mistrust and disillusionment. The Indian Township housing authority met recently to re-assign a home that had been vacated that same day. The authority did not want the place empty for even a few hours because of possible vandalism, or worse. It doesn ’ have to be that way. The people of Indian Township have a t tremendous resource: themselves. They are honest, thoughtful, aware. They are loving and warm, not just to their own people, but also to outsiders who com e in peace. This is no place for arson and fear. Two-headed monster The future of Maine Indians seem s to be improving: Prospects for long sought after goals such as better housing, higher educational levels, economic development, and more importantly, selfdetermination are brightening. Yet an enemy lurks among the Indian people, and that enemy is alcohol and drug abuse. No external force has more effectively dragged Indian children out of school and away from homes, depressed economic development, and forced Indian men and women to their knees than these killers of the body, mind, and spirit. It has been estimated that up to 80 per cent of the deaths on one reservation were in some way related to alcohol or drug abuse. Figures are not much lower on the other reservations. No-one on the reservations is free from pervasive side-effects. Yet the problem seem s almost ignored, at least officially. Is it just that alcoholism has plagued the community for so long that it’ s accepted as a way of life? Some argue that with better housing, education, and economy the abuse of alcohol and drugs will subside. This could be true, but the problem may be “you can ’t get there from here.” Self-determination and economic development will require enormous efforts on the part of the Indian people given the abuses which they have undergone from the outside. Their struggle to achieve these worthy goals may be thwarted by internal abuse just as debilitating as non-Indian prejudice and misunderstanding. Alcoholism is no longer treated purely as a social disease. Changing an a lcoh olic’ surroundings does not necessarily effect a cure; too s many have tried this and failed. Alcohol and drugs instill a physical dependency and are now also treated as a physical disease. Programs exist to fight alcoholism, but they seem at best modest beginnings when viewed against the enormity of the problem they face. Hopefully, these program s are just the beginning of a m assive attack to fight alcohol and drug abuse, for if not, this two-headed monster will continue to feed on Maine Indians. The solution must com e from within. No program can work unless it receives vigorous support of Indian people. — Bill O’ eal N "We're agreed on our dem a n ds . . . We want the state o f Maine, but we want it m oved out here where there's plenty of room!" Promising students Passamaquoddy Indian high school students are expected to graduate, and possibly pursue higher education. They are showing excellence in their studies, too, according to tribal officials. Wayne A. Newell, head of Indian Township social services, said he recalls a 20-year stretch when there were two high school graduates from the tribe. Those days are gone he says. Jeannette Neptune, a Passamaquoddy mother who is herself studying toward a sociology degree from Goddard College in Vermont, said one of her daughters plans to attend an Ivy League college to become a doctor. Newell said most Indian Township high school students now attend Calais High School, where they receive far better treatment, encouragement and opportunity than they did at Woodland High School, or at the defunct Princeton High School nearest the reservation. The climate at Calais appears to be less discriminatory against Indians, and the general level of teaching is reportedly higher than at the Woodland school. There are now at least 35 Passamaquoddy students attending Calais High. One young man made the varsity basketball team recently, and there are other successes. Onward and upward. Wabanaki Alliance Vol. 2, No. 4 April 1978 Published monthly by the Division of Indian Services (DIS) at the Indian Resource Center, 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. Steven Cartwright, Editor William O ’ Neal, Ass’t. Editor DIS Board of Directors Jean Chavaree |chairman] John Bailey, Public Safety Coordinator Albert Dana Timothy Love, CAP director Jeannette Neptune, Youth Commissioner Erlene Paul, Central Maine Indian Assn. Roy Paul, Assn, of Aroostook Indians Maynard Poichies, president, Aroostook Indians Michael Ranco, Central Maine Indian Assn. Indian Island Pleasant Point Indian Township Indian Island Indian Township Indian Island Houlton Houlton Orono DIS is an agency of Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc. of Maine. Subscriptions to this newspaper are available by writing to Wabanaki Alliance, 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. Diocesan Human Relations Services and DIS are a non-profit corporation. Contri butions are deductible for income tax purposes. �Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 Page 3 letters Studying Indians Union City, N.J. To the editor: My class is studying about the Indians of New Jersey. I specially want to get the Lenne Lenape of New Jersey and some information about the California Indians and the Maine Indians and a lot of history about the Indians and a lot of information about the Texas Indians. Thank you. Please fast mail. Felix Alfonso Racism and antipathy Portland, Me. To the editor: In hearing the two sides, the state (i.e. Brennan & Longley) vs. the tribes Penobscot annd Passamaquoddy, one wonders how you invite an unwilling horse to drink — outside of pushing him into the trough! The Indians have repeatedly offered to meet with the State (i.e. Brennan and Longley and representatives of the 1 paper-pulp lords) and the 4 Department of the Interior. I have read the latest negotiation agreement between the tribes and the President’ team and it appears that not s only is the present proposal fair to the rights of small landholders (under 50,000 acres) but it protects the paper industry and actually brings both labor and the 1 4 large businesses who control half the State of Maine into a position where the latter will profit from the out of court settlement and the former — labor will find as a result of the investment from the monies from the Indians that m ore jobs will com e as a result of such a settlement. This brings som e pertinent points out. Why do certain parties (Brennan and Longley) try to m islead the people of the State of Maine? Is it because of their petty political gains — hopes founded on stirring up racism and antipathy between workers and citizens of our State? I think so. John Paul Anthony Warmth and peace Walla Walla, Wa. To the editor: First I must say that when you sent m e those issues of Wabanaki Alliance, I was filled with joy and happiness to receive news of my cousin tribe. Its been a while since I’ talked with, or seen, a m em ber ve of my tribe. And believe m e your paper helped m e to get rid of a lot of loneliness. For that I’ like to thank you from m y d heart, where all goals begin and remain. At this time I want som e information about som e of the things going on around there. I wanted to know if there was an education program available for Indian people in that area. Because you see I am interested in getting a parole from this prison to somewhere in your part of the country. I’ presently in my second year m of college and plan to work towards my B.A. and on to my Master’ Degree. Also I s am a certified Self-Image Psychology Educator. I teach in a class and can give 3 day seminars in an 1 chapter course 1 called, Achieving Your Potential, and I’ d like to find a place to help our people better understand themselves through education processes. So please let m e know if you provide services for ex-offenders like m yself who want to parole from prison to there. If so please let m e know one way or the other. I look forward to the next issue of your paper because I’ ve found an important link to my people once again. In the meantime I hope that each of you there find warmth and peace in your everyday lives. An Indian Brother R eggie “Zeke” Acquin Wampanoag tribe Chester Basin. Nova Scotia Federal District Court Congress St., Boston Honorable Judge W. Skinner Your Honor, That the very existence of a small number of human beings rests solely in the hands of one court is a matter of the greatest concern to us as Micmacs of the Wabanaki Confederation. Your rulings such as non-federal rec ognition, termination and extermination of tribes as well as relocation always block our efforts to self-determination and freedom to define ourselves as native peoples of North America because they invalidate our existence and experience. As members of the Wabanaki Confed eracy, we petition your court on behalf of the Wampanoags of Mashpee, Mass, to recognize them as a tribe and to consider their land claims as valid. Isabelle Knockwood Toney, Micmac Aware of struggle Greensboro, N.C. To the editor: I am David Wilkins (Karonhiawakon) and a m em ber of the sovereign Tuscarora Nation. At the present time I am working with an Indian Center here in Greensboro, N.C. It is my belief that one of our problem s as an Original People is that we are unaware many times of the struggle of our Brothers and Sisters who live in different areas of this Great Island. So, I would invite you to let us open communications between one another that we m ay be supportive and helpful to one another. I would ask you to put us on your mailing list (for free hopefully, for we have very little money), and keep us informed of your movement, and we here will do the same for you. David Wilkins Proud of ancestry Dover-Foxcroft, Me. To the editor: We enjoyed your editorial in Thursday’ s Bangor Daily News very much. Although, as a N.H. Penacook, I have no stake in the land claim, I have followed it with great interest. I didn’ grow up “ashamed” of t being Indian — I grew up “ unaware” of it — because m y father was ashamed of it! I’ sure he would be happy to know that m his daughter and her children can be proud of their ancestry. My husband and I would be very interested in receiving the Wabanaki Alliance. Please let us know subscription rates etc. Keep up the good work. Ellie Barnes A thank you Florence, Ariz. To the editor: As the struggle for justice in the native American political prisoners and cases continues, as the racist and repressive American judicial system continues to hold us behind bars and fences, our faith is strong that the active solidarity and momentum of the movement of concerned people, brothers and sisters, will soon free us. Much credit for the tremendous amount of support we have received is due to publications such as Indian papers. I would like to thank the entire staff of W abanaki A lliance for sen d in g m e your papers, and for making such an effective contribution to the struggle of all n ative A m erican people. Johnny Jam es The work of a vandal s rock creates a spider-web effect in window glass at Indian Township elementary school. (Cartwright photo) Smith takes vows C A M B R ID G E , M ass. — B ro th e r Lawrence C. Smith, a m em ber of the Jesuit order, pronounced his final vows recently in St. John’ Chapel, at a m ass at s Weston School of Theology. The traditional religious ceremony was highlighted by a Passam aquoddy Indian ritual dance, and a reading of Indian sacred legends. Brother Smith has lived and worked with the people of Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy reservation. Among friends, family and guests were Passam aquoddies Joe and Steve Nicholas; Melvin Francis; Sabattus Mitchell and his wife,-Bob and Rose Newell; John Nicholas; and David Francis. Also attending were the mother, sister and brothers of the late Rev. Stanley Bo we, who served many years as priest at Pleasant Point, and was beloved by his congregation. Serving as Indian acolytes for the final vow cerem ony w ere Linda Nicholas, Martina Newell, Molly Newell, Grace Quinn, Joseph Quinn and Merlin Francis. With drum, gourd and rattle, an Indian dance team perform ed a W elcome Dance, War Dance, and finally, a Snake Dance, with everyone invited to join in. A traditional feast followed. Engagement PLEASANT POINT — John L. Bailey and A lberta Smith announce their engagement, and plans for a June 24 wedding at Church of the Immaculate Conception Calais. A reception will follow the wedding, at Stable Inn, Calais. Bailey, a veteran of 1 1 years service in the U.S.armed forces is a P leasan t P oint native and attended Eastport schools. He is public safety coordinator for the Passam aquoddy tribe, and also d ire cts the lo ca l CETA (C om preh ensive E m p loy m en t and Training Act) program. He is a board m em ber of the Division of Indian Services of the Roman Catholic D iocese of Maine, the agency that funds Wabanaki Alliance. Alberta Smith is a native of Calais, and attended local schools. She is employed with the City of Eastport. Quaker group hires consultant BRADLEY — Maine Indian Program Committe, a Quaker group supporting native Americans in the state, has hired a form er director of the Maine State Housing Authority as a consultant on Indian matters. Augusta lawyer Jam es Mitchell, form er housing authority head, has agreed to work part time for the com m ittee to assist in aducating the public on Indians, including the current PassamaquoddyPenobscot land claim s case. Robert L. Cates of Bradley, a m em ber of the volunteer committee, said the Quaker American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) regional office has not yet approved hiring Mitchell, but he did not anticipate any difficulties. Maine Indian Program Committee has prepared a film presentation on the land claim s case, using a panel of four experts, in clu d in g M itchell. The presentation, which the com m ittee hopes to distribute as an educational tool, was narrated and produced by Cates. Do you h a v e a d r in k i n g p r o b le m ? Wabanaki Corporation offers an alco holism program for Indian people who need help because of problems with alcohol. If you have such a problem and need help, or know of someone in need, please contact the Alcoholism Counselor in your community or area. Indian Island — Alcoholism Coun selor — Clarence Francis — 207-8665577. Indian Township — Alcoholism Coun selor — Martha Barstis — 207-796-2321. Pleasant Point — Alcoholism Coun selor — Grace Roderick — 207-8532537. Association o f Aroostook Indians — Alcoholism Counselor — Pious Perley — 207-762-3751. Central Maine Indian Association — Alcoholism Counselor — Alfred Dana — 207-269-2653 or 207-866-5577. �Page 4 Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 Indian chief a puzzling legend By S. Glenn Starbird The half-legendary figure of Bashaba the French. His rule extended at least to and his fabulous land of Norumbega has the Notre Dam e Mountains in m odem haunted the minds of historians and Quebec, westward to Lake Champlain and writers for the past four hundred years the upper Hudson and eastward to the St. stands at the very dawn of the recorded John River. histroy of this area. The tribes Bashaba of southern New We know very little about him or the E n glan d ack n ow led ged his general conditions existing at the time he lived and supremacy, but were not fully integrated what records have com e down to us often into the confederacy in the sam e manner conflict with one another. as the tribes of the area mentioned above. Archaeologists say the original lands of To the far east of the continent, in present the Algonkian peoples stretched eastward day New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, were from the Great Lakes, running north into the Micmacs, who although of Wabanaki Ontario and southward into present day culture and background do not seem to Kentucky and Tennessee. There are have constituted a ‘ em ber state’ of the m indications these Indians may have been confederacy. the very people that built the huge earthwork mounds of the midwest which The Penobscots extended into New England and even into present-day Maine. The largest and strongest m em ber of the Modern language ezperts have now s determ ined that the ancient Proto- Confederacy was Bashaba’ own nation, Algonkian lan gu age fam ily had the Penobscots. The earliest records say connections with the M uskohegean his land was called Mavooshem or speakers of the southern Mississippi Mavosen and conformed to the Penobscot Valley. One of the tribes of the Tribal lands of later times. The whole Muskohegean language family was still confederation over which Bashaba ruled building these m ounds when first was called Norumbega. The records of Englishman John Rut, who first left any discovered by the white men. The tribes of the northeast, by the written knowledge of this land, us called middle 1500’ had form ed themselves into Norumbega a “vast and opulent region,” s, 7 several pow erful con fed era cies, the when Rut visited in the summer of 152 . Voyagers passed up and down the coast origins of which are buried in times before our present records begin. Among these in the following decades, mapping and groups was the Wabanaki, which had been exploring, and soon the name and extent of established in New England several JNorumbega was well know in western centuries. Many of them had probably Europe. been driven eastward from their original homelands a thousand years ago during Norumbega nation the time of the Iroquois invasion. The Iroquois have legends of warfare with the But not until the marooned English ‘ Mound Builders’ and it may have been sailor David Ingram pen etrated to these same Iroquois who finally destroyed Bashaba's capital on the Penobscot River that ancient civilization in its old territory. the full richness and power of the Indian Although the A lgonk ian s’ Iroq u ois nation realized. Even now however, we do invasion of the east (Wabanaki) had lost in not know for sure. We do not know to what the first rush of the. invasion they soon extent the story told by Ingram is true and regrouped. When the first voyage down the what was just a figment of his eastern seab oard w as recorded, a imagination. powerful nation stood across the path of Ingram speaks of Bashaba and his the Iroquois and had brought their people using silver, gold and particularly conquests to a halt upon the Hudson River. copper. This is confirmed by Verrazano in The confederated Wabanaki Nations his account of 1530. were ruled by one known as Bashaba by Verrazano speaks of the inhabitants of the English and Bessabez or Bashabez by this region using copper extensively for jew elry and ornam entation. Ingram speaks of Bashaba’ seat of government s being called Arembec, apparently situated at the present site of Bangor or Brewer. But his account has usually been called fiction by most historians. We hear little m ore of Bashaba until Champlain’ meeting with him in 1 0 , s 65 which was supposed to have been near Bangor, or further down the Penobscot River. Dismissed as liar Champlain saw nothing like what Ingram described m ore than thirty years before, and so dismissed him as a liar as have m ost of those who have read Ingram ’ account since that time. s That copper has long been mined in southern Maine and only recently gold and silver have been reported to have been found on som e of the townships owned by Great Northern Paper Co. just west of Portage Lake makes one wonder if Ingram wasn’ so much of a t liar as he has been made out to be. Is it just possible that Bashaba deliberately met Champlain below his cam p in order that the Frenchman might not use the full extent of his wealth? If this is true and Ingram was right, and Champlain had been fooled, what then happened to Arembec, the gold and all the other supposedly thriving towns and villages of Norumbega? Village plundered The answer to that is recorded history. In the fall of 1 606, over som e dispute of which we know little, a party of Norumbegans plundered a M icmac village and killed Panoniac, a M icmac Chief. Then Membertou, the great chief of the Micmacs, gathered his own men together with Indians from the Gaspe, and Etchimins chafing under Bashaba’ rule, s and waged war on the Norumbegan people despite Bashaba’ attempts to reach a s peaceful solution. In July 1607 the combined MicmacEtchimin army swept into what is now Maine, destroying everything in its path. The forces of the now aging Bashaba, caught off guard when his diplomacy had failed, were forced back across the Penobscot Valley and into western Maine. Here in the mountainous areas, they were able to make a stand, but now the MicmacEtchimin coalition, heartened by their success, rolled around Bashaba’ forces s and alon g the coast, invading Massachusetts Bay. A smallpox epidemic Som etime after 1611, Bashaba died and was succeeded byf Asticou. But in 1617, another and deadlier enemy faced the Norumbegan people. This was pestilence which som e think was smallpox. The M icmacs survived, but after a smallpox epidemic, 1631-1634, we hear no m ore of them within the bounderies of Maine. The Norumbegan people had by this time pushed the M icmacs back to the St. Croix River and after the second smallpox epidemic, finally withdrew into their own country beyond the St. John River. The Wabanaki people of northern New England found themselves in 1655 badly wounded, but far from beaten after more than a quarter-century of Civil War, and recu rren t sm a llp ox ep idem ics. Their settled town life, their ancient culture had been se v e re ly disrupted. The towns themselves were now less than ashes and rapidly returning to the encroching forest. Somewhere in this long struggle or in the equally long contest with the Mohawks that was yet to com e they lost their ancient h ie ro gly p h ic w riting system . Their population had been severely depleted; probably no m ore than a tenth of the people remained who had been here in 160 . 0 Minerals discovered ASHLAND — A B angor m ineral research firm reported recently that p o ssib ly the la rg e st sulphide mineralization lode ever found in Maine has turned up in northwestern Maine. Located on land owned by Great Northern Paper Co., the lode contains gold, silver, zinc and copper, a spokesman for the research firm said. He said the amount of gold and silver could be significant. KATAHDIN — This wintry view of the spiritual home of many Maine Indians was .taken from Basin Pond by Wabanaki Alliance staff on a recent cam ping expedition to Baxter State Park. The current proposed settlement of Indian land claim s spells out that White House negotiators will use their “ best efforts” to guarantee Indian access to the park. �Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 Page 5 Passamaquoddy woman plans youth center By Steve Cartwright INDIAN TOWNSHIP — Jeannette Nep tune recalls being a young girl at the Passamaquoddy reservation here, and having nowhere to go. Neptune says simply that she wants to provide “ a place to go ," a place to "think things over" and deal with personal prob lems, whether family-related, school-re lated or otherwise. The place to go is going to be her cellar. Neptune plans to renovate the basement as an informal club where young persons can relax and "feel them selves." And young people can seek advice and talk freely with Neptune, who is currently pursuing a BA in sociology through an extension program from Goddard College, Plainfield, Vt. Neptune is Youth Commissioner for Indian Township tribal government, and is a VISTA volunteer. Her financial resources are limited, but she hopes to raise money for her home-grown youth center through a variety of activities including potluck suppers, beano, crafts, fairs and auctions. Neptune has a small income as an expert basket weaver. She is a member of the United Maine Craftsmen, and exhibits her work regularly. When the idea of a youth center was first discussed, Neptune hoped it could be located in the old Catholic elementary school. But that building is reportedly ratinfested and in disrepair. Jeannette Neptune Now 39 and the mother of six children, Neptune is determined to change the situation for young people, and provide a place to go. For that, she will use her own home. For several years, she has cared for teenagers, and younger boys and girls, as a sort of unofficial group home. ‘‘ The need right now is to set up a center somewhere," said Neptune, adding, " s o what we hope to do is start in my house, which w e’ve been doing all this time anyway. I’ve had maybe 15-20 or 25 kids in my living room. " I thought if I move it down cellar, and have everything that they need down there, it's going to be a little bit better as far as my living conditions are concerned,” Neptune said. She said she hopes to set up a pool table, ping pong, stereo, various other gam es and even a juke box. Eventually, Neptune hopes to find a suitable building on the reservation, and move all equipment to that site. Mean while, she's been meeting with young members of the tribe to plan fund raising strategy and set goals. Neptune talked about "leaving the house open any time of day for all these kids who want to spend some time with somebody . . . this is so they will have something to do, to keep them out of trouble." Neptune said she can’ call herself a t counselor, "becau se I’m not qualified to be a counselor. Let’s put it this way, I offer advice to kids that do need advice, and I offer my home to kids that need a home, that are having problems at home, for as long as they want a home. "I've had maybe six teenagers in my home in the last year or so,” Neptune said. "They're there until they feel they can go home and face some of the problems they run into in different areas." explained Neptune. Somehow, Neptune still has a time for her own children, who she says are helpful and understanding with other young persons. Neptune has scheduled record hops and parties at her home, but has also gone beyond her living room. She has discussed matters with an area high school principal, and has had as many as ten young persons living at her home at once, “ on a full time basis." Neptune said, “ I’ there when they m need me, and I’ll be there at any time of day or night, if they need me in any way at all, all they have to do is come over or call me up." Neptune believes that in many ways teenagers are young adults, and should be treated as such. She goes to them for advice, and shares responsibility with them, she said. "K ids get sick and tired of being told what to do,” Neptune said. " It ’s about time people realized that (young people) do nave their own minds, even though they are only 14 or 15. As far as I’m concerned they have a lot o f knowledge,” she said. But Neptune feels that growing up is a "confu sing" process, and cannot always be figured out without help. Newsletter has important role Indian Island priest eases into new post By Bill O’Neal INDIAN ISLAND — The Rev. David P. Cote, the new priest at St. Ann’ parish, s Indian Island, says he does not like to rush into things. In a recent interview he said he did not want to ‘ barge into the affairs” of people ‘ on the Island, but would prefer to let them get acquainted with him gradually. Cote said, “I don’ want to go around putting t my nose where it doesn’ belong.” t Cote said he was suspicious of program s where people rush in without facts “trying to save the world.” He said he would prefer to take a long look at the needs of the community, rather than immediately offering suggestions. “The community has its own resources, and, if they need my services, they will ask me.” Cote said. Cote’ position on the Island is part-time, s the majority of his efforts being devoted to a statewide study of treatment procedures for children with various behavioral problems. When he took his position as priest for the Island, he said he m ade it clear that he would not be able to devote his full attentions to the Island. “My Diocesan priorities are the reservation, but my personal priority will be on the other project (the group home and residential treatment study),” he said. Although much of his time will be spent on the other project, he pointed out that a priest does not have a nine to five job, and that he would be available any time to the Indian Island parish. “Because of the other commitments, my major emphasis will be working with individuals, rather than being programoriented,” he said. He added that the church’ $10,000 annual budget does not s allow much leeway for expenses outside of basic maintenance and operating costs. His own salary will be paid during the period of his work on the study project (about 7 months) by the consultants involved rather than by the church. Pointing to the spacious living room of the parish house, Cote said he felt that the church might eventually put the building to better use. “To have a nine room building for one person does not make sense.” Although he cautioned that no such plans exist now, he suggested that som e day the house might be put to a m ore utilitarian purpose, such as a home for foster children or senior citizens of the Island. Although Cote said he has advanced training in social services, because of his obligations, his activities for the present will center around perform ing Masses, m a rria ges, and o fferin g spiritu al guidance. In this regard he said he found “no rivalry” between Indian traditional religious beliefs and Christianity. He said that traditional ideas of “one great spirit” are “headed in the right direction.” Cote said he had been able to assume his new role on the Island without difficulty. He attributed this in part to his having spent a summ er here ten years ago, so that many people on the Island knew him when he arrived. Indian first on varsity team CALAIS — P a trick Sabattus, a sophomore at Calais High School, last season becam e the first Passamaquoddy Indian here to make the varsity basketball team. Sabattus, from Indian Township, was unable to play after D ecem ber because of an accident, but he has since recovered and is w elcom e to rejoin the team. Bob Gates, varsity coach at Calais High, said Sabattus played half the season and “ showed improvement. I ’ be glad to have d him back. I’ looking forward to having m him on the team the next two years,” he said. Gates said it’ im pressive ' that a s sophom ore could qualify for the varsity level team. Also from Indian Township are Calais High va rsity ch ee rlea d ers Tam m y Neptune and Dolores Nicholas. Neptune said the drugs and alcohol are not the big problems, but the real issue is "trying to find yourself, and where you belong." Neptune says " I love children, and I wouldn’ care if 1 had 10, 12 or 15 in my t home. That’s why I allow these children to come to my home any time they feel like it." About the planned jukebox. Neptune said, "hopefully I can get myself a sound proof room so 1 won't have to leave the house to do my studies." Neptune said young people will set the house rules themselves, and deal with drinking or other problems through group discussion and consensus. She hopes to see the cellar youth center open as soon as possible. Sylvia Sopiel AAI teenagers tour UMO HOULTON — Seven Indian high school students from the Houlton area travelled to the University of Maine at Orono recently for a one-day orientation visit, designed to give them a taste of college level education. Included in the tour were Anthony Tomah, Wanda Tomah, Brenda Devoe, and Ronnie Silliboy from Houlton, Eugene Saunders and Donna MacNeal of Caribou, and Roger Pictou from Mars Hill. One of the students, Donna MacNeal, has applied for admission to the University under the Onward Bound Program, which assists students in adapting to the college environ ment and offers tutorial help in their studies. The group was led by James Dow of Caribou and Betty Ann Burnes from Houlton. Burnes said the trip was also made last year and hoped it would b e an annual event. Theodore N. Mitchell, advisor for Indian students at the University, coordinated the schedule and appointed guides to show the teenagers university dormatories, labora tories, cafeterias and classrooms. Patty Sherwood, Betty Phillips, and Stuart Francis, Indian students at the university, acted as tour guides for the visitors. By Bill O ’Neal INDIAN TOWNSHIP — What news source deals solely with Indian news, is avidly read in Indian Township, and has an Indian name? If you guessed Wabanaki Alliance, thank you, but Mawiw Kilun, the official news letter of Indian Township, is the answer. Editor Sylvia Sopiel explained that Mawiw Kilun means "u s together” and that she emphasized this community spirit in the newsletter. She is particularly fond of what she calls her “ gossip column,” Beating the Drums. She said she has a network o f "special phone numbers” where she can pick up bits of news which m ight be of interest to the residents of the Township. Township tribal governor John Stevens has suggested on occasion that she rename the column "Beating the Gums.” Unflustered by such joking, Sopiel main tained that a close-knit community such as the Township enjoys reading about the activities o f its residents. She added that the newsletter also serves as a vehicle for announcements important to the com munity. She said she even writes poetry for the newsletter when she runs short on news. Mawiw Kilun just celebrated its first anniversary. Sopiel, a VISTA volunteer, began the newsletter at the suggestion of Governor Stevens. It now has a circulation of around 110. Although the newsletter normally is distributed every two weeks, bad weather has interrupted regular distribution re cently. Sopiel said she will soon begin issuing the newsletter every week. Al though it will be briefer, she said the news will be more timely. Another change in the paper will be the addition of a crossword puzzle for which the clues will be given in Passamaquoddy, with the answers to be written in English. Novelty seem s to be the watchword of the newsletter. When waste collectors, Basil LaCoote and Edward Sockabasin, make their appointed rounds on publishing days, they do more than collect the trash; they also act as newsboys, dropping off copies of Mawiw Kilun. �Page 6 Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 Tribal leader blasts politicians ORONO — Passamaquoddy tribal Gov. John Stevens said he is “fed up” with the tack Maine politicians have taken on the Indian land claim s case. Speaking at a public m eeting with fellow Indian Tow nship tribesm an Wayne Newell, Stevens said, “We are about to the point of being fed up with (Gov.) Jim Longley and (Atty. Gen.) Joe Brennan.” Stevens said at the recent University of M aine m eetin g that the G o v ern or’ s statements calling a proposed settlement u nreasonable are absurd. “ L on gley pleaded with us to give up the part o f the suit against private landholders. We have made that provision; that’ one third of s our land base w e’ set aside,” Stevens ve said. Originally, Indians claim ed two thirds of the state. Stevens also had a m essage for Maine’ s Second District Congressman, William S. Cohen: “Now our great white hope. Rep. Cohen from Bangor, wants to terminate our right to make a claim. I think that’ s setting a dangerous precedent.” Stevens said he once voted for Cohen, and “admired the man. But by God I ’ not m going to vote for him this time around” he said. “You read the paper every day, and people are trying to intimidate us, but that day is gone.” Stevens said. “Those days are gone by.” Stevens said Indians don’ want to be t dependent on welfare. “The less we rely on the state and federal government — I think it’ beautiful,” he said. s Newell, director of social services for Gov. John Stevens the tribe, said politicians have, “instead of settling honorably,” been “ trying to do away with our claim entirely. “For us it has been a struggle for 200 years just to obtain som e basic dignities that (non-Indians) take for granted,” Newell said. He said it was not until 1 967 that Maine Indians received a full franchise to vote. “The agreement that we worked out in Washington took a long time,” said Act would clarify tribal jurisdiction Newell, adding “the Governor hollered he was left out of negotiations, but if you W A S H IN G T O N — Sen . Jam es remember, last July he was the one who said he wanted to see the case in court.” A bourezk (D.-S.D.) has introdu ced legislation to permit states and tribes to What if the case goes to court? “ If the rules don’ change, if we get a work out jurisdictional and operational t fair deal in court, at least we have a disputes on a state-by-state basis, rather than following rigid federal laws. chance of winning," Newell said. The Tribal-State C om p act Act is Stevens said, “w e’ going to win it.” re An earlier recomm ended settlement of designed to free tribes and states to pursue Penobscot-Passamaquoddy claim s would individual solutions to questions of state have involved state-owned lands, but the authority in Indian country, unbound by current White House proposal applies only general federal mandates. Abourezk said to privately-held acreage. The two Indian he believed the com pact legislation could tribes have agreed to drop claim s against so lv e m any ju risd ictio n a l prob lem s all private landholders except those caused by the current inflexible federal policy that prevents tribes and local owning 50,000 acres or more. That means 1 corporations have been governments from cooperating, even when 4 s asked to turn over varying amounts of it’ in their best interests. “There have been scores of cases in acreage under terms of the out-of-court recent years, regarding everything from proposed settlement for 500,000 acres plus $50 million. The president of one of those zoning to sale of alcohol on reservations, firm s, R obert H ellen dale o f G reat which could not be satisfactorily resolved Northern Paper Co., called the proposal a because of federal jurisdictional policies,” “raw deal” . Great Northern would turn Abourezk said. Abourezk added that the bill also would over the largest amount of land: 99,000 acres from their one million acre holdings. provide that the federal government would Stevens commented, “When Great bear the additional financial co sts Northern passes off this junk, and people assumed by any state or local government believe it, then I wonder at this society.” under a com pact with an Indian tribe. The program, called “Indian land claim s: The real story,’ was sponsored jointly by Maine Christian Association, the Newman Center, Maine Peace Action Committee and Sam Ely Community Land Trust. PORTLAND — Central Maine Indian Earlier that day, Newell and Stevens Association officials hope to open a fulld iscu sse d “ la n gu a ge and cultural service office here by May 1 . survival” at the university. A Portland office has been in planning stages for several months, and CMIA D irec tor M ichael R an co said the association now has sufficient funding for three staff positions plus office rental at a permanent location. drew Violette to the organization, she said. CMIA w ill be o fferin g co m p lete She had first read about AA in the Saturday Evening Post. Then one day she weatherization, food, nutrition, clothing ran into her nephew who was “all dressed and related services to southern Maine up". She said she asked him where he was Indians where previously only limited going. When he told her he was going to an services were provided through workers AA meeting, she asked to go along, from the Orono office. The office will also replace services of because “ I was curious,” she said. “Never before had I felt so much at Southern Maine Indian Association, a home. Everyone w elcom ed m e and asked group which was dissolved last year. Ranco said he hopes to hire an Indian me to com e back,” she said. After she had gone to two m ore meetings, Clarence staff residing in the Portland area to becam e interested and starrted attending. “ in cre a se com m u n ica tion and Indian Clarence said he and Violette had tried participation” in CMIA programs. F ed era l CETA (C om prehensive to stop drinking before AA. They had tried a “geographic cure” by moving to several Employment and Training Act) funds will different states, but each time they started pay the staff salaries of a coordinator, drinking again. He said “We failed, so we community worker and a secretary. cam e back (to Indian Island) to face the A dm inistration o f N ative A m ericans, formerly Office of Native American problem ” Violette isn’ sure how AA works; she Programs, has awarded CMIA a grant to t only knows that for Clarence and her it has cover operating expenses. The Portland CMIA office won official given them a “ a second chance at life.” “Something about it was fascinating,” she approval from CMIA membership at an said. “To this day I can’ put m y finger on em ergency m eeting in March. Until the t it. I know it is a spiritual program, a God- Portland office is established, possibly at a tem p ora ry location, all re q u e sts for given program.” in form ation or s e r v ic e s should be addressed to CMIA, 95 Main St., Orono. Indian office set for southern Maine AA chapter celebrates 17th birthday INDIAN ISLAND — Saint P a trick ’ s Day is usually associated with the wearing of green and lots of drinks, but it’ s different for a group of Indian Island residents in a local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous. Still, it is a time of celebration for them, as Mar. 1 marks the day the Island 7 chapter was founded 1 years ago. 7 Violette and C laren ce F ran cis remember that as a lonely time. Two years earlier (in 1959) they had begun holding “ u n d ercov er” m ee tin gs at Violette's b roth er’ house. She said s “ Indian Island was the worst place to stop (drinking), because of the criticism, ridicule, and persecution from those who hadn’ stopped.” t They soon moved to the local Baptist church; however, as m ore mem bers joined, they had to leave when the church officials “complained about the smoking.” By the time they moved into their next meeting place, the old tribal hall, thennumber had grown to around seven. It was at this point in 1961 that they becam e officially recognized as an affiliate of the Bangor district of Alcoholics Anonymous. For the Francis’ those lonely days are over. The Island capter now has 2 0 members, plus numerous visitors from other chapters who com e to share their ex p erien ces. At the recen t 17th anniversary celebration over 200 people cam e from across the state. A majority of those at the party were non-Indian. Violette said there is no awkwardness between Island members and their non-Indian visitors. She explained that alcoholics have had the veneer of class and race stripped from them and can relate to all other alcoholics on an equal level. Violette said she has no qualms about letting it be known she is an alcoholic. “ I didn’ care who knew it when I was t staggering around drunk. Why should I care now,” she said. The recent get together was begun with three or four speakers relating the stories of how they cam e to AA. As usual only first names were given. The fellowship which follows meetings is a m ajor strength of AA and was what first Sockabasin sentenced State jurisdiction on reservation challenged ELLSW ORTH — The sen ten ce of convicted arsonist Allen J. Sockabasin, 3 , 4 of Indian Township, has been appealed on grounds that the state does not have ju risd iction on the P assam aqu odd y reservation. Eugene Ford of Bangor, filed the appeal on behalf of Sockabasin, at the superior court. Ford is Sockabasin’ courts appointed lawyer. Sockabasin was sentenced recently to three years at Maine State Prison, after a jury trial, at Hancock County Superior Court. He was convicted earlier of arson at the Indian Township elementary school, Apr. 1 , 1 6 977. Superior Court Judge David G. Roberts of Bangor, sitting at the Machias Court, said that a similar attempt to establish a ju risd iction al distin ction for Indians fifteen years ago failed. At that time the Maine tribes were not federally recognized and did not have a trustee relationship with the federal government. If the appeal is upheld, Indians committing crim es on reservation lands would not be subject to state prosecution, but rather would be tried in Federal courts. The cases would be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The jurisdictional question does not apply to non-Indians committing crim es on the reservation or to crim es committed off the reservation by Indians. In a related case, Lawyer John A. Churchill of Calais, in an interview last month at Washington County superior courthouse on the day his Indian client was sentenced, said he was considering filing an appeal to test Maine’ jurisdiction at s Indian Township reservation, where the arson offenses w ere alleged. Churchill said he would probably file a motion for arrest of judgment in the case of Albert C. Dana, 1 , of Indian Township, 9 convicted of arson, and sentenced by Judge Roberts to a three year prison term. all but 60 days of which were suspended, plus two years probation. Churchill said he is interested in Indian defen se work, although he d o e sn ’t specialize in it. He said he considered Roberts fair and objective in considering cases involving Indians. Roberts said juries for the trials of Sockabasin and Dana were carefully screened. “We spent an extra three quarters of a day,” he said, adding, “each juror was questioned. . .as to their views of Indians” and the land claim s case. In a related story, Indian Courts Newsletter, of Washington, D.C., reports that “one of the resulting side effects” of the P en obscot-P assam aq u odd y Indian claim s was the recent federal recognition of the tribes, giving Maine Indians “a feasible means for developing their own court system .” The newsletter reported that PenobscotPassam aquoddy tribal planning board d ire cto r Andrew X. Akins sought assistance from National American Indian Court Judges Association to develop plans for “tribal court system s.” The report said the Maine tribes “want their own criminal jurisdiction to be administered by their own reservation police force with jurisdiction for all violations on the reservation, both Indian and non-Indian. “The tribes plan to have temporary holding cells on the reservation for confinement of one or two weeks, but would want to be able to use outside jail facilities for longer term commitment. The tribes also want to be able to provide for alternatives to incarceration or fine, such as restitution, work for the tribe, etc.,” the newsletter report said. Akins has been invited to attend a training session on Indian law and order, in Utah, April 26-28. The Indian court judges association has offered air fare. �Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 Page 7 Rhynard cites prescription drug abuserblames doctors By Bill O ’ Neal CALAIS — The State Department of Indian Affairs has tightened controls on d isp en sin g o f p r escrip tio n d ru g s to Indians in the wake of reported drug abuse on two Passam aquoddy reservations. C harles Rhynard, Indian A ffairs commissioner, has held several meetings with local doctors, hospital workers and the tribal governors from Indian Township and Pleasant Point to discuss ways to curtail the problem. According to Rhynard, certain persons on the reservations have been getting dru g p r escrip tio n s fille d by several doctors on the sam e day, or have visited one doctor several times - in quick succession. Rhynard said he feels som e of the doctors have been lax in guarding against drug abuse, either because they were too busy to monitor their prescriptions or b e ca u se they w ere p e stere d into prescribing the drugs “just to get rid of the person.” “There have been one or two doctors who have been a little lax. If they change their way of living, I won’ hit them with a t medical review board,” he said. He warned that he “will not hesitate to turn a doctor in.” Rhynard said that doctors expressed concern at the first meeting, but that they are now aware of the problem and he expected a decline in drug abuse. Rhynard said he will use several approaches to curb the drug problem. “I will not allow payment for refills, and I will not pay for control drugs without prior authorization,”he said. He added that a list of people who seem to be abusing drugs will be distributed to area doctors hospitals, and drug stores. He estimated that no m ore than twenty Indians were involved in the abuse. The drug situation was brought to the attention of state officials through several sources. A Calais physician, Dr. Ronald H eatherington, n oticed the la rg e frequency of office visits certain mem bers of the reservation were making. After the problem becam e apparent to him, he wrote a three-page letter to Gov. Jam es B. Longley expressing his concern. Longley then asked Rhynard to work with Heatherington. Heatherington said he has since received several threatening phone calls and has had shots fired at his home. Rhynard was also alerted by the state Indian agent for the two Passamaquoddy reservations, Virge Johnson, in charge of processing payment for prescriptions purchased by Indians. When she noticed an unusually large number of drug prescriptions being filled, she notified Rhynard. She said that the main drugs being used are Valium, Carbital, and Librium. The actions taken so far seem to have had a good effect, according to Johnson. The in cid e n ce of unw arranted prescriptions is “ slowing down a bit” she said. She attributed the change largely to m eetings held with medical people in Calais. She also said that the financial restrictions placed on obtaining drugs have helped. “If the drug is not absolutely necessary we (the state) won’ pay for it” t she stated. Church urges "just* settlement of claims Township to raze 21 substandard homes INDIAN TOW NSHIP — The Passamaquoddy tribal housing authority here has received a $400,000 federal grant to raze a total of 2 houses termed 1 PORTLAND — The 2 m em ber Priests’ could lead to additional embarrassment 1 substandard and beyond repair. Senate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of and pain for our state. The 2 homes are located at Peter Dana 1 Portland voted to approve a resolution Whereas the people of God wish to bring Point on Long Lake, part of the stating a position on the Indian land claim s about reco n cilia tio n betw een all the reservation. The structures are mostly case. m em bers of God’ family, s government projects dating back to WPA Presented by the Rev. Jam es F. Crozier Be it resolved that the Priests’ Senate of houses built in the 1930’ s. of St. Mary’ Church in Orono, the text of the D iocese of Portland go on record in s Sylvia Sopiel, ed ito r of a the resolution reads as follows: urging an immediate, just, and equitable Passamaquoddy community newsletter settlement between all parties involved in W hereas in ju stice s have been the Indian land claim s case now pending. and occupant of one of the WPA houses to be torn down, said the homes will be perpetuated against the Native Americans Father John Keegan, a m em ber of the demolished to make room for new housing. of the state of Maine in the past, Priests’ Senate, said the resolution was Whereas the sacred com mitm ent of this “pretty much supported by the body (the Demolition and new construction will both country, as set forth in the federal Non- Senate).” He said the resolution will be be funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). intercourse Act, has not been honored, presented to Bishop Edward C. O’ Leary Whereas continued public litigation this month. Great Northern boss indicates he would consider modified offer ORONO — The p resid en t ot Great Northern Paper Co. says he would go to court over the current proposed settlement of Maine Indian land claims, but he indicated he would consider a different offer to resolve the claims. “We would litigate if all that was in question was what’ been presented” said s R obert H ellendale, GNP presid en t attending a recen t bu sin ess lead ers conference at University of Maine. Hellendale refused to speculate on “the hypothetical question” of a different offer, but he did say an out-of-court settlement of Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land claim s is “obviously in the best interest of the people.” The current proposal to resolve claim s would involve a sum of federal money, plus 500,000 acres to be taken from 1 large 4 landholders in Maine, including close to 100,000 acres from Great Northern, largest pulp and paper firm in the state, with holdings of m ore than one million acres. Great Northern would receive a small federal compensation for giving up lands. Hellendale said he favors a cash Hellendale said he thinks “ private land which has been held for over 100 years should not be part of the settlement.” Great Northern was organized in Bangor in 1 897. Hellendale said com pany lawyers have researched title to GNP holdings. Hellendale said he questions a report by Indians that Maine’ economy, and Great s Northern, would benefit from increased jobs and an influx of dollars. At least in terms of timber harvesting, “we try to manage our land for sustained yield,” he said. Hellendale said he did not know how Indians cou ld im p ro v e on G reat Northern’ practices. s Hellendale said he supports the Gov. Jam es B. Longley’ position opposing the s claims, and he disagrees “with som e of the statements of (Indians’ lawyer) Tom Tureen. “I would like to see the threat against e v e ry b o d y ’ s p rop erty re m o v ed ,” Robert Hellendale Hellendale said. A native of New York settlement of the claim s not involving any City, Hellendale’ office is at Great s land, and he said “ it’ the federal Northern’ corporate headquarters in s s government’ responsibility to dispose of Stamford, Ct. His daughter Missy, is a s the Indians’ claim s.” student at University of Maine at Orono. The demolition phase of the project was expected to begin immediately. Roger Gabriel, administrative assistant for the tribe, is in charge of acquisition and demolition, and will assist in relocating residents. Temporary living quarters m ay be rented by the tribe, Sopiel said, adding that “the cost to the individuals and families to be moved will be zero.” Sopiel explained that “ the primary purpose of the redevelopment program is to provide space for new housing in an area where 100 per cent of the housing is below current housing stan dard s.” Residents of Peter Dana Point are invited to visit the tribal government office for further information, she said. Conservation jobs Die Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC) located at Indian Island are now accepting enrollee applications. Enrollee Eligibility I- Membership in the YACC is open to all candidates who, at the time of enroll ment are: a. Unemployed b. Between the ages o f Sixteen to Twenty-three inclusive: (male or female) c. Capable of carrying out the work of the YACC for the estimated dura tion of their enrollment. Each individual shall provide a record of a physical examination before enrollment. Cost o f physical must be borne by the applicant. 2. Individuals who at the time of en rollment have attained age 16 but have not attained age 19 and who have left school shall not be admitted to the pro gram unless they give adequate assur ances that they did not leave school for the purpose o f enrolling in the YACC. For further information contact the YACC director, Richard Hamilton, by telephone, 827-7776, or by writing to YACC program director Box 503, Old Town, ME 04468. �Page 8 Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 Herbal medicine and psychic healing Because we have acquired a sweet tooth, Everyone in the Indian community native people by drugs, like alcohol, and industrial residue that pollu te fishing, knows som e m edicine because it was a Npsiun tastes bitter, but our ancestors did. part of living. Many plants serve the dual not need sweetening. Neither w ere spoons Npisun is a term describing the art and hunting and m edicine lands, a number of science of herbal m edicine and psychic native people have turned to their purpose of being both nutritional and or cups necessary; measurements were m ade intuitively. A sprinkle here, a dash healing practiced by the first people of this traditions for alternatives to promoting medicinal. Medicine people did not have the there. and m aintaining go o d health for land who call themselves Wabanaki Our elders are an important source of freedom, energy nor time to keep pace them selves and their families. People of the Dawn. with new illnesses brought over by early information regarding Npisun. Because Treatment and cure of diseases can rely settlers. Sex, for example, once regarded they h ave alrea d y en du red m uch solely on the natural resources in a given as normal, pleasurable and even spiritual exploitation, they should be rewarded for area; d ire ctly o p p osite to W estern Natural healing medicine that is based on chemicals, That the healing profession is strictly now was degraded because venereal their wisdom and knowledge in som e 6 drugs, surgery, institutionalization and controlled by the government, with rigid diseases, form erly unknown to native way...111 Indian way. A new cycle technology. Both types offer several p o lic ie s regu latin g m ed ica l licen se people in spite of their liberal m arriage A new cycle has begun. Soon after the laws. acceptable alternatives to present day requirements, indicates a need for much The com bined efforts of church and state m elting snow moon, light com es to wake therapeutic procedures. study and research if we are to integrate natural healing techniques into daily m ade gonorrhea and syphilis both a crim e up the earth and hibernating plants. The Ancient traditions living. As late as 1935, night-time arrests and a sin, and this attitude spread across sun provides the added warmth and energy that will grow plants to serve as In the treatment of mental discorders, at hom es on reservations w ere frequent, reservations. Medicine people never did get into medicine. Animals will be eating this new native psychiatry deals with breaking and m edicine pouches, ceremonial masks taboos, violating natural laws and social and rattles confiscated as evidence were dispersal of drugs nor did they perform growth and will provide material for custom s. Treatm ent proced u res are turned o v er to an th ropologists and surgery because the doors to higher rattles, whistles and drums to be used in conducted in the universal language of m useums for various purposes. It was learning and advanced technology were healing ceremonies. closed to all minorities; therefore, the Now is a good tim e to think of planting symbols that only native people seem to because of legal threats that medicine accept and understand, because they people, and elders went underground m edical profession becam e a monopoly. an herb garden as many of the marshes are polluted. Herbs are annuals and relate to certain principles of living taking many of their healing skills to the require minimum care and weeding. They Preparation and usage underlying ancient traditions. grave. Npisun becam e the forbidden art. Methods of gathering and harvesting of can be started now. People who w ere at one time in touch While certain laws did check quackery The knowledge of Npisun is available to with the rhythm of their bodies have been and fraudulant cures, in som e instances raw m aterials for Npisun, its preparation and use is a skill that is passed down anyone who takes time and energy to find edu cated to be lie v e otherw ise, they also violated aboriginal sovereignty. Consequently, many are ashamed of their Freedom to choose who and what to orally. C ertain taboos v iola te s o cia l and use it. In order to be accepted by the bodies and its functions while believing believe in was taken away.lt was this customs and need explaining by spiritual public, m edicine people must be able to back up claim s with scientific proof. Npisun to be occult m agic and socially transfer of trust, whether imposed or native leaders. unacceptable. voluntary, from m ed icin e person to With the changing of beliefs cam e western physician, herbal to chemical, ch an ges in beh avior patterns. The etc., that hastened the near extinction of discovery of germ s and viruses m ade it the art of natural healing methods. The weaker sex almost foolish to explain terms like evil The term ‘ edicine man’ is a stero-type m spirits, Ginaps and Boowins for fear of being labeled a witch doctor doing works of a traditional m edicine person. When the reservation system replaced the clan of the devil. In the 1600’ social contact with early system, the clan m other’ role as healer s s settlers caused further changes and native and keeper of medicines disappeared and people started wearing copper wrist bands native women becam e the weaker sex. for arthritis instead of wearing knotty Within the hierarchial structure of the wood amulets around the neck, among traditional healing profession, the most other things. F inally a complete highly regarded is the Ginap and then turnabout occurred and today we find Boowin. Indians usin g d ru gs like aspirin. Furthermore, the chasing away of evil spirits by m edicine people was replaced by the confessional technique of washing away sins, through the missionaries. Youth shun medicine Also, younger generations did not aspire to learn traditional m edical techniques. Degrade not the tradition from time immemorial. However, with the passing of a human On one fourth, the birthday of America, When what was done was for a purpose. rights bill and aboriginal land claim s I chanced to watch a show cam e the rebirth of freedom to be what you within a circle: Our culture pass to children young want to be. People began searching out a deep wide circle of curious people Until our last chant’ been sung. s their roots and refused to allow historians The sound of drum so plaintive sound to define them. The dance in circle quickly disperses And because of devastating effects on The beat of m occasin on the ground When done for own; no one rehearses. Led m e on to see where cam e this You dance the way you think and feel sweet moving sound of mystery. Among your own you really feel In days long past, hidden in my memory, -light in heart-elated in mind-nourished in soul this sam e ceromony held meaning to me. By Isabelle Knockwood Toney Encircled Nutrition Notes By Natalie S. Mitchell Vitamin B12, one of the many ‘ ’ B vitamins, is controversal. This vitamin is required for normal production of red and white blood cells within the bone marrow, building of proteins, and normal nerve reactions. A protein substance called ‘ intrinsic factor’ is produced in the stomach and this must be present for the absorption of B12 by the small intestine. Food sources of B12 are milk, cheese, eggs, fish, meats, and poultry. Very little B12 is needed on a daily basis. Although it is very rare, B12 deficiency is m ost often caused by the absence o f the intrinsic factor in the stomach and not by a dietary deficiency. Symptoms include a sore tongue, anorexia (poor appetite), poor coordination, altered mental processes, and m a cr o cy tic anem ia w ith la r g e immature red blood cells. Daily requirements of B12 vary with age. However, a low intake of animal products will m eet daily needs. Only in rare circu m sta n ces, p rim a rily with ch ron ic gastroin testin al d isorders, is supplemental B12 (by mouth or injection) really necessary. And to m y mother and my father Like so their parents before the circle. While invisible bond of kinship formed Among your own and other Tribes. My heart and soul ached to view. How the years have changed to all, but few. No applause is needed if you please. Please excuse m y white man’ deeds. s I saw the brown-skinned bodies dance and sway. For time has embellished by m y rote All I ’ leamed-not by Indian wrote. ve Among people who would marvel and would say, Explore the ways to teach the young How each hymn and chant is sung. “This celebration was worth the effort” While m y people dance like puppets A generation of our own making is in the fore Let all go to them to intercede To elicit applause and sigh of approval. When what they do-is their removal of meaning gesture, m otive and value which is meshed in m e and you. -for our children who cannot speak the sweet m elodic tongue of ours. Oh, Passamquoddies, look at me, and tell m e you do not hate to see This dancing within a circle of the white-skinned race. Has been the decline of your own race? Oh dance, yes dance, please do But am ong those who are like you. Dispel all else which foreign makes E m brace that which lets us at our pace -to seek the truth of our heritage -to instill in child like a vintage Which will grow and expand to growth For only in our children is our hope. Wind Flower Passam aquoddy Pleasant Point �Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 Page 9 Student works on Passamaquoddy dictionary INDIAN TOWNSHIP — A 25-year-old linguistics student at MIT in Cambridge, Ma., is working at the Passamaquoddy Indian reservation here, putting together what m ay be the first dictionary of the native language. Philip LeSourd, working toward a doctoral degree, has stu died the Passamaquoddy language the past three years, and now has about 4,000 entries on index cards. He exp lain ed that Passamaquoddy has 17 phonemes (groups of sounds), a 1 letter alphabet and an 7 apostrophe, plus only three or four irregular verbs. “This is really a crucial period for the language program here, because if they don’ do something, they’ go the way of t ll Indian Islan d (where the P en obscot la n gu a ge h as alm ost disa p p ea red ),” LeSourd said. But the language is mostly m ade of verbs, and whole sentences can be strung together as a single word, LeSourd said. LeSourd said Passamaquoddy is wholly different from English; “there are hardly any sounds in Passam aquoddy that are ju st lik e E n glish sou n ds.” Passamaquoddy, almost exactly the same as another Maine Indian tribe’ language, s Maliseet, was a m ajor language of the Wabanaki (Wabanaki means people of the dawn). Wabanaki, in turn, was part of the Algonquian language group of the northeast, “one of the largest language groups of the continent,” LeSourd said. Passamaquoddy persons over 40 years of age learned their native language first, and English as a second language, LeSourd said, adding that “the m ajority of adults h ere speak P a ssam aqu odd y regularly.” But for younger people to learn Passam aquoddy has becom e very difficult, partly because of the effects of watching English television, and because until re cen tly the C atholic-affiliated sch o ols w ere o p p ose d to teach in g Passamaquoddy. That situation has changed, and the Indian Township elementary school now o ffe rs * p u p ils daily lesso n s in Passam aquoddy language. L eSourd has been w ork in g on Passam aquoddy language sound system s and word formations, the subject of his doctoral dissertation. He is aided by a grant from National Science Foundation. A native of South Burlington, Vt., LeSourd has been staying at the home of fo rm er tribal go v ern or Allen J. Sockabasin. He plans to leave Indian Township this summer, but wants to keep in touch with persons at the reservation. Philip LeSourd BIA said to hinder tribal self-determination By Bill O ’Neal WASHINGTON — Sen. James Abourezk authority to the tribes.” Shank said, (D.-S.D.) has accused the Bureau of Indian adding that in some cases, “ regulations Affairs of blocking Indian self-determina became so complex for very small contracts that it discouraged tribes from contract tion efforts. According to an Abourezk news release, ing.” Under the Self-determination Act, BIA “ Congress passed the Indian Self-deter mination and Education ,Assistance Act may contract with the tribes allowing them with the clear intent of giving Indian to administer BIA funds and their own people effective and meaningful partici services. In the past BIA has managed pation in the planning and administration monies and services for Indians. BIA may allocate additional money for of the various Federal programs which directly affect their lives, particularly those “ indirect and support costs.” Abourezk charges that BIA has been programs administered by the BIA and negligent in obtaining adequate funding Indian Health Service.” “ Through a combination of factors,” from Congress to cover these indirect costs. He said “ Tribal officials tell me that Abourezk continued, “ control has been re tained by the Federal agencies, which by the failure of the BIA to request an and large have incorporated their own adequate budget to fund overhead costs priorities and policies into their contracts and other support costs associated with with the tribes, rather than allowing tribes tribal contracts has resulted in many tribes being forced to terminate their contracts or to make their own decisions." An Abourezk aide, Phillip Shank, severely cut back services, including law blasted BIA inaction as “ a bold, flagrant enforcement and education programs." Shank said that such “ shortfalls .frus violation of Congress.” Shank suggested this was a case of bureaucrats protecting trate attempts of the tribes to take over their jobs. Although not official BIA policy, administrative control.” Abourezk further claims that “ The BIA Shank said that “ Out o f self-interest, sub version of the intent of Congress is in has not provided the tribes with the needed money because the BIA itself has retained order.” Abourezk, chairman of the Indian Affairs the funds needed for the indirect and support costs associated with the tribal Committee, said he has “ received repeat ed complaints from the tribes throughout contracts and has not properly presented the country that cooperation is badly its appropriations to Congress.” lacking at the area level. Indications are BIA has also com e under attack from the that the area BIA officials actually are Government Accounting Office which has accused it of cutting back services to obstructing the implementation of (self-de Indians rather than trimming its own termination) policies.” “ People at all sorts of levels can do all administrative costs. sorts of things” to impede transfer of Shanks said that after a demand by The Rev. Joseph Laughlin, a Jesuit who recently took over the parish duties at St. Anne’ Church, Indian Township, visits with young Passamaquoddy friend Leslie s Nicholas. (O’ Neal Photo) Ass't. Secretary for Indian Affairs Congress that BIA cut S4 million from its 1977 budget. BIA juggled accounts so that Forrest J. Gerard has applied to Congress programs instead of staff were reduced. A for a supplemental appropriation of $10 similar Congressional mandate this year m illion to cover the deficit; however. led BIA to redefine its computer services, Shank said this is too late, since the Appro so that no budget cutbacks actually priations Committee is not considering such extensions until May or June. Mean occurred, according to Shank. A spokesman for BIA denied allegations while, he said, the tribes are being forced that the agency had failed to comply with to terminate contracts or use contract money not allocated for indirect expenses. Congressional requests for budget cut Earlier this year Abourezk introduced backs and said the reason BIA failed to get full funding for contracts is that “ Congress legislation designed to correct some of the didn't believe BIA” needed the money it problems of implementing the Self-deter mination Act. Shank said the new legis requested. Shank said that BIA allegedly negotiated lation is “multi-year, comprehensive and with Congress for “ less than half' of the streamlined.” With newly— won Federal recognition indirect cost funds agreed under contract with the tribes and then dispersed those status the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot monies slowly. “ We have a crisis," he tribes are now' subject to BIA contracting regulations and policies. said. Newell offers university Indian version of fireside chat ORONO — Wayne Newell, a Passam aquoddy Indian, tried to “ put the Indian side of the land claim s into perspective” at a recent gathering of University of Maine students and faculty. In what he called “ the Indian version of a fireside chat” Newell described the changes he has seen in the wake of the land claim s suit and as non-Indian culture creeps onto the reservations. ‘"Die older people are very worried about what will happen to us in the em ergence of all this publicity (about the land claims). They are worried that in the quest for self-determination, we will lay aside those things that m ake us strong as a people. They are worried that we are now relying m ore on written law than spoken law.” Newell acknowledged that there are many pitfalls that com e with selfdetermination. He observed that “As m ore Indians becom e affluent, m ore are dying of alcoholism.” He told the gathering that 98 percent of the deaths at Indian Township are directly or indirectly related to alcohol. “Only 1 people (at Indian Township) 4 are over 60; over half the people are under 2 Our emphasis is on our youngsters 0. that’ all we have.” s Newell than asked rhetorically why better living conditions brought increased alcoh olism and su icide, “ why with increased housing we experienced an increase in divorce.” The answer, Newell said, is that the Indians “laid aside a strong sense of spiritualism.” “The most tragic thing is that we did not realize how many values we put down. We did not put a control factor to monitor these changes,” he said. Newell said problem s of change will not be solved “just by fixing houses, or through enterprise; not just by political opportunity.” “What has all this to do with land cla im s,” N ew ell asked. “ A fter the immediate publicity is over, w e still have to struggle with these changes, with selfdetermination.” Newell m oved his discussion more directly to the e land claim s with a brief history of the claim s before opening the floor for questions. He said the state of Maine is still trying to make people panic at the Indian land claims and he called Jam es B. Longlev’ aDDroach “ similar to s Joseph McCarthy.” He said that “people are ready to shoot us” and that state officials “are not addressing the rational issues.” He denied DaDer company claims that mill workers would lose jobs if a proposed claim s settlement is accepted. He cited a prospectus prepared for Indians that predicts that 6,000 jobs would be created by the proposed settlement. Newell also warned that if the state and 1 4 paper companies named in the settlement plan decide to go to court, “the case will take 20 years” and put a cloud on all the property involved. On the other hand, he said with the settlement “we could make a life of our own with no handouts. Right now w e’ re living from grant to grant.” Many of the questions from the audience concerned the settlement proposal. When asked what the state’ objection was to it, Newell said, s “This is where I can ’ believe Longley and t (Maine Atty. Gen. Joseph) Brennan are singing their old tune.” According to the plan, “ in 15 years the state would b e off the hook,” Newell said adding that aid could continue indefinitely under existing law. Newell said he felt state officials were politically motivated in what they said publicly. Newell said the settlement would be good for Maine towns, adding “R ace relations have been getting much better since we started pouring money into them.” �Page 10 Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 Developer, Indian clash over AAashpee case By Jay Kent His request, he said, is only a variance in the existing law in that he would be allowed only the filling station and no other com m ercial venture. He indicated that he did not feel all development in Mashpee has been wise. “This should be a model town after watching the surrounding towns develop.” He cited an example where the building of new homes led to the crowding of schools with new children. “The impact was too soon,” he said. Acting upon a recommendation by Mashpee town counsel Joseph Reardon, the Board of Appeals allowed Umina to withdraw his request and to reapply without prejudice. No vote was held and no decision made. In fiing again in February, Umina included a letter charging Keliinui “They (the Indians) are against further with conflict of interest and asking that an development,” he said in a telephone alternate sit in her place. interview. “That’ how this whole thing s The decision to step down is in the hands started,” he said, referring to the land of Keliinui herself. The legal opinion as to claim s suit. When questioned about that whether she is in conflict of interest would position, Umina admitted that he hadn’ t com e from Town Counsel Reardon, but heard it personally, but “it’ not just s that would not constitute an order to be scuttlebutt.” He believes that the tribe has disqualified from Umina’ hearing. s expressed it publicly. When asked his opinion, Reardon said, Keliinui said her view of the request is “I ’ making no statement until I have a m that it does not constitute a variance, in the written request for an opinion on the zoning law, but a re-zoning from industrial matter.” He explained that the request to commercial. The Board of Appeals is would have to com e from an official not em powered to re-zone. source. He said he assumed that Umina In a telephone interview, she said, “A would ask Mashpee selectm en to seek the hearing was held last August and because of variou s p rob lem s — lack of opinion. “If she’ found in conflict and refuses to s information, and things that didn’ meet t step down,” Umina said, “she’ be open to ll with the requirements of the Board of criminal suit.” Appeals, as far as him having a plan...it Criminal suit, according to Reardon, was delayed and he asked for an indefinite could result if Umina filed a complaint postponement so he could get these things with the district attorney. together. When asked about her reaction, Keliinui “So the thing was prolonged. The said, “There have been very few meetings hearing was over and one of the mem bers that I have been absent from in the seven of the Board mentioned that it would take years I’ been a m em ber of the Board of ve only one ‘ no’ vote (to reject the request) Appeals. And in any meetings that com e and that he didn’ feel that I was in favor of t up in the future, I would anticipate being it. At that point, two days later the present, whether it be Jerry Umina’ s individual (Umina) wrote a letter saying hearing or whether it be anybody’ s that he wanted to challenge me because I hearing.” was a member of the Tribal Council. And Umina was asked if he felt that Mashpee that’ the whole thing in a nutshell.” s Selectman George Benway is in conflict. Umina felt that d e sp ite ev id e n ce “I never really thought of it,” he said, favorable to his request, given by the chief adding that Benway “ did quite a bit of of police and the town engineer, Keliinui business in town before this thing rem ained o p p ose d to developm ent. hit.’ Benway is also a real estate broker in ’ Referring to the other m em bers of the the town. three-member Board, he said, “I don’ t “He definitely has a large stake in the know how they'd vote, but Keliinui is the outcome (of the land claim s case),” only one who actually cam e out against Umina said. it.” MASHPEE, Ma. — A developer in this Cape Cod town has ch a llen ged a Wampanoag Indian woman’ presence on s the local Zoning Board of Appeals. He charges that she is in conflict of interest because of the current Indian claim to land in the town of Mashpee. The developer, Gerald J. Umina of Mashpee, is seeking a variance in an industrially-zoned area to build a gas station. He claim s that Clara L. Keliinui, a m em ber of the Wampanoag Tribal Council as well as the town’ Board of Appeals, s cannot be expected to render a fair and dispassionate judgment. NEW DIRECTOR of the Wabnaki Bi-lingual Education Program at Indian Township is Robert Leavitt, who replaced Wayne A. Newell. Newell, who founded the program, took a job as social services director for the tribe. With Leavitt is Mary Ellen Socobasin. in charge of developing materials for the bi-lingual program. Leavitt grew up in New Jersey, holds a m aster’ degree in education from Harvard, and has taught six years at s Indian Township and Pleasant Point reservation. Socobasin is an Indian Township native, graduated for Princeton High School, and has worked in the program seven years. Indian leaders say tribal status must be protected NASHVILLE - U.S. government has failed to fulfill obligations to Indian tribes, and further, should be responsible for p r eserv in g and defen d in g Indians “inherent sovereign rights.” Those statements were among a dozen resolutions reached at the 32nd annual meeting of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) held recently at Nashville, Tenn. Attending the four day event from Maine were Penobscot Indian Lt. Gov. Wally Pehrson; Passam aquoddy Gov. John Stevens; George Tomer, a Penobscot w orking for A m erican Indians for Development of Meriden, Ct.; and James Sappier of Old Town, a Penobscot working for the Indian Task Force, New England Federal Regional Council of Boston. Sappier said the NCAI resolutions were in his opinion the m ost important aspect of the meeting. They will be presented to Congress as part of a “Declaration of Principles on Tribal Recognition.” Other resolutions of the 400-500 NCAI delegates, representing scores of Indian tribes included: — Only genu ine Indian trib es be fe d era lly r e c o g n iz e d (P enobscot and Passam aquoddy Indians recently won such recognition) — Any determination that a group is not an Indian tribe must be justified on the group’ failure to m eet legitimate criteria s — A tribe winning federal recognition status can request a federal agency to seek additional funds from Congress to fulfill trust obligations — The level of federal support shouldn’ t depend on arbitrary budget decisions, but should be based on services to which tribes are entitled. Impending crisis A pream ble to the NCAI resolutions said federal recognition of Indians is “ an issue of impending crisis.” The statement said leaders of federally re co g n ize d trib es are o b je c tin g to increased dispersal of federal funds, some of them allocated to “questionable-Indian groups, program s and individuals.” Also, Indian officials say they see groups claim ing to be “Indian tribes” as a threat to tribal sovereignty. The statement voices som e concern about “racism or greed” saying that “ attempts by the federally-recognized tribes to assure the greatest safeguards in the process must not be looked upon as greed or rascism .” Pulp and paper firm, bank say claims won't affect business POCKET MONEY, plus a clean community are the results of gathering deposit bottles and cans along Pleasant Point roadsides. From left, Tony Clement, Joe Sapiel, both nine years old; and Peter Clement, 10. (Cartwright Photo) BANGOR — Two annual reports, one from a banking corporation and another from a pulp and paper firm, state that Penobscot-Passamaquoddy Indian land claim s will not adversely affect business. Diamond International Corp. told its sto ck h o ld ers a cu rrent p rop o se d settlement of Indian claims-which would take about 49,000 acres of Diamond’ s lands at $5 per acre-is “unacceptable.” But the annual report from the firm that owns a large mill at Old Town also said the settlement “would not have a material ad v erse effect on the co m p a n y ’s consolidated financial statements.” In another development, William C. Bullock, president of Merrill Bankshares of Bangor, said in the annual report that it’ “ Business as usual” despite Indian s land claims. Bullock, who at one time worked on a study of Indian claim s for Gov. James B. Longley, said in the report: “Last year we com mented on the possible adverse effects of the much publicized Indian land claims case in our state. The atmosphere in this regard has improved during the course of the year and, while no settlement has been reached, we are pleased to report that business is being conducted as usual in Maine with no adverse effect upon your company.” Merrill Bankshares is the third largest banking corporation in the state. �Wabanaki Alliance April 1978 Page 1 1 Moccasin factory closes INDIAN ISLAND — The moccasin factory at Indian Island closed recently, putting two dozen persons out of a job. Penobscot Gov. Nicholas H. Sapiel said the tribe has plans to start the triballyowned business again at some future date. He said financial mismanagement and reckless expansion were to blame for closing of the factory. Among those out o f a job was George F. Wehrman, a non-Indian hired as general manager of the factory last fall. Also losing jobs were a number of Indian persons. Sapiel said that if re-opened, “ we want to start small and then work up again. But Penobscot tribal welfare services seen continuing nothing big and elaborate; w e learned our lesson on the last one.” The moccasion factory was started in 1976 as a part of Penobscot Indian Enter prises (PIE). A retail outlet store was set up at Bar Harbor, and products were dis tributed across the state. Michael D. Thomas, who quit as manager last September, boasted earlier than PIE assets had grown from $27,500 to $430,000. Sapiel said the moccasin factory building will be used for training sessions in a new conservation corps program based on the island. Also closed was another PIE project, a heating fuel delivery service. Attorney General's report due on case INDIAN ISLAND — New monies coming to the Penobscot tribe from federal sources will apparently not alter state welfare funds, according to a Maine Department of Indian Affairs agent. Edward T. Maroon, in charge of welfare services at the Indian Island “ Indian Affairs” building, said “ as far as I knowservices will continue. I’ heard no word ve that services will be cut back.” Maroon distributes varying monthly payments to about 70-80 Penobscot families. As of October 1, 1977, the Penobscots were officially eligible for federal Bureau of Indian Affairs funds, but Maroon said he anticipated no immediate changes in state aid, nor did he expect his own job to change. Maroon said he could not supply a reporter with a figure for his budget. He said the state Department of Indian Affairs places no limits or rules on how money is spent, other than to recommend certain figures for grocery orders, clothing and medical expenses. Food Stamps, Aid to Families with De pendent Children (AFDC) and unemploy ment compensation are also dispensed from Maroon’s office. Maroon said aid is not limited to those persons on the tribal census, but can be granted to non-Indians living on the island. Maroon said he has no average figure for welfare, since “ every situation is dif ferent.” Commenting on the welfare system, he said, “ I think (the amount of aid) is enough, but it instills a dependency. “ I’m just sitting here all day perpetuat ing the system, but I’d like to get out and find the root of the problem,” he said. A Waterville native. Maroon said he enjoys working with Indian persons, something he has done in his position as Indian agent the past two years. His office includes posted job listings, and a sticker that says, “ Indians are not extinct: they’ re just treated that way.’’ Maroon, 31, is a graduate of Ricker College, Houlton. Planning board to dissolve ENDIAN ISLAND - The five-year-old inter t r ib a l P en ob scot- P a ssa m a q u od d y planning board will soon be replaced by local planning effort, according to tribal leaders. Andrew X. Akins, executive director of the board since its inception, confirmed that officials had agreed to dissolve the agency, but said “nothing has been finalized yet.” Penobscot tribal Gov. Nicholas H. Sapiel said/‘ talked with the other governors and I they want their planning done locally.’ Sapiel said he had discussed the matter with Passam aquoddy Governors Francis J. Nicholas and John Stevens. Akins has agreed to take a new job as an administrative assistant and coordinator for the Penobscot tribe, Sapiel said. AUGUSTA — Saying that “ people will never be satisfied without a court d e cisio n ,” D eputy Atty. Gen. John Patterson told a reporter this month that he is preparing to recomm end a course of action on the Indian land claim s case. Patterson, who upholds the state’ s position that Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land claim s are without legal merit, said “We’ working on an extensive report re exa m in in g the joint m em orandu m (proposed settlement) and recommending a course of action.” The report will be delivered to the Governor and Legislature, he said. P a tterson refu sed to d is c lo se the contents of his report. “There are a number of things which could dispose of the case very quickly,” he said without elaborating. Patterson did not say whether he meant seeking to have Congress extinguish the land claims. Mitchell quits MPBN, show to continue ORONO — Kim Mitchell, a program director at Maine Public Broadcasting Net work (MPBN), has resigned that position to take a sales job with radio station WLBZ, Bangor. Mitchell, a graduate of University of Maine and a Penobscot Indian from Indian Island, was producer-director of a halfhour monthly TV show called Maine Indian Journal. The show has included programs on an Indian artist, Maine Indian land claims and other topics. Maine Indian Journal will continue at least through May, according to Bernard F. Roscetti. MPBN television program man ager. Roscetti said Penobscot Indian, Jean Mitchell has agreed to assist in directing and coordinating the show. Clayton and Emily Sockabasin, of Indian Township, share grins at the elementary school they attend. They are the children of Clayton Sockabasin of Indian Township, and M ary Sosson g of Portland. (Cartwright photo). Staff change made on negotiating team PLEASANT POINT — Gail Dana, a m em ber of the tribal land claim s negotiating team, has resigned and has been replaced by a tribal governor. Dana, who re p re se n ted the Passam aquoddies from Pleasant Point reservation, has been succeeded on the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy team by Gov. Francis J. Nicholas of Pleasant Point. Spokesmen for the eight-member team say the group will remain intact until, and perhaps after, the claim s are settled. The team met several times with three White House negotiators, to produce the proposed settlement now before the state of Maine and 1 m ajor landholders in the 4 state. No public lands are involved in the out-of-court proposal, which would award Indians a total of about one half million acres and $50 million. O riginally, the PenobscotPassam aquoddy claim s sought about two thirds of the state. On the tribal team are Wayne A. Newell and Jeannette Neptune, representing Indian Township; Dana and Nicholas, Pleasant Point; Andrew X. Akins, George M. Mitchell, Wilfred Pehrson and Timothy Love, Indian Island. Off-reservation Indian named to team DOVER-FOXCROFT — An off-reservation Penobscot Indian has been appointed to the Maine Indian land claims negotiat ing team. Reuben (Butch) Phillips of Dover-Foxcroft, a member of the Penobscot tribe, was named to the team at a tribal council meeting in February. “ 1want to make non resident Penobscots aware that they have a voice on the negotiating committee,” he said. In last month's Wabanaki Alliance, another off-reservation Penobscot, Neil Phillips, said in an interview that Indians not living on reservations were being left out of tribal affairs and tribal decision making. Last summer Ralph Thomas, a Penob scot living in Gardiner, filed for intervenor status in the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land claims case, claiming his interests were not represented in the negotiating process. Reuben Phillips is a native of Indian Island, where he spent his first 19 years. A graduate of Old Town High School, he is married to the former Linda Stewart and the couple has three sons. Phillips is em ployed by American Telephone and Tele graph Co. Longley dares Tureen to try claims in court ORONO — Gov. James B. Longley told a reporter here that if Indian land claim s are valid, Thomas N. Tureen, lawyer for the tribes, should be willing to test the claim s in court. Longley, visiting the University of Maine recently to address a business leaders conference, said, “I think if the Indian counsel is so confident, he ought to be willing to try it in court.” Longley refused to answer questions about ths proposed out-of-court settlement of the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy claims, saying, “ I refer you to my attorney general.” Longley complained, “It (the settlement) is a holdup, and after I increased Indian services 50 percent.” Asked what he would do about an upcoming deadline on responding to the proposed settlement, Longley said again that this was a question for Atty. Gen. Joseph Brennan, who requested a 60-day Asked if the state’ position was that s claim s w ere frivolous, Longley said, “I never said they w ere frivolous.” (The state’ public position has been that the s claim s are without merit.) As Longley hurried away from the reporter, who identified himself as from W abanaki Alliance, the G overnor said,“m y com ment for you is, anybody can write slanted journalism.” R e d Eye D ID J A H E A R T H E O N E ABOUT T H E S U O B B O V IA N PLU A A BER f J DON'T L IK E JO KES O THER ABOUT E T H N IC 6RO UPS/ J E R K . V M IA H 1 i i ’O K K 'f I D ID J A HEAR T H E O N E ABOUT T H E IN D IA N PLU M BER ? �Indian woman's case backed (Continued from page 1 ) closed until an agreement signed by all parties was in hand. Petit said when she approached Carles seeking a rental, “ he asked me if I was Indian, and I said yes, and he said, ‘ we don’ rent to Indians.’ ’’ Petit also said he t discriminated against her because she is single. Her complaint to the commission said Carles asserted “ unmarried couples may cause friction between the neigh bors.” Lepore said the commission apparently ruled only on the Indian discrimination aspect of the complaint, which also alleged Carles said Indians “ stole from him” and had lied to him about payment of rent. “They told me I was the first Passama quoddy from Indian Township to file a :ase. I was scared, and I’m still scared,” Petit said. Cards circulated on land threat ORONO — An unknown num ber of cards opposing Indian land claim s have been printed anonymously, and have been distributed in Penobscot County and elsewhere. An area resident brought a yellow three by five inch card to the newspaper office addressed to Hon. William D. Hathaway, Senate Office Building, Wash.. D.C. ‘ Dear Senator,” the card says, “ I and housandsof other Mainers feel threatened by the Indian land claim s suit. We feel that :he property rights of all landowners should be protected. “We also feel that any settlement should consider the econom ic impact on the jobs and life styles of the tens of thousands of Mainers who derive their living from these lands,” the printed card said. The cards left room to fill in name and address. The ca r d s w ere reported ly distributed along with a petition also apposing the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land claims case. State lawyer (Continued from page 1 ) Deputy Atty. Gen. John Patterson, reached by phone, said as far as he knew, Williams was not paid for his legal assistance. Williams was “principally involved as a liaison with Judge Gunter and the C on gression a l d e lega tio n ,” Patterson said. In a related development, Brennan recen tly sought $200,000 from the Legislature, to hire expert lawyers for an anticipated court battle over the Indian claims. O'Leary mum on land suit PORTLAND — The Rev. Edward C. O’Leary, Catholic Bishop of Maine, says it would be imprudent for him to voice an opinion on P enobscot-P assam aqu odd y Indian land claims. “ I think it would be imprudent for m e to take a position without all the facts,” O’Leary said in a telephone interview. He was questioned about his views following a pu b lic com m en t by P a ssam aqu odd y Indian, Wayne A. Newell. Newell said at a land claim s talk that he wished O ’ Leary would take a position so “we could at least know if he’ for or s against it.” O’ Leary said he had twice arranged meetings with Newell, and state officials, to hear “ both sides” of the case, but that Newell had cancelled out at the last minute. “Being a layman in the law, I just can’ t bring m yself to make a definitive statement on the case now,” the Bishop said. He added that he “represents all the Catholic people of Maine.” and he would want “justice done to all,” Indian and nonIndian alike. “ I ’ very sympathetic to Indians, not m only on the land claims...I’ inclined to m think injustice has been done to the Indians," O’Leary said, but asked, “how do we rectify this.” A flashback to the past News briefs Passion play INDIAN TOW NSHIP - Sixth and seventh graders of the Indian Township School traveled to the Indian reservation at Tobique to perform a Passion Play. The play, which depicts the events in Jesus’ life from The Last Supper to the Crucifixion, was perform ed in Indian costume, and lines were spoken in native Passamaquoddy. This is the third straight year that the school has put on the Passion Play. Newell on board INDIAN TOWNSHIP — Wayne A. Newell, director of social services for the Passamaquoddy tribe here, has been named a delegate to the national Catholic C am paign for Human D evelopm ent (CHD), based in Washington, D.C. Newell was appointed to a three year term as a Maine delegate representing the New England region. Census meeting PLEASANT POINT - The Passamaquoddy tribal census com mittee was expected to meet during a regular council m eeting this month, at Pleasant Point reservation, to consider persons seeking to be added to tribal rolls. Gov. Francis J. Nicholas said a large number of names would be considered. The increase may be due to the current land claim s case, he said. Claims debate ORONO — A debate on PenobscotPassamaquoddy Indian land claims is scheduled here, Sunday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m. Open to the public and sponsored by Orono Methodist Church, the event will be preceded by a covered dish supper at 5:30, at the church. Participants will include Andrew X. Akins, a Penobscot on a claims negotiating team, Timothy Love, also a Penobscot negotiator, V. Paul Reynolds of the Bangor Daily News staff, and a rep resentative of Gov. James B. Longley. Navajo Times may try daily rui GALLUP, N.M. — The weekly h Tim es m ay switch to daily public according to a U.S. Bureau of ! Affairs newsletter. The report also said that after 1 9 Navajo Tim es is out of the red, am running at a deficit. The tribal publ departm ent w ill be incorpo separately from tribal government a as the business shows a profit. In other business, Navajo Times : will start a non-Indian weekly this r called the Gallup Progress. The ide get m ore advertising revenue fo Indian paper, the newsletter said. Indian symposiur TAHLEQUAH, OKLA. — Northea Oklahoma State will host the sixth A Indian Heritage Activities and Sympc on the American Indian on April 6,7, i Sponsored by the University’ Dis of Social Sciences, the program include displays of Indian art, crafts, books, and fashion, as well symposium on “The American India the Law” and other discussions. Film festival se SAN FRANCISCO — A third a A m erican Indian Film F estiv scheduled May 11-13, at Palace of Arts here, sponsored by San Frai American Indian Center. E n tries w ill in clu de m a jor s productions as well as independent work, a press release said. Cate( in clu de docum en tary, contem pt portrayal, animation and others. An “ Indian Oscar” award wi initiated at the frstival, accordii festival d ire cto r M ichael Sm it National Endowment for the Arts supports the festival. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (April 1978) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-04 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-410 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission. https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/ca729f9028490e308999e7cceeec0a00.pdf e634df122fa54e223213cb2ad3f218ef PDF Text Text Wabanaki Non-profit org. U Postage .S. Paid 2.1c Orono, Maine Permit No, 14 A llia n ce March 1978 Tureen sees claims settled out of court By Steve Cartwright Tureen commented. He pointed out that those 14 major landholders are “trespas sers” and do not have legal title to the land, according to the Indian claims. The proposal stipulates 14 owners o f more than 50,000 acres each would turn over 300,000 acres o f timberland to the tribes, with the remaining 200.000 acres of the settlement obtainable through options on land. Already, the tribes have agreed to a federal payment of $25 million, clearing title to 9.2 million acres within the original 12.5 million acre claims area. Additional monies specified in the proposal are a $3.5 million federal payment to help finance purchase o f land for the tribes, plus $1.7 million annually over the next 15 years, to be paid by the state as a continuation o f current funding. Also, the agreement says the federal government would pay $1.5 million as compensation to landholders affected by the claims. Tureen said the President’ recent s Lawyer Thomas Tureen puffs a ciBar while talking to White House lawyer Robert J, comment at Bangor that he would veto any legislation to abolish Maine Indian land Lipshutz. [Cartwright Photo]____________________ claims is "significant." The question was asked by Francis Sapiel, a Penobscot. That question and its answer “was the most telling thing o f Carter’ visit." Tureen said. s “ If they (state officials or paper com panies) try to block our claim now, it will be over Presidential veto,” Tureen said. If the state and private landowners choose to fight the Indians in court, they risk losing By Steve Cartwright more than three million acres o f land, BANGOR — Francis C. Sapiel's big less than 50,000 acres o f land will no longer including Baxter State Park. Tureen said. moment was over almost before it began, have to worry about lawsuit attack on their And. he said, “ we could very well win it.” but not before it made a significant impact. rights or deeds to their own property. In any case, the tribes have agreed to split "That’ an agreement that I reached on s Sapiel, a Penobscot from Indian Island, land m onetary awards evenly. The attended Carter’ recent Bangor “town behalf of the American people and the s (Continued on back page) meeting.” and was one o f the lucky few able Congress will have to ratify it,” the President said. Carter last fall named a to ask the President a question. When called on, 'Flapper' Sapiel was three member White House task force to ready: “ Would you veto any attempt by the negotiate with representatives o f the Congress to abolish the Penobscot-Passa- Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes, whose suit lays claim to two third of the maquoddy land claim suit," he asked. The President first answered yes, then state. (Continued on back page) wondered aloud if he had understood the question correctly. Unsure what to do, Sapiel repeated his question, and Carter said, “The answer is yes. I would veto any legislation that would try to resolve the whole Indian claims question just by AUGUSTA — Gov. James B. Longley has abolishing your suit, yes. I would veto that.” Sapiel said he was satisfied with the again waved a flag he displayed last year at a governors’conference. answer. This time, at his weekly news conference, Both times Carter said “yes.” many o f the 3.000 persons attending the meeting at the he hoisted up his claim that Indians are city auditorium broke into applause. “ I was trying to form a separate nation in Maine. surprised, really surprised,” Sapiel said in Longley said he strongly objects to the current out-of-court proposal to settle Penreaction to the clapping. In response to the only other question on obscot-Passamaquoddy land claims, and Indian land claims, concerning setting a that he is worried Indians will create a separate system within Maine government. precedent and asked by a fifth grade teacher Longley said he now favors an earlier from Dixmont, Carter said that the current proposed settlement is fair and should be settlement plan recommended by retired Georgia Judge William B. Gunter. But last supported, but “Maine is still free to do anything it chooses ... I hope this will be the summer Longley rejected that proposal. At only instance o f this kind in which the that time he favored a court settlement of ’ the land claims suit. President will be involved.” Asked about his earlier stand on Gunter’ s The President commented, “What we’ ve proposal. Longley said. "I never said I worked out, I think, is a very good resolu t tion. The Indians have accepted it, and what opposed it: I said I didn’ support it. There’s a difference." it says is that anybody in Maine who holds Francis Sapiel asks the President a qnestion. [O’Neal Photo] CALAIS — The White House proposal to settle Maine Indian land claims will prob ably be accepted by all sides without a court battle, according to Thomas N. Tureen, lawyer for the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes. Tureen said in a recent interview at his office here that litigation is unlikely, now that the President has showed public support for the proposed settlement, already ratified by the tribes. “The question is now not even how much anymore, as 1 read it, but who shall pay.’ ’ said Tureen, who has singlehandedly brought the claims case from obscurity to the attention o f the highest office in the nation. Under terms o f the White House proposal, reached after months o f secret negotiations, the State of Maine and 1 4 large landholders have until April 6 to respond. If those parties fail to respond, or turn down the proposed agreement, a portion of the proposal will be litigated. Tureen refused to rule out the possibility of court action, but said he isn’ worried at the t prospect. “We frankly don't care a lot (what happens) because now we’ protected our ve claim (under terms of the settlement),” Tureen said. “We now are relatively safe: we’ accomplished that much. We now can ve go to court,” he said. Yet despite vehement objections to the half million acre. $40,000 proposal from state and paper company officials. Tureen said he expects them to acquiesce to an outof-court settlement. “There's no way the paper companies are going to be hurt, they own the state." Carter says he'd veto bill to quash claims What's that again, Governor Longley? �Page 2 Wabanaki Alliance March 1978 editorials Unsportsmanlike show Politics so often seems like a game, with rules that are frequently broken and decisions that are many times unfair. The Maine arena is no model of sporting honor. In particular, political aspirants Gov. James B. Longley and Atty. Gen. Joseph Brennan are being sore sports. Confronted with a joint Indian-Fed eral proposal for settling Penobscot and Passamaquoddy land claims, the two office-holders cried “foul.” We weren’ part of the negotiations, Brennan says. t W e’ being treated like “second class” citizens, Longley rails. re Do these men know they are lying to the people of Maine? Or perhaps this is inconsequential when one is vying for higher political office. First off, State officials were specifically invited to join in the negotiating process. But since Maine has continually maintained the Indian claims haven’ a leg to stand on, and were not in fact to be t taken seriously, it’ no wonder the invitation was refused. s Now Brennan seems to be the angry kid on the block who says, “but you guys didn't even let me play.” And Longley seems to be hanging onto anything that could discredit an honorable arrangement to resolve the claims to two-thirds of M aine’ land, or s thereabouts. In traditional style, other Maine politicians (but not all) are backing and filling, unsure what tack to take to please the most voters. An election year appears far more important than an Indian claim. At this writing, it appears popular to oppose the settlement offer because it hurts those 14 largest private landholders in Maine. Or does it? Nobody’ land will change hands without compensa s tion. When land is taken to build Interstate 95, or Dickey-Lincoln dam (God forbid), Maine people aren’ given any choice, although t they may be compensated. Let us not lose sight of Indian good sportsmanship. Indians could push for a court battle on their well-substantiated land claims. But they aren’ doing this. t Let us not lose sight of Indians’ willingness to cooperate and negotiate. Negotiate means compromise, it means see the other guy’ s side and adjust to it. Indians have unerringly showed good faith,-even to the point o f keeping the settlement proposal a secret from news media. The same cannot be said for M aine’ Congressional delegation. s Nor can it be said Longley and Brennan played a fair and honorable game. Both of them hauled out false issues and pumped them up for publicity . . . such as the time Longley said Indians were trying to create a separate nation. That was a cheap shot, a sort o f word play on the fact Indians have traditionally referred to themselves as Passamaquoddy Nation, etc. But let us, even Wabanaki Alliance, be good sports. W e’ stop ll name-calling. W e’ give State officials and major landholding firm ll executives the benefit of the doubt. Let them come forward. If they play fair, nobody has to be losers in this situation. This is not a threat, it’ a fact. The ball is in their court. s Your second heritage In a magazine noted for its high standards in every respect, we noticed an advertisement that is an affront to every native American. The New Yorker magazine carried a full page display ad in a recent issue for PAN AM Airlines, on the theme of finding one’ s roots in the old country, such as Europe or elsewhere. “An airline like ours does a lot o f things,” the ad reads, concluding that “nothing we do has as much meaning as when we help somebody discover the second heritage every American has.” Every American? “I certainly hope you people don’ treat us the way t you did the American Indian.” Small changes A little monthly newspaper may not move any mountains in terms of changing attitudes and policies, but we note one small gain. Established newspapers and United Press International (UPI) wire service seem to have learned something from us. They now use Indian Island, Indian Township and Pleasant Point as place lines (those capital letters in the first paragraph o f a news story denoting location). Before, editors wrote Old Town for Indian Island, Prince ton for Indian Township, and so on. Those Indian reservations are fully entitled to their own place line. They are communities unto themselves, and it’ about time they were s recognized as such. Another small gain, which is probably not our doing, is the use of Penobscot and Passamaquoddy “nation” in a news story, rather than the word tribe. While there is nothing negative about “tribe,” nation implies a far more structured, autonomous group. We mustn't overlook small changes, or demean their importance. How we refer to people often reveals our evaluation of that group. Eight months old This is not a progress report. Instead, this is an appeal for your views, comments, criticism. We've been hearing some reaction to this eight-month-old baby called Wabanaki Alliance. But we always need to hear more from you, our readers. We are learning together. W e’ making mistakes, but on the whole we re believe we're doing things right. We are making progress. The inside story around the office here in Orono is that we are un certain about next year’ funding of this monthly newspaper and s welcome suggestions along this line. This initial year, Wabanaki Alliance is entirely funded by the Catholic Diocese of Maine, as part of its human services program. W e’ had a few small contributions ve from readers (average $5), and for these we are grateful. We've had more encouragement than we could have hoped for. People have repeatedly said "keep up the good work” in one way or another. We are not a paying proposition. But we believe our work is paying off. If even just a few people learn something they didn’ t know, or re-examine their thinking, we are gaining on our goals as an Indian publication. William James said some people imagine they are thinking, when they are merely “re-arranging their prejudices." We must keep our minds clear and open. Help us do that. Let us know how you feel. �Wabanaki Alliance March 1978 Page 3 letters Indian Township To the editor: The Tribal Governor and Council here at Indian Township are very concerned about recent news stories promulgated by editor Steven Cartwright both in the Wabanaki Alliance and in the Bangor Daily News. Without the courtesy o f consulting with Tribal Governors relative to news accuracy, Mr. Cartwright has orchestrated publicly the suggestion that the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies intend to allow our Mic Mac and Mailiseet brothers to be ‘‘ sold down the river” in the current land claims effort. For those of us who have been around long enough to know the substance of our recent history regarding tribal intercoopera tion, this amounts to a total outrage and as one who has worked for the four tribes in a close and familiar capacity, I merely add my concern to that of the Tribal Council that such mistreatment o f “power of the press” is uncalled for, inaccurate and o f serious detri ment to all Maine Indians. The state and federal governments have done and adequate job of dividing us here in the state — we do not need more help from within our own personnel. On behalf of Governor John Stevens and the Tribal Council, I hereby request that the D.I.S. Board take such action that would have Mr. Cartwright cease and desist with this manner of journalism. Roger Gabriel New group aids prison inmates GREENSBURG, Indiana — A group here called Victorious Indian People (VIP) has established three chapters to help native American prison inmates. Volunteers currently work in the Nether lands, Richmond, Va., and Marquette, Mich. Called AID, the prison defense pro gram started in a Michigan prison, and some staff members have themselves served time behind bars. The VIP staff works with current inmates as well as with ex-convicts. r A newsletter is distributed free to Indian persons in prison, and is available for a fee from VIP, 721 North West St., Greensburg. VIP National Chairman Stewart Rodda says new members are welcome. “The dignity of a person can be snuffed by despair in jail,” Rodda said in a letter to this newspaper. Florence, Ariz. To the editor: Dear Brothers and Sisters: First I would like to state that I am a native American, I am incarcerated in Arizona State penitentiary. In regards of Indian affairs at the penitentiary, at the present time there are a record number of six (6) Indian inmates serving time at the Trusty Annex Camp, the Trusty Annex is outside the wall, at the camp there is no library, or books on Indians. I am won dering if it would be possible for your paper to send us, any papers or back issues you may have on Indian history and culture, for us to read. We would appreciate it very much. Johnny James Sun City, Arizona To the editor: I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your paper and I think you are doing your people a great service in publishing it. I am enclosing a small check for you to add to whatever fund it may help a bit. May you have a successful year through 1978. And I hope some organization will act to sponsor to send Mrs. Vivian Massey to address the United Nations. She is a tine person and she could present the viewpoint o f the Indians very well. I am grateful to have two interviews with her while in Orono. I really think that most while people are so busy with their own troubles that they don't take time to consider Native Americans. Irene G. Parsons Correction, clarification Two photo captions in last month's Wab anaki Alliance incorrectly identified Tina Joseph and Annette McKee as Micmac In dians. They should have been listed as belonging to the Maliseet tribe. The editor regrets the error. An editorial in last month’ Wabanaki s Alliance, about Micmac and Maliseet In dians, was misleading about where most Micmacs reside. The tribe is not concen trated in Aroostook County, as the editorial said, but is spread across the state, according to Central Maine Indian Asso ciation. Indian Joseph Ginish demonstrates the use of the chain saw, under the supervision of James Tomah. Both are part of a program, sponsored by the Association of Aroostook Indians, that provides firewood for needy Indian families. This year’s harsh winter has created a demand which has rapidly depleted the program’ wood supply. (O'Neal Photo| s Indian poster contest PROVO, Utah — The American Indian Services and Research Center at Brigham Young University announces its second national Indian poster contest. Contestants who entered the first contest made posters dealing with the problems and prevention o f alcoholism on Indian reserva tions and communities. The selected winners o f the contest received cash awards, and their posters were printed for national distribution. The 1978 poster contest will deal strictly with the problems of drugs and inhalents that many Indian young people are being confronted with in their communities. The posters must utilize two or three colors and have the dimensions o f 16 x 19 inches. Contestants must be Indian and the contest is open to all ages. Subject matter of the posters may include the following areas: drug abuse; harmful effects o f taking drugs; drugs in the Indian community; alternatives to taking drugs; and the damage drugs are doing to Indian pride, culture, and lives. Posters dealing with sniffing glue, spray paints, and car gas and other inhalents are also being requested. If any young person has had personal experience with any of these harmful kinds o f substances, he is encouraged to enter a poster in the Contest to help prevent others from engaging in these dangerous activities. Prizes will be awarded. All entries must be submitted by April 30, 1978. For more information, write or call: Dr. Dale T. Tingey Brigham Young University Nutrition Notes Published monthly by the Division of Indian Services [DIS| at the Indian Resource Center, 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. Steven Cartwright, Editor William O ’ Neal, Ass’t. Editor DIS Board Jean Chavaree (chairman) John Bailey, CAP coordinator Albert Dana Timothy Love, CAP director Jeannette Neptune, Tribal Clerk Erlene Paul, Central Maine Indian Assn. Roy Paul, Assn, of Aroostook Indians Maynard Polchies, president, Aroostook Indi Michael Ranco, Central Maine Indian Assn. Directors s Indian Island Pleasant Point Indian Township Indian Island Indian Tow nship Indian Island Houlton Houlton Orono DIS is an agency of Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc. of Maine. Subscriptions to this newspaper are available by writing to Wabanaki Alliance, 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. Diocesan Human Relations Services and DIS are a non-profit corporation. Contri butions are deductible for income tax purposes. By Natalie S. Mitchell In the first report we mentioned vitamin A was a fat-soluable vitamin and that it was stored in the body. Today let us discuss vitamin D. Vitamin D is also a fat-soluable vitamin. This vitamin, like vitamin A, is stored in the liver. Function o f vitamin D is essential for the absorption of calcium and phosphorus (im portant minerals that will be discussed in later reports) in the gastrointestinal tract. Hence, promoting the development of strong bones and teeth. Food sources o f vitamin D are fortified milk. Raw milk, unlike fortified milk, does not contain vitamin D normally, and it has to be added. Another source which is not a food source is fish liver oil. To our ad vantage the sun’ rays are another source. s When the rays o f the sun touch the skin, there is a substance within called cholesterol that is changed to vitamin D for use. Our daily allowance of “D” is 400 I.U. (international units), recommended for in fants right up to young men and women. One quart o f milk would provide 400 I.U. o f “D". Deficiency o f this vitamin is called "Rickets.” This disease is characterized by soft bones, causing curvature when pressure is applied. There may be enlarged joints, enlarged skull, chest deformities, curvature o f the spine, failure o f the closing of the skull bones in the infant and "bowed legs.” Since vitamin D is stored, over-dosing can b ecom e dangerous. Sym ptom s would include loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, growth failure, drowsiness and a high level o f calcium in the blood. High blood calcium can become fatal if this over dosing persists. This causes deposits to form in soft tissues, including vital organs like the heart, blood vessels and kidney. Thus, stones in the kidney may form. Even a small amount o f vitamin D (1,800 I.U.) can cause mild toxicity, showing some symptoms as mentioned above. �Page 4 Wabauald Alliance March 1978 Give Indians a fair shake By Steve Cartwright First, Maine Indians were going to take over two-thirds o f the State of Maine. Then, they were going to form a separate nation. And they were going to deprive innocent citizens of their landholdings. Why those villianous, ruthless people, how could they even threaten to bite the hand that feeds them? None o f the above is true, yet it is widely believed, and- newspapers have done their share in spreading m isunderstanding. Sometimes one gets the feeling non-Indians never stop to wonder if perhaps the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies are onto some thing valid after all. But I know better. I’ ve talked with many Maine citizens who know that Indians have been beaten down for so long it’ a miracle they are still around to s fight for a land claim. Some non-Indians even say, “ I’ like to d see them get all they can get.” One thing is sure, “ all they can get” isn't going to be much, no matter how the current case is settled. And when all the dust and rhetoric settles, are Indians supposed to fade back into obscurity and persecution by outside forces? The old saying about walking a mile in someone else’ moccasins should apply: s Any non-Indian walking that mile would probably drop by the wayside. I’ been told by Indians: Being Indian ve means being cursed at in school. It means hearing that the job you applied for “was just given to someone else.” It means ugly stares at the supermarket (“There goes one o f those people who are trying to take our land away.”) It means free tuition at Univer sity o f Maine, but if you don’ make it t through high school, what good is free college? I don’ really know what being Indian is t like. Nor do I know what it’ like to be s persecuted for being Jewish, or Black. But I know that as a responsible citizen with a conscience, I can’ turn my back on bigotry t and injustice. When an American is faced with hope lessness, joblessness and shame about one’ s own identity, we other Americans have failed greatly. We can’ sit by and say it’ t s their problem or not our fault. If we don’ act, if we don’ speak out, that t t is our fault. If we don’ take care o f our t brothers and sisters o f all backgrounds, we shouldn’ call ourselves American, Chris t tian, or concerned for humanity. “I grew up ashamed o f being Indian,” a Penobscot told me recently. Is that his fault? Editorials in full opposition to Indian land claims appear daily, with a variety of justifications. But none o f them seem to grasp the idea that Indians only want a chance to be Indians, to lead fulfilling lives. We guarantee "the pursuit o f happiness” to non-Indians, but we begrudge giving native Americans even a token o f what was formerly theirs. Let’ not talk too self-rights eously; the land did belong to Indians and we swindled them out o f it, whether by conquest, deception or illegal treaty. Further, we non-Indians would not be lifting a finger for the tribes now, had not that the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies found a way to hold a legal shotgun to our head. Let’ not fool ourselves. We in Maine s and Washington aren’ moved by any moral t fervor, but only by the implications o f law suit, loss o f land and potential economic chaos. Many politicians and editorial writers seem to play on people’ fears, and on s potential economic problems o f a land claims suit. Fear is a low common denom inator, and a questionable motive for action o f any kind. And are economic problems more important than equality and justice? The proposed settlement o f Indian claims in Maine isn’ very fair . . . to the Indians, t that is. But it shows the tribes’ willingness to com prom ise on beh alf o f M aine’s non-Indians. They have compromised far more than any other party, and have nego tiated in a responsible, reasonable manner, in contrast to the exaggerated behavior of Gov. James B. Longley and Atty. Gen. Joseph E. Brennan. I find myself unable to sympathize with multi-national corporations that control Maine pulp and paper industry and cry “foul.” Indians have had cause to cry for 200 years. They aren’ asking for sympathy, t they are asking for a chance to stand on their own feet as proud Americans. So if the paper companies must part with a fraction o f their land holdings, I will say so be it. No, in an absolute sense it is not right that anyone should ever have to give up anything. But we do not live in an absolute world. If we did, the Indians would get their two-thirds o f the state back, lock, stock and barrel. The Indians have given up so much for so long, with no say in the matter. They still don’ have much say, and won’ have much t t say after the settlement. But if nervous politicians and self-pitying pulp and paper executives would climb down from their soapboxes and do as the Indians have done, we could settle the claims with the right to make our own claim: We have finally done something for the Indians. It would be a start. A question of responsibility By Bill O’Neal The recently proposed land claims settle ment do'es not involve the principle of eminent domain, but the provision for the appropriation o f 300,000 acres o f paper company land has some interesting things in common with this frequently-used power. The right o f eminent domain empowers the state to appropriate private property for public use, compensation being given for it. It is not uncommon for this power to be grievously abused. Frequently, small farmers and other individuals are forced to give up their land, which may have been in their families for generations, in order to make way for some expensive boondoggle, proclaimed in the specious name o f the public good, but usually designed to benefit a few large business concerns. In other cases power lines may cut relent lessy across hundreds of miles o f small owners’ land in an unyielding, disfiguring line. Yet, when the property o f a wealthy politician or industrialist is reached, a convenient zig here and zag there may be found, skirting the property. The Indian is familiar with eminent domain. He usually hears about it when oil or minerals are discovered on reservation land. It is a sad fact that when the power of eminent domain is invoked, whether for political scams or legitimate beneficial public projects, it is usually the individual who suffers. The land claims settlement is, therefore, heartening in that for once it is the large companies who are asked to sacrifice their land, although not under the shotgun diplomacy o f eminent domain. In equal measure it is amusing to hear the so-called "14 private landowners” shouting about violations o f their rights and discrim inatory practices by the federal government. In the first place, it is misleading to describe complex multinational corpora- tions or businesses centered out of the state as "14 private landowners.” This employs the same sense o f euphemism as when one of President Carter’ addresses to a nation of s two million people is called a " “fireside chat." This is not a struggle o f fourteen individuals fighting for their family plot as has been implied, but rather fourteen large and diverse businesses fighting for profit margins. Secondly, as with cases o f eminent domain, the proposed land claims settle ment was designed to do the least damage to the people o f Maine, while satisfying the public responsibility of providing the Pen obscots and Passamaquoddies with at least a portion o f the land which they claim as theirs. Whose land is condemned is never an easy, or even just, choice, unless one accepts the premise that occasionally exceptional circumstances merit the exercise o f eminent domain. If ever there were just cause to condemn land for the public good, this is the case. The Indians have been swindled and ex ploited for centuries and robbed o f their lands legally and illegally. Retribution is a necessity. It is an unfortunate fact that, of the citizens o f Maine, the paper companies hold by far the most land. If anyone can afford to lose land, it is the paper companies. They are the logical choice just as surely as the small land owners who lie under the arrow-straight course o f a power line or live on land destined to become a lake bottom. This is why they were chosen. Not because they have or deserve fewer rights than the rest of the citizenry, but because like any other citizen, they must shoulder their respon sibilities and make their sacrifices. Admit tedly, this is probably a new experience for some o f the paper companies in the state of Maine.___________________________________ The 300,000 acres sacrificed by the paper companies have been estimated to be worth more than S33 million. In compensation they are to be given $1.5 million, plus a sizeable tax write-off. Even this low figure is twice what they paid for the land. Perhaps it is not enough. Still, it is a pittance compared to what the Indians have given up in ex tinguishing their claims to over nine million privately-owned acres, many of which are highly developed. Furthermore, there is a good chance that the land the companies hold is not theirs to begin with, so perhaps, they should be happy to be getting any com pensation at all and not losing their entire holdings. Robert Hellendale, President of Great Northern Paper, writing from his office in Stamford, Connecticut to his employees in Maine says that the companies are "playing against a stacked deck.” At least the companies have the right to wrangle over the settlement or even take the case to court. This is certainly much fairer treatment than the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies have received up to the last decade. Union asked to hear Indian side INDIAN ISLAND — Governors of Maine’ three Indian reservations have s written a joint letter to the head o f organized labor for the state, asking him to listen to the tribes before opposing land claims. The letter was sent to Benjamin Dorskv of Brewer, president o f the Maine AFL-CIO, and was signed by Penobscot tribal Gov. Nicholas Sapiel, and Passamaquoddy Gov ernors Francis Nicholas and John Stevens. It was drafted at a recent meeting o f the Indian claims negotiating team. The letter comes in the wake of threats by Great Northern Paper Co.’ president, and s by union officials, that the current proposed land claims settlement would endanger pulp and paper industry jobs. The proposal would transfer 300,000 acres from Maine’ s 14 largest landholders to the Indians. The letter says: “The Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Tribes are aware o f the concern o f paperworkers about the economic impact o f our pending Land Claims. But despite what you may have been told, we firmly believe that the settlement which we have agreed to accept will not jeopordize any paperworkers’ jobs. In fact . . . the settlement could produce nearly 6,000 new- jobs in Maine, nearly 90 per cent o f which would be held by non-Indians, and most o f which could be in existing companies, such as Great Northern, through expansions which we would help finance. We also want you to know that we would expect any settlement to include a provision guaranteeing existing pulp pro ducers an adequate supply o f wood. “ We know that your leaders have met with paper industry officials and Governor Longley. No one has asked our views. Our people are ready to sit down and talk, and we hope that you will get information from all sources, not just one or two, before making any decisions. "Again, we want to emphasize that we do not want to jeopardize existing jobs. We wish you well, and look forward to hearing from you soon." Union seek s AFL-CIO help AUGUSTA — Fearing job cutbacks due to the proposed land claims settlement, the union locals o f the 14 paper companies involved in the settlement asked the Maine AFL-CIO for assistance. As a result the AFL-CIO agreed to convene a state-wide meeting o f locals to consider the matter. It is hoped a mail campaign to the Maine Congressional dele gation can be launched to express union concern with the proposed settlement. Thurman Millett, president o f local 152 in Millinocket and spokesman for the 14 locals, criticized the settlement offer, saying in a UPI story, “We are very much opposed to any settlement that gives them (the Indians) land. We’ against any land re grabbing in this state." Millett added that the tribes should receive something if their claims are just. “ We are not against their claims if it is in the form o f a financial settlement," he said, “but we’ not going to sit idly by in a sit re uation that could cost us — at least some of us — our jobs.” A ccordin g to union sources Great Northern Paper Co. told them it may stop a planned $250 million plant expansion in Maine and, instead, locate it in Arkansas as a result o f the Indian claims. Millett said, “We don’ think it’ fair for t s any federal government bureaucracy to tell anyone they are going to give up their land. This thing has a big impact on the working people and a big impact on expansion." �Wabanaki Alliance March 1978 Page 5 Great Spirit is Indian version of whites' Supreme Being By Big White Owl Native Woodland Religion has been so often scorned and belittled by the Causcasian people, even though all Creation testifies beyond all doubt to the existence o f "A Wise and Purposeful Creator." We o f the Lenni Lenape refer to this as, “Kishalehmookquaing,” The Creator, also widely identified as “Kitche Manitou,” The Great Spirit. Native religion is a very important part of native life that cannot be overlooked or dis regarded when one is delving into the history o f aboriginal people. Before one can under stand native history, one must first try to comprehend their kind o f religious faith, and one must always be respectful and courteous about it, else one will get nowhere in their search for the truth. During the decade of 1960-1970, I was often told, in a vain attempt to put me on the spot, that North American Indians have no religion, that they did not believe in God. Perhaps, the idea may be true in only one way; they did not have the white man’ kind s of religion. They knew nothing about his Jehovah or God. Nevertheless, I maintain the early native people believed in “A Supreme Being," who was and is “The Master and Mystery of All the Vast Uni verse." In the far bygone days o f yesteryear, when my ancestors were the rulers supreme, when they were lords and masters over all the land, they were indeed a free and happy people. They were the first to practice con servation and environmental safety. The birds o f the air, and other animals, they loved the way they loved their little children, and so very closely did some o f them associate with their feathered and furred friends, in truth they spoke a common language. Six inalienable rights In those far off good and beautiful days of the past, all the birds and other animals, had the following six inalienable rights: — The right to man’ respect and love. s — The right to man's guardianship. — The right to live a full life. — The right to grow and multiply. — The right to enjoy unmolested freedom. — The right to enjoy man’ fellowship, s and to share the goodness o f creation. The early North American Indian could despise no being or creature, because he believed that all were fashioned by the same “Master Creative Hand," and all things, animate and inanimate, were filled with the spiritual essence o f the Great Mystery. And in the early days, no animal was ever deprived o f its life without a silent prayer from the lips o f the hunter. He always asked The Great and Good Creator to forgive him because his family, and his friends, were in need o f meat and furs. To the early Native American People, the world and the Universe were one giant library. Their books were the rocks, stones, brooks, rivers, lakes, seas, trees, flowers, grasses, herbs, the sun, the moon, the count less stars. It was from those elements that they fashioned their material culture. It was from those various objects they received in spiration to compose their songs, chants, ceremonies. The fishes, the birds, the crawling creatures, the four-legged animals, taught them how to be brave, sincere, fear less, truthful . . . for them there was no empitness . .. for them there was pulsating life, vibrating life, creation life, in everything. Close to nature’ ways s The early native man never feared the raging storms. He never became angry at the furious winds, the biting frosts, the blowing, treacherous, drifting snows. He realized that by so doing he would only intensify the frailty and the humility o f humankind. So he merely adjusted himself by exercising more effort and energy and caution, whenever it became necessary. But he never, at anytime, complained nor whined because he belived those things were the various expressions o f “ Kishalehmookquaing,” The Creator. His kind o f worship was pure and simple, and completely free from the hates and fears o f the White Man's civilization. The early native man loved nature with all his heart and nature loved him in return. But, at a later period, when the native people stubbornly refused to accept the teaching in the white man’ good book, they s became subjects o f great abuse. They were branded as savages, heathens, pagans, bar barians, etc. The early native man, or the so-called “North American Indian," had a sane and good religion. He had the kind o f religion which taught him that he was made by the same “Master Creative Hand" that formed all life, on the earth, and beyond the earth. Whenever the early native American man felt like praying, he never knelt down on his knees. He never, at anytime, or place, grovelled in the sand. He always stood firm and straight upon the bosom o f his Mother, the good earth. An altar of stones He usually had a very special place picked out where he might be alone with his Creator. Perhaps, it might be upon the brow Longley says not a dime more for Indians WASHINGTON — Governor James B. Longley and Maine Atty. Gen. Joseph E. Brennan emerged from a recent White House meeting with Presidential counsel, Robert J. Lipshutz still opposed to the proposed claims settlement. “ Personally, I feel that they are not entitled to a dime more than what we now provide to them in the form o f state services,” Longley said. “I do not support the $25 million federal payment (for which the tribes would relinquish claims to 9.2 million acres o f Maine), but I will not oppose it,” he added. Longley and Brennan praised Lipshutz, who helped the negotiators with the settle ment plan. While saying Lipshutz exhibited “sensitivity” to the state’ problems with the s plan, they stated that they had been deceived by the White House negotiating team during settlement talks. Brennan repeated his earlier contention o f a hill, or on top of a high mountain, or beside his own campfire. There he would build an altar o f stones and a small fire, and he would sprinkle a bit o f tobacco upon the fire, and as the smoke spiralled and ascend ed to the sky he would lift his eyes and his arms upward. And he spoke directly with “Kishalehmookquaing,” The Creator. The early native North American man believed, as I believe, that “Kishalehmook quaing," was, and still is, the absolute per sonification o f life and beauty. That is why He was always referred to as The Great and Good Spirit. And, o f course, within this spectrum, there was the ever-inscrutable Evil Spirit widely known among the Lenni Lenape people as “ Mah-chie Manitou.” He was also well known as “Mah-tun-tou.” He was the master o f all things evil. He was the purveyor o f trickery, deceit, lies, and all manner o f other evil doings. The early native American man had a very simple but factual faith. It was a pro foundly sane religion. He never knew the meaning o f the word “hell,” until after the white man came to America. The mystery of light I am speaking now only for the Lenni Lenape People, the parent stock o f the Algonkians, when I say, at the very head o f our greatest pantheon, there stands The Mystery of Light. My ancient ancestors always addressed that mystery as “ Kitche Mani tou, Katanehitooweit, Pahtumowaus, Ki shalehmookquaing," meaning in English, The Great Spirit, The Supreme Being, The Infinite One, The Creator. The early native people were not sun wor shippers, as one might be led to believe. For them the sun was not the supreme element in the great plan. Sun and fire were only the material emblems o f the Mystery of Light. The very early native people, and most o f the present day native people, believe there is another power far greater than the sun. They believed, even as I believe, the supreme power is vested in “The Great Intelligence of the Universe.” The one we refer to or address as Kitche Manitou, The Great Spirit. And it is on record,, that, the early native people were a very religious group o f human beings. Almost every act and movement in their daily lives had some kind o f ceremonial function which the white man could never understand. One supreme being My ancestors believed, as I believe, that nature has many unknown and unseen powers. However, they always believed in only one supreme being. That “Personality" was, and still is, the mighty power who that the state was not asked to join in the talks. "The impression was left that we were invited to join the talks but chose not to attend. This just is not true,” he said. The Bangor Daily News quoted Brennan as saying. “I was given assurances on five occasions that the task force was working within the framework o f the Gunther proposal. The fact that they did not, I feel, is not attributable to the White House, but to the Indian legal counsel, who took them off in a new direction.” Both Longley and Brennan stated that they would make no decision about the settlement until it had been thoroughly dis cussed with the congressional delegation and state officials. The congressional delegation is divided along party lines on the settlement issue, with Democratic Sen. Edmund Muskie and William Hathaway favoring the proposal and Republican Congressmen William Cohen and David Emery opposing it. governs and directs, the beginning, and the end o f all things. That "Supreme Power” may be referred to in the following terms: The Great Spirit, The Great Mystery, The Father o f All, The Great Light, The Good Creator, The Architect o f the Universe, The Mystery o f Mysteries. Those several names or appendages are genuine native American expressions and translated from various North American Indian languages. T o conclude this brief sketch on native woodland religion, here is a story I must tell: "About 350 years ago or so somewhere along the headwaters o f the historic Hudson River, a white missionary asked an aged chieftain to define the character o f his Creator. The venerable old chief studied the question very carefully and after long and deep meditation he replied, “My Creator is the Supreme and Infinite One, in whom the earth and all things in it, may be seen and heard ... A Great and Mighty Kitche Mani tou is He. He is clothed with the day, yea, the brightest day, a day o f many summers and winters long, yea, a day o f everlasting continuance.” The white missionary was so completely confused and astounded by that kind of answer, as he turned to go away, he said, "That Indian described his God in terms and phraseology which I could not entirely understand." Now my dear friend, that leaves me with only one deduction: the early white settlers, just like the present day white man, could not. and never will, completely understand the native peoples' religion, faith, ideals, aims, culture, etc. Quakers slate Indian forum WEST FALMOUTH, Mass. — The Quaker Friends Meeting House here has scheduled a weekend to “express aware ness” o f native Americans. Guest speakers will include Wampanoag tribal medicine man John Peters, and Penobscot Indian, George Tomer, a planner with American Indians for Development of Meriden, Ct. A flyer o f information on the weekend event says questions for discussion will be common spiritual roots of Friends and native Americans, shared social and en vironmental attitudes, social justice for Indians, willingness to work together, and commitment to peace, justice, simplicity and nonviolent social change. The flyer calls for “thoughtful sharing, sensitive learning, creative caring.” The three-day weekend starts Mar. 17. PASSAMAQUODDY young people from Indian Township share a laugh before leaving Orono on a recent Wabanaki Wilderness Pursuits course. From left, [face hidden] Raymond Levesque, Carl Nicholas, Alex Paul, Leslie Nelson, trip leader Annette McKee [a Maliseet and graduate of Hodgdon High School, Hodgdon Mills], and Carl Nelson. �Page 6 Wabanaki Alliance March 1978 Indian program keeps kids in Indian homes By Bill O ’ Neal New CMIA foster care workers, Linda Graffam, left, and Edna R. Abeison. [O’ Neal Photo] Penobscots would like to see claims in court INDIAN ISLAND — Several Penobscots, including tribal members serving on a land claims negotiating team, say they would like to see the suit in court. At a recent press conference here, nego tiator Stanley Neptune said, “personally. I'd rather see it go to court.” And tribal Gov. Nicholas H. Sapiel com mented, “we don’ give a damn if they (the t state of Maine and major landholders) don’ t accept i t ... we are more than happy to go to court with them.” The negotiating .team, meeting with a White House task force over the past few months, has agreed to a proposed settlement that would give the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes 300,000 acres, $25 million, options on 200,000 more acres, plus $1.7 million annually for 15 years. The tribes have ratified the plan, but the state and major companies, who would turn over land under the proposal, have so far opposed the plan. They have until mid-April to respond. Sapiel called the claims case “ironclad.” He noted that Senators Edmund S. Muskie and William D. Hathaway (both D-Maine) have said they support the proposed settle ment, and by extension, the claim itself. The original claim to two thirds of the state is based on a 1790 Non-Intercourse Act that says all treaties must be ratified by Congress. However, a later treaty depriving Indians o f their land was not approved under the Act. The state maintains that the Act does not apply to New England states, and that the claims are frivolous. However, the two tribes have won a series of court decisions and now have the backing o f the U.S. Interior Department and Justice Departm ent. If all parties including Congress do not accept the current proposal, the case will probably be litigated. “ If they go to court that’ fine with us,” s said Timothy Love, a claims negotiator. “They're going to eat crow now because they have been saying all along that our claims are frivolous,” Love said. " I f we do file suit it will have very serious economic consequences for the state o f Maine,” he said. George M. Mitchell, member o f the negotiating team, said "the Penobscot Nation has never been conqured. That's why we have the land claims today.” The tribes have agreed to relinquish claims to 9.2 million acres, but could still litigate for about 3.3 million acres, accord ing to Love. Youth job program offered INDIAN ISLAND — A federally funded program to employ up to 100 young men and women in conservation jobs will be hitting the trail here soon. Richard Hamilton, a Penobscot and newly-appointed director o f Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC), says the target group for the program is “young adults aged 16-23 inclusive. What they’ be doing is ll conservation work on public and private lands.” Hamilton said YACC will be based on Indian Island, but open to Indians and non: Indians alike, with an emphasis on school dropouts and unemployed youth. Partici pants will be paid minimum wage for a 40hour week, and may work for YACC up to one year total, but may work in hitches of several months. Jobs will include trail clearing, weeding, tree planting, building springs and picnic tables and so forth. Hamilton said he will hire 1 staff persons to supervise work crews 1 of a half-dozen participants. “ We're in the process o f hiring staff, and accepting applications from enrollees,” Hamilton said. A similar program is underway at Indian Township, serving Passamaquoddy Indians and other area youth. “We may eventually go into a resi dential program, but that’ some years s hence," he said. Hamilton said the program will have a headquarters, when a 24 by 50 foot prefab ricated office building is installed at a site near the Indian Island filling station. His program has $630,000 funding for the first nine months, paid under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). Hamilton, named to his new post by the tribal council, was formerly employment co ordinator for the tribe. ORONO — Studies in Maine have shown that Indian children are placed in foster homes at a rate 19 times greater than for non-Indians and that two-thirds o f these children are placed in non-Indian homes. Edna Abeison and Linda Graffam, are working with the Central Maine Indian Association under the HEW-funded New England Indian Foster Care Project. Both women were recently hired by the CMIA, but are not new to social work. Abeison holds a Master o f Social Work from Boston University and has oyer twenty years o f experience with community action councils, family therapy, mothers’ groups, drug counseling, crisis intervention, and child psychiatry. Graffam recently received her B.S. in human development and social welfare from the University o f Maine at Orono and has an associate degree in mental health technology from Bangor Community College. She has worked in several area institutions which care for mentally or physically handicapped children, as well as various programs for disadvantaged and delinquent children. The project is a joint effort o f CMIA and Association o f Aroostook Indians in Maine, and Boston Indian Council in Massa chusetts. During a recent orientation meeting, Suzanne Letendre, director o f the Massa chusetts section o f the project, explained her goals and duties o f the two new workers. She said she feels the project places emphasis in the wrong place, since its overriding priority is “helping families stay together,” not finding new homes. The case work part of the project is community liaison. A person visits families threatened with losing their children or who have lost them. Other caseworkers at CMIA will also act as community liaison for the project. There will be four liaison workers in Penobscot County, five in Aroostook County, and possibly one in Washington County. Graffam, acting as research coordinator, will direct the second phase o f the project. She will study the effect of placement of Indian children in non-Indian homes versus Indian homes. According to David Rudolph, health and services director for CMIA, Indian children entering non-Indian homes suffer stress and hardship that non-Indian children do not typically experience. Rudoiph is opposed to more research on negative effects of placing Indian children in non-Indian homes. He emphasizes the positive influences of Indian children in Indian households. Rudolph said there are very few Indian foster homes because of state requirements based on non-Indian middle-class stand ards. Frequently, potential Indian foster homes are rejected on grounds of over crowded living conditions. “ What’ the s square footage got to do with the happiness of a child.” Rudolph asked. Letendre cited several examples of child care regulations which do not deal with Indian culture. She said that Indian mothers throughout the country typically entrust their infants to the care of children nine or ten years old, or younger, for an afternoon or longer. This often conflicts with state laws, resulting in removal of children from the home. Rudolph said he feels the close-knit nature o f the Indian community and the Indian concept of the extended family are unique and valuable assets. The joys and responsibilities for rearing children fall not just on parents, but on the grandparents and other relatives, he said. Abeison said this responsibility extends to all family members, and is ingrained in Indian culture. If the parents die, someone is always there to take over. Abeison said this broad family base gives the children a sense o f security. The members o f the project hope to demonstrate the advantages o f placing Indian children in Indian homes and, through studying Indian family life, to discover how to keep Indian families together. Studies will be used to try to persuade state officials that state foster care standards need revising in terms of Indian culture. Letendre said she would like to see a “tribal court” set up on reservations and an Indian community review panel established off the reservations to oversee placement of Indian children. Abelson’ job as director o f the Maine s unit will be to start a personal working re lationship between project members and the state and to orchestrate new Indian foster care policies. Return land to Hopis The federal government plans to move 4.000 Navajo sheepherders off lands that some have lived on for over 100 years, to restore to the Hopi tribe land they were awarded nearly a century ago. The relocation stems from an 1882 presi dential order creating a 2.5 million-acre reservation in central Arizona for the Hopis, who had occupied part of it for hundreds of years, and other Indians the Secretary o f the Interior designated. The problem was, the President didn’ define boundaries. t The 150,000-member Navajo Nation adjoins the tract set aside by the order. Sheep take up a. lot o f room and Navajos tend to have large families. Thus, Navajos have settled on nearly all the area. The 6,500 Hopis live in small communities and have an agricultural economy. They feel that Navajos have steadily been encroaching on land that is rightfully theirs. supposed to made available by the 1974 law. But the sale must be approved by the Secre tary of the Interior, who’ waiting for an s environmental impact statement. A bill has been introduced in Congress to let the Navajos rent the disputed land from the Hopis for 25 years. Leon Berger, acting director o f the government’ relocation s commission, thinks that's not the solution. “To the degree the government really wants to solve the problem o f relocation,” Berger says, "agencies will get funds in here to rebuild schools and get these people jobs. Then all resistance wall fade away.” Job opening listed RIVER FALLS, Wise. — The University of Wisconsin here has listed a job opening for a native American, incolving the school’ s Minority Services Office. The position will be available April 1 and , In 1974 Congress — who had, in the duties will include counseling minority stu meantime, given the Hopis exclusive rights dents, especially American Indian students, to some of the land — passed a law to turn and working with the university admissions the matter over to the courts. This resulted office to attract such students to apply. in adoption o f a mediator’ plan for a 50-50 Minimum qualifications are a bachelor's s split. But the Navajos say the federal degree, and experience with minority relocation payment means nothing to those programs is desirable, a school official said. who want to stay on land they have occupied Applications should be sent to Dr. John all their lives. Hamann, chairman. Search and Screen A partial solution is for the Navajos to buy Committee, University o f Wisconsin-River 250.000 acres o f federal land, which was Falls, River Falls, Wi. 54022. �Pulp and paper boss calls settlement unthinkable tribes, along with lesser acreage from 1 3 AUGUSTA — Robert Hellendale, Presi dent of Great Northern Paper Company said other major Maine private landholders. "Great Northern Paper employs 4.200 in a recent press conference here that he flatly rejects the proposed Indian land people, all but a few in Maine. Great claims settlement that would appropriate Northern Nekoosa Corp. (parent company 99.000 acres o f company-owned timberland. o f Great Northern Paper) stockholders live In its place he said he would prefer to see in 210 towns in Maine. Great Northern the earlier proposal o f former Georgia spent $115 million last year on goods and Supreme Court Justice William B. Gunter services provided by 1,500 Maine firms and instituted. Gunter’s recommendation did businesses," Hellendale said. not involve privately held land. But that "W e are going to do our best to defend s proposal was rejected by both the state and the company’ land base against this threat Indians. to the company’ well being and to that of its s The current proposal to settle Penobscot- employees and neighbors. We hope those Passamaquoddy land claims in Maine is a who share our concern will let those who "raw deal” and a “stacked deck." said one represent them on the Maine scene and in Washington know their views." Hellendale’ s of Maine's largest pulp and paper firms. letter said. Hellendale said in a four page printed "What can be done? I'm not sure. But 1 letter to "fellow employees," the settlement am sure we're not accepting the raw deal plan is "unthinkable.” Part of the plan they've proposed." he said. would take 99,000 acres of Great Northern's Great Northern spent several thousand timberland, in return for a small federal dollars recently on full page newspaper payment. That land would be given to the advertisements opposing the settlement. Mill workers asked to oppose claims By Bill O ’Neal MILLINOCKET — Fearing layoffs and other economic hardships, a union local at Great Northern Paper Co. here has asked its members to sign a form letter urging the state’ senators to back the company’s s rejection of the recently proposed Indian land claims settlement. This letter posed a problem for the mill employee who also happens to be an Indian. Refusing to sign it meant resisting union and company pressure, while signing it would have been a denial of his people and his heritage. John Isaac, a 30 year veteran o f the mill here and a Micmac, was spared this decision. Isaac explained he “was on vacation last week when things came to a head," and was not around when the cards were distributed. Some o f his friends have shown him their cards, but Isaac doesn’ think he will be t approached to sign. However, he affirmed, "I wouldn’ sign it.” if they do approach t him. The proposed settlement, calling for 99,000 acres to be transferred from GNP to the tribes, hasn’ increased anti-Indian t feeling much in the mills, according to Isaac, although there has always been some ill-will. He said, although “the feelings haven't changed, people are more vocal; more outspoken." He hears a few comments from his fellow workers. He said sometimes now when he walks into a shop at the mill, he "hears ‘ Indian,’"in conversations, but when they see him walk in. "then they shut right up." Isaac said he is used to a lot o f kidding about Indians, but it doesn’ bother him; he t kids them right back. He added, “The feeling isn’ 100 per cen t... I have an awful t lot o f friends there (at the mill).” He said as far as Indian employees are concerned, he felt there was "no problem” and that things were "pretty quiet.” Isaac described the distribution of form letters to union members as a common pro cedure at the mill, used "to influence legis lators" on matters of union concern. How ever, he said, “This one was worded more like a scare tactic.” The letter reads: Dear S enator.......... , I and thousands o f other Mainers feel threatened by the Indian Land Claim suit. We feel that the land should stay in the hands o f the major landholders, who provide many thousands of Maine people with secure jobs. I therefore urge you to support your landholders. Please respond.” According to Isaac, "the company came .out pretty strong.” He said it called all the union leaders together and told them the proposed claims settlement would cost jobs and endanger a $250 million plant ex pansion. Isaac said there had been no talk o f a $250 million expansion plan until around the time o f the announcement of the claims settlement proposal. The only expansion he had heard mentioned for the next two years was "a remodeling o f number 10 paper machine." He estimated the cost o f this as around $13 million. He called the $250 million dollar figure "ridiculous.” "I wouldn’ hestitate to say t they’ lying about the $250 million,” he re stated. Isaac said that he was not sure how- the other Indians in the plant reacted to the letter. "There aren't that many Indians in the mill” at Millinocket, he said, "not more than a half-dozen.” He added that there may be "a few more who would hate to admit being Indian." but that they probably would have signed. Isaac and his wife. Mary, a PenobscotMaliseet. are both board members ol Central Maine Indian Association. Ralph Jeyers. although not an Indian, found himself in the same dilemma as John Isaac and the other Indians in the mill. Jeyers’wife. Barbara, is a Penobscot. When asked to sign the letter, he refused. Mrs. Jeyers said she had cautioned him. "It's his job. and he'd better play it cool." but he still declined to sign, saying, according to her. he would not go against his wife’ interests. s Wabanaki Alliance March 1978 Page 7 6 3 -year-old finds Maine Indian kin "When I was ten years old my father died, and my mother had to sell the farm,” Colcord said. "W e moved to Augusta, and then to Portland where I finished high school in 1930. during the Great Depression. Being unable to get a job. I joined the Army where 1remained for six years.” In 1943 Colcord shipped as a radio officer in the Merchant Marine. He stayed at that trade until 1949, then worked for several electronics firms, but found the work unsatisfactory. Discovers Indian relative NEW YORK CITY — Charles E. Colcord calls himself Penobscot Metis, the latter word meaning that he is part Indian. Since discovering he had an Indian background ten years ago. he has come to be council head o f the New York City Chapter, National Association of Metis Indians. Colcord recently shared his story with Wabanaki Alliance. Born in Rcadfield (Maine) in 1914. he has spent many years away from his home state. Then, in 1968. on a rare visit to Maine. Colcord and his wife Viola decided spur-ofthe-moment to drop in on relatives. Viola picked up an old family photo album and there, to the Colcords’ surprise, was a picture o f a full-blooded Penobscot woman. The woman was Charley's great-grand mother. Senecatch. Colcord discovered he had other Indian kin in his background. "Since I learned o f my Indian blood in 1968. I have devoted myself to learning all 1could about Indian history and culture in general, and Penobscot history and culture in particular,” he said. Colcord will graduate in a year and one half from Hot’ slra University with a bachelor's degree in applied social science. He has consistently made the Dean's List at Hofslra. and was invited to join a special group o f scholars at the university — all of whom must obtain 4.0 straight A averages. Colcord is currently employed at Cooper Union, a science and art school. He plans to attend Columbia for a master's degree, and after that might go into teaching. "1 would love to teach on Indian Island, if the Penobseots will have me," he said. Early life in Maine Colcord recalls that his father bought a run-down farm in Rcadfield, “built it up, and sold it. We moved to the ancestral farm in Benton, because my grandparents wanted to retire and move into town. "In 1968 my wife Viola and I decided to lake a vacation in Maine. I had gone back to Maine only three times in 38 years for brief trips necessitated for business reasons. This was because I had become estranged from my father's branch o f the family. Also, my cousins were a generation older than I because my aunt married early and my father married late. They knew niv great grandmother who died before 1 was bom. "W e were driving up 95 near Ginton when I had an uncontrollable urge to go see them. It turned out to be a very emotional meeting. I had meant to stay about three minutes, but we wound up staying three days. Now 1 must tell you that Viola is an antique freak and here we were in this old farmhouse and she was like a child in a candy shop. "She asked ray cousin Oliver if she could look through the attic and mv cousin said, "Be my guest!” Viola discovered an old • family album and as she was leafing through ii. she asked: "W ho is this oriental looking woman?" Olive looked, flushed a little, and said: "That’ my great-grar^mother. Your s great-grandmother too. 1 guess: It’s always been a family secret, but you might as well know now. She was a full-blooded Penobscot Indian." Colcord said he was very moved to find nut about his Indian-ness. and very pleased, too. He later found his grandfather had been half Indian, and had married a quarter blood Indian. Colcord doesn’t know what tribe either grandparent belonged to. but he believes it was Penobscot or Passamaquoddy. Says Colcord. "although I know that 1am three sixteenths Indian, I only know that two sixteenths o f it is Penobscot. I’ never ll make the tribal roll because 1 lack one sixteenth.” But despite his non-membership in a tribe. Colcord has committed much of his time and energies to what he considers his people. UMO historian behind-the-scenes man ORONO — Ronald Banks, a history pro fessor at the University of Maine at Orono, is chief research man for the state, in con nection with Penobscot and Passamaquoddy land claims. Banks, who teaches a history of Maine course, was approached by the Maine At torney General’s office a year ago to research historical background in the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land claims case. Since then, with the occasional help o f his graduate students, he has been the major source o f information for the state’ defense. s Banks, along with the State, contends that the Non-intercourse Act of 1790 is not applicable to the Maine tribes, in spite of rulings to the contrary by the Department of Justice in the past several years. The Non-intercourse Act prohibited states from negotiating land exchanges with tribes without the consent o f Congress. According to Banks the white settlement exception provision o f the Non-intercourse Act excludes tribes that are under the jurisdiction of individual states, rather than the federal government. Referring to the Maine Indians. Banks said, “ Sovereign in dependence had been extinguished two decades earlier (than 1790).” He also said that Maine Indians were "placed under the jurisdiction o f the state, and were, therefore, under the white settlement exception provision.” Although Banks considers the Maine Indians to constitute tribes in the geographi cal and cultural sense, he questioned whether they can be considered tribes in a legal context. Maine Attorney General Joseph Brennan recently asked the Justice Department to reconsider its decision that the Maine Indians constitute tribes and qualify for a trustee relationship with the federal govern ment. The Justice Department denied Bren nan’ request, stating that the historical and s legal evidence accompanying it was not sufficient cause for the government to change its position. Banks suggested there is no reason to believe that the states at the time o f the Act felt the Non-intercourse Act applied to the Maine tribes. He said, "There is no reason that Massachusetts would have failed to comply, if it felt it (the Act) applied.” Banks continued that if the Act had been applicable, the states to whom it is documented to have applied, such as Georgia, North Carolina and New York, "would have shouted bloody murder,” if Massachusetts had dealt with the tribes as sovereign groups. “ Even if the claims are valid,” Banks maintained, "it is not fair to put the respon sibility onto the state, given the history of land claims.” He said that it has usually been the Federal government that took responsibility in claims cases. Although Banks is an advocate for the State, he has worked on the Indians’ behalf in the past, he said. During Governor Kenneth Curtis' administration, he was a member of the Maine Indian Education Committee, designed to study methods of improving Indian education in the State. He said that one result o f this committee was a recommendation which enabled Indians to choose their own school superintendents. �Page 8 WabarsaM Alliance March 1978 Abourezk critical of BIA policy WASHINGTON — When Assistant Sec retary of the Interior Forrest J. Gerard assumed the leadership o f the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he pledged to speed the process of Indian self-determination, de creasing the role o f the BIA in tribal management. U.S. Senator James Abourezk (D.-S.D.), Chairman of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs has recently scored the De partment o f the Interior for what he considers its slowness in bring about reorganization. “It was my understanding,” Abourezk said, “that the BIA reorganiza tion task force was to be charged with identifying how, and not whether, a management overhaul could be under taken.” The BIA task force was charged with changing BIA structure, incorporating recommendations contained in the Ameri can Indian Policy Review Commission man agement study o f 1976 and the commission’ s final report to Congress in May, 1977. Formation o f the task force was accompanied by assurances from Interior Under Secretary James Joseph that the changes would be “fundamental — not just cosmetic.” Abourezk has objected to delays, saying, “Surely Congress and the Indian people have waited long enough for positive actions to be actually initiated.” Problems in BIA management processes, discussed during hearings before Abourezk’ Committee, have included the power s of BIA area directors to control tribal resources. Abourezk believes this has led to political involvement by area directors in tribal affairs, and has blocked self-deter mination programs. Abourezk said this involvement has hurt tribal economic development, aggravated by unfair contracting services provided by BIA, and by poor information on financial re sources available to the tribe. Abourezk said that "U p till now, I haven’ seen any indication that the BIA has t taken steps to obtain that information.” Abourezk said he will introduce legisla tion requiring the BIA to make an annual report o f its progress toward Indian selfdetermination. He has scheduled a hearing April 12. MITA offers safe Indian transportation ORONO — If you happen to riding on a Maine Indian Transportation Association (MITA) bus, you can be sure that your are in good hands. In addition to passing the driving test for a Class II license, many o f the drivers have also taken the state Defensive Driver Course. According to the office o f Nicholas Sapiel, MITA Director, all drivers will have completed this course in the near future. To add to the safety o f MITA’ pass s engers, Sapiel has also instituted CPR (Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation) training for all the drivers and dispatchers in the MITA system. CPR programs are offered by both the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross. Red Cross instructor Kenneth Thompson o f Old Town ran the training sessions for the drivers, emphasizing emergency procedures for treating people whose hearts have stopped or who have stopped breathing due to heart attack or, possibly, accident. The course also instructed the drivers in modem procedures for dealing with a person who is choking. In the course, trainees practiced emergency techniques on each other and on a manikin, equipped to measure pressures applied by the rescuer to the victim’ lungs s and chest during revival procedures. Training covered methods for both adults and infants. Sapiel said that the course is normally taught in one eight hour period, but that he requested that it be extended to two eight hour periods to ensure that, if any questions remained in any o f the drivers’ minds, they would be cleared up. Sapiel said that people completing the course for the first time must be recertified after one year. After this, recertification is required every two years. He said that most drivers taking the course this year were being recertified. The course was taught to 39 people this year in Orono, Houlton, and Calais. Al though the program was earmarked for MITA employees, some other organizations were allowed to send participants. These in cluded members of Wilderness Pursuits, law enforcement and recreation officials, and some o f the staff ffom the Association of Aroostook Indians. Alison Sapiel, secretary for MITA, said she felt the inclusion of Foreign reporters visiting Indian Island chat with Dr. Eunice Baumann-Nelson, left, head of Penobscot health and social services. [Cartwright Photo] Foreign press meets Indians tiators commented on the current suit. “Our By Steve Cartwright ignorance o f the law is what kept us from INDIAN ISLAND — Ten reporters ffom doing this before,” said Timothy Love, overseas spent a day at the Penobscot referring to the claims based on a 1790 NonNation here last month, to learn about Intercourse Act that said all treaties must be Maine Indian land claims and other aspects ratified by Congress. of native American life. George M. Mitchell, former state Indian Affairs commissioner, said the case is The group, sponsored by U.S. corpora “testing the system." tions to “ shape their opinion” o f America, Penobscot tribal Gov. Nicholas H. Sapiel showed themselves experienced in the news said the President’ recent comment in s business. They asked pointed questions that Bangor that he would veto legislation to were mostly answered by a selected panel abolish claims “is assurance they (Congress) ffom the tribe. won’ extinguish our rights.” t Judicate Shoo, bureau chief o f Tanzania A reporter asked about traditional Indian News Agency, observed that “each o f you religion. Sapiel, a Catholic, told him, “Every (tribes) is struggling separately,” across the body doesn’ believe in the traditional t nation. He wondered why Indians don't Indian religion, but we don’ knock the t work together on a more united front. people who do.” Stanley Neptune, a Penobscot represen Actually, Maine Indians are predom tative to the land claims negotiating team, inantly Catholic as a result o f missionary responded, “It they tried to extinguish our activities dating to the earliest white settlers. claim I think you’ see us get together and d Rick Mitchell, Penobscot, said he grew up “ashamed that I was Indian,” but that kind do something.” Another foreign reporter asked if Indians of attitude is changing now. He said Indians used violence in their struggle for rights. An have survived because of their close-knit Indian woman answered that “ as far as Pencommunity. “There has been a togetherness obscots are concerned, there's never been here on the island,” he said. any. There may have been some at A question about women's roles in the Wounded Knee, but that was a pot shot Indian community drew several responses. some outsider took at somebody. If Ann Pardilla said "the male is the most im somebody took a pot shot at me, I'd run portant part of any family.” before I’ take a pot shot back. Indians are d Love said “they’ voices are heard.” re Sapiel quipped, “When I hold a council tough but non-violent.” Two other Penobscot land claims nego meeting I don't mind riling up the men, but when I rile up the women . . . ” his voice trailed off, amid laughter. The foreign press group included one woman ffom Brazil and men ffom Hong Kong, Cameroon, Ecuador, Israel, Japan, Sweden, Thailand and Wales. All are fluent in English, and are under 40. A brochure about World Press Institute, the name o f the group based at Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minn., says “the main goal o f the institute is to ensure that interna tional opinion about the U.S. is shaped by journalists writing ffom a comprehensive background o f experience in America.” The visit to Indian Island was arranged through C. Theodore Miller, institute director and an old friend o f Morris Car penter o f the Penobscot Indian housing authority. Miller said his program is not a propoganda machine. He said that if par ticipants in the September-May program “are bright enough, they’ going to replace re all the cliches.” During their U.S. stay, participants intern with The New York Times, Chicago Daily News and other media agencies. Miller said reporters in his group will "deal with the issues one by one.” He said they will “stress accuracy and fairness in dealing with issues.” It was a first trip to Maine for World Press Institute, now in its 17th year. After spending the night in Bangor, the group was planning to visit Harvard, MIT, and ghettos in Roxbury and the South Bronx. others was beneficial. “ As long as anybody’ s life can be saved, we figure it’ worth it.” s Her words proved prophetic when several days later, one o f the Pleasant Point recrea tion staff persons prevented a girl ffom choking to death, using techniques she had learned in the CPR course. At the Community Center at Pleasant Point on January 9, a nine year old girl fell during gymnastics, and a wad of bubble gum got stuck in her throat. The gym instructor, Susan Sockbeson, asked her if she was okay, but the child was unable to answer. Sockbeson rolled the child on her side, delivering four sharp raps to her back, but did not dislodge the gum. Then, following her training, she rolled the girl on her back and administered four compressions to her stomach. This cleared the child’ throat, s enabling her to breathe again. Sapiel received a letter o f appreciation from Pleasant Point Recreation Director, Francis L. Sapiel, for allowing the recreation staff to sit in on the CPR sessions in Calais. Sapiel intends to begin advanced first aid training for the MITA staff in the future. Following the additional training, drivers should be qualified to administer oxygen, which is regularly carried on buses. MITA’ services are available to anyone, s although people requiring transportation for medical reasons receive first priority. Twenty-four hour notice is usually preferred, especially for long trips, such as between reservations. Phone numbers for the areas served are as follows: Indian Island and Orono 827-7188 Pleasant Point 853-4654 Indian Township 796-2321 Houlton 532-6452 Caribou 498-8701 Statewide Toll-free number 1-800-432-7326 MITA is an experimental project under the Department o f Transportation. It has been allocated $299,271 by the Federal Highway Administration for a two year period for research and demonstration. It also receives a supplemental grant of $50,000 per year from the State. Sapiel said that during this experimental period MITA must “justify a need for transportation in our area.” He estimated that the buses carry 7,000 passengers each month. Hearings held on religious rights WASHINGTON — American Indians, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians have been asked to testify at hearings on a bill to protect American Indian religious freedom. Chaired by Senator James Abourezk (D.S.D.), the hearings are designed to emphasize the conflict between state and federal laws and Indian religion. In a pre-hearing statement Abourezk said, “There is room for a great value in cultural and religious diversity. We would all be poorer if these American Indian religions disappeared from the face o f the earth.” Abourezk said that because religious practices o f Indians and other native people are alien to most Americans, the religions have not been taken as “real.” He suggested that infringements on In dian religious practices have been the unin tended result o f enforcing basically sound, valuable legislation. “These laws,” he said, “often embody principles such as the preser vation of wildnemess areas and the preser vation o f endangered species for which Indians have actively fought, literally gen erations before the non-Indian became con vinced o f their importance. But because these laws were not intended to relate to questions of religions and because there was a lack o f awareness of their potential effect on religious matters. Congress inadvertantly neglected to fully consider the impact of such laws on the religious practices o f Native Americans.” �Wabanaki Alliance March 1978 Page 9 126 names added to tribal roll INDIAN ISLAND — All but 15 persons out o f a group of 141 applicants were admitted to the Penobscot tribe, at an annual census meeting here last month. S. Glenn Starbird, Jr., genealogist for the tribe, and Mary Byers, his assistant, traced family histories to see if applicants possessed the minimum one-quarter Indian blood required for acceptance into the tribe. At the February meeting, approximately 141 people were considered for acceptance onto the tribal rolls. Those admitted to tribal status, qualified either as new appli cants, birth, or re-instatements. Thirteen people were removed from the rolls due to death, abandonment, or ineligibility. As o f the February census, the tribal rolls total 1,355. Starbird said applications have increased since the initiation of the land claims suit. He feels this is because the pub licity o f the claims has “made people of In dian ancestry more aware.” Starbird said that the one-quarter blood standard originates in a state law, passed at the request o f both the Penobscots and Passam aquoddies in 1943. Starbird explained that members of other tribes can be adopted into the Penobscot tribe, provided they meet the requirement of onequarter Indian ancestry in their own tribe. Tracing a person’ family descent can be s, difficult, according to Starbird. He tries to verify as much o f the applicant's ancestry as possible, using birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, and other records o f vital statistics. The job becomes particularly difficult, if his research is prior to 1860, since there are no census lists prior to that date. Brennan to mull claim BANGOR — At least one state official is on the fence about the current proposal to settle Indian land claims in Maine. “Nothing has happened in the last few months” to change the state’ position on s the claims, Brennan said. “However, we’ re looking at it (the proposed settlement) very cafefully,” he said. Maine Atty. Gen. Joseph E. Brennan listened attentively to the President’ recent s public meeting here, especially when Carter commented on Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land claims. Brennan has been outspoken in his op position to the claims, and has said repeat edly the suit, backed by the U.S. Justice D e partment, is without merit. Carter praised a current proposal to settle the claims out o f court. That plan, described elsewhere in this newspaper, has been approved by the federal government and the tribes, but not by the state, and a group of major landholders who would turn over 300,000 acres to Indians, under the agree ment. Brennan, who has complained he was left out o f negotiations, said “we were appalled at the initial process." AAI seeks counselor HOULTON — A reformed alcoholic with at least two years’sobriety is being sought by the Association o f Aroostook Indians as an alcoholism counselor. Requirements involve training in alcohol ism and drug abuse treatment, plus certifi cation. Salary is negotiable, AAI said. Ap plications should be sent to AAI, care of Maynard Polchies, president, at Box 223, Houlton. SUBSCRIBE TO WABANAKI ALLIANCE Indian Pride director Joseph Nicholas, at his Calais office, which is newly-decorated by a mural painted by Melvin Francis of Pleasant Point. Nicholas is a Passamaquoddy from Pleasant Point. (Cartwright Photo] Teaching Indians about Indians CALAIS — A fast disappearing Passa maquoddy Indian heritage, and the pride that goes with it. may not vanish after all. if a 53-year-old educator has his way. Joseph A. Nicholas, a Pleasant Point native and himself a Passamaquoddy. has been working in recent months on a program to teach Indian children about their background and identity. Too often Indian youth attend school with an inferi ority complex about being Indian, unaware of many beautiful aspects o f that heritage, Nicholas says. “ I feel we have something to offer, something to be proud of, to display,” Nicholas said. As director o f Project Indian Pride, based at Maine Indian Education offices in Calais, Nicholas is designing a brochure, slide show, and planned discussion fora multi-media presentation in schools. Since last August he and his secretary have been gathering old photographs, documents and records; have conducted numerous interviews, and have researched Passamaquoddy traditions. Nicholas recent ly offered his presentation to Penobscots at Indian Island elementary school. Objectives for Nicholas' program include learning native dances, crafts and legends; developing five readers (bi-lingual Passamaquoddy-English); teaching about signifi cant achievements o f Maine Indians; and instilling a sense o f self-worth in Indian children. Not least o f Nicholas’ goals is to "bring to the people of Mair better understanding and appreciation oi ...e Indian.” An affable, thoughtful man with a keen sense o f humor. Nicholas and his wife, Alice, have a son. Steve, and daughter, Mary Alberta. Prior to joining Maine Indian Edu cation, Nicholas worked eight years as coordinator of Washington County Home makers Program, a project o f the Catholic Diocesan Human Relations Services. A new view of Indian history The stereotype o f the Indian as noble savage or blood-thirsty heathen has been perpetuated in a history written only by. whites. With the new visibility o f the Indian brought about by land claims and self-de termination movements, that image is changing. People are showing interest in how Indians saw themselves, not in how they appeared to white settlers. Roger Ray has attempted to correct an historical one-sidedness by publishing a bibliography o f works on Maine Indians. In compiling the bibliography, he has not emphasized written narrative, but instead has researched Indian myth and art. In a recent Maine Times article he says, “As the archeologist taught us long ago, not all history comes on the written page. If you are dealing with a civilization that did not have written language as a medium, then you must turn to what they did have.” Ray departs from the role o f strict biblio grapher occasionally to comment on some of his subjects. In a section on land tenure he points out that Indians did not feel the land was theirs to deny to the settlers, so they deeded large tracts o f coastal property to them, but never with the intention o f giving up their own rights to that land. Gradually, the settlers stopped bothering to acquire deeds. The bibliography also departs from tradi tion by criticizing certain references. For example, Ray comments that Rev. Eugene Vetromile’s “The Abnaki Indians” has been labelled inaccurate and misleading by current authors and mentions other authors influenced by this work. Ray’ work is being incorporated into a s history/bibliography presently being com piled at the Wabanaki Bilingual Education Program at Indian Island. Wayne Newell, who has been working on the project for two years says, “ It will be one o f the best in the country when we get it finished.” Central Maine group slates meeting ORONO — A general meeting o f Central Maine Indian Association (CMIA) has been scheduled Thursday, Mar. 9, at 7 p.m. at Indian Resource Center. 95 Main St., Orono. This is a regular monthly meeting for CMIA membership. He had worked earlier as a barber in Bangor 15years. Nicholas said he likes to “go into the classroom," and not just do dry research. He hopes to have the five texts in draft form by April. "1 went back to my school and spoke in my native tongue, and I was saddened that very few understood me," Nicholas said. He wants to change that. Asked why language and other traditions are lost, he said, "It's lost because parents are busy, trying to make a dollar, and the only way to occupy their children is to place them in front o f the TV." Nicholas said he is a strong believer in pride. "In order for the Indian children to know where they’ going, they need to re preserve pride. I feel it needs to start at the school, and really should begin at home. "It's the only way to change attitudes, and attitudes need to change from within. I have to change my own attitude first." Conservation jobs The Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC) located at Indian Island are now accepting enrollee applications. Enrollee Eligibility 1 Membership in the YACC is open to . all candidates who, at the time of enroll ment are; a. Unemployed b. Between the ages o f Sixteen to Twenty-three inclusive; (male or female) c. Capable o f carrying out the work o f the YACC for the estimated dura tion o f their enrollment. Each individual shall provide a record o f a physical examination before enrollment. Cost o f physical must be borne by the applicant. 2. Individuals who at the time o f en rollment have attained age 16 but have not attained age 19 and who have left school shall not be admitted to the pro gram unless they give adequate assur ances that they did not leave school for the purpose o f enrolling in the YACC. For further information contact the YACC director, Richard Hamilton, by telephone, 827-7776, or by writing to YACC program director Box 503, Old Town, ME 04468. �Page 10 Wabanaki Alliance March 1978 Tribes say settlement benefits economy INDIAN ISLAND — The Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes have released a study by a New York firm that claims settlement o f the Indian land suit could produce a $4 million increase in Maine's annual cash flow. Alan Patricof Associates, a New Yorkbased consulting firm was commissioned by the tribes to study the possible disposition of the monies obtained in the settlement. The result, "A Preliminary Analysis of Certain Potential Economic Consequences of a Settlement for the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Claims,” was recently released by the tribes. Patricof will probably develop the final report as well. Timothy Love, a member o f the team which negotiated the settlement with the federal government, stressed that this report is only one o f many alternatives and that any decision would have to be made by the full tribal membership. Because the report was prepared before the final drafting o f the settlement, only “working figures” were used. However, Love said these were conservative, so that benefits would not be overstated. According to this preliminary report, study "shows that the settlement can have a significant positive effect on the Indians, the non-Indians, and the State o f Maine.” Al though the settlement calls for dividing the monies and land equally between the two tribes, the report lumps the settlements of the two tribes together, using a combined working capital figure o f $40 million. Although only approximately half of this amount is expected to be immediately avail able under the conditions o f the settlement, Love said the remainder o f the $40 million can be borrowed as “discount money in an ticipation” o f the installment payments mentioned in the settlement. While the report assumes that the $40 million will be kept intact, and not dis tributed on a per capita basis, it will be used in its entirety in one o f three different types of investments, “each with its own level of risk.” The Category I investment would be "one, or a few, large investments such as joint ventures or plant expansions." This would involve $20 million of the settlement money, which would be invested over a five year period. The report assumes that additional loans would raise the assets for Category I to $40 million. Assuming sales o f $80 million dollars the report projects that this would result in salaries and wages o f $32 million being paid to 2,973 employees, 700 o f whom would be Indians. The report further predicts that the new employment would stimulate further economic development, creating a “multiplier effect,” producing an additional 1,244 non-Indian jobs. Category II investments would include business loans, financing new businesses for Indians and non-Indians, and possibly the financing o f a few new technology-oriented businesses. According to the report, “Some of the smaller and newer businesses will entail significant risk. In return for this risk, it is hoped that some o f the businesses financed will grow faster, provide more em ployment, and have better cash returns than the Category I investment.” Using $4 million o f the settlement money and investing through various minority and small business investment corporations, “low-cost government money” could be obtained to "leverage” the initial assets of $4 million up to $20 million. The report ear marks $5 million o f this exclusively for Indian businesses. The remaining $15 million would be expected to generate 1,066 non-Indian jobs within the state. The m ultiplier effect w ould produ ce an additional 466 jobs. Category III investment would be toward developing “an income portfolio o f govern ment or high grade corporate bonds” and would utilize $16 million o f the settlement money. Although no significant employment is likely from these investments. State of Maine securities might be included in the portfolio. With federal recognition the tribes will become eligible for Bureau o f Indian Affairs benefits, which may be used for capital im provements, although these were not considered in the report. The report concludes that a total o f 700 jobs will be created for Indians, while nonIndian Maine residents will fill 4,809 new jobs. (Although the state would lose ap proximately $375,000 in taxes on the 500,000 acres which the tribes could receive), tax benefits to the state through corporate, personal and sales tax are estimated to total $2,391,250. According to the report, “ If the invest ment program is successful, the State of Maine should realize at least a $4 million per year increase in cash flow." mm Val and Leslie Ranco, Penobscots, share a pleasant moment on a visit to Indian Island from their home in Wells. Leslie operates an Indian moccasin store. [Cartwright Photo] Former Township priest says Church should speak out BRUNSWICK — The Catholic Church should not be silent on issues raised by the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land claims suit, according to a priest who served more than five years at Indian Township reservation. The Rev. Harry. R. Vickerson said in an article for The Church World, a Catholic weekly published in Brunswick, that “We have an Opportunity to be prophetical, to announce justice to those who cry for it. We have been silent! Could it be that because we hold some of that Indian land we dare not speak?” Father Vickerson suggests deeding back to the tribes land now owned by the Church, and then ask Indians for permission to use that land. “We say that we are not responsible for what our ancestors did to the Indians. But what of justice? Does justice die after so many years? Does justice not count if you don’ have enough votes? If you are poor? t Others say that the reservations should be closed down and Indians should be forced to move out into the mainstream o f society,” Vickerson says. But Vickerson believes Indians are only belatedly getting a portion o f what they deserve through their struggle. “We have done the Indians no favors," he says. adding, “whatever good we have done toward them has been an infinitesimal return on their (the Indians) investment." Vickerson concludes, "The Gospel tells us that the rich young man found Jesus’ teaching too much, and so he walked away. Will we Christians, followers o f this same Jesus, find social justice too much and turn our backs on Jesus and his Passamaquoddy and Penobscot people, and walk away?” Vickerson is pastor at Stonington and Castine Churches, and is minister to Maine Maritime Academy students. Council meetings open to Indians INDIAN ISLAND — Penobscot tribal council meetings, held the first Wednesday o f each month, are open to members of the community. Persons are welcome to attend the 7 p.in. meetings, at the Community Building con ference room, according to a secretary for Gov. Nicholas H. Sapiel. Anyone wishing to learn the agenda for a particular meeting may call the governor’ office, 827-7776, s extension 15. Charles Lewis, Eastport native working for Indians. [Cartwright Photo] Outspoken Eastporter works for Indian cause CALAIS — Charles A. Lewis, who will be 60 this month, comes from a long line of Lewises in Eastport. Some of his old friends can’ understand his current involvement t with Maine Indians, nor do some o f them like it. But as salty, good-humored Lewis says, "if I was someone from away. I’ sure I’ m d have a very hard time dowm there (in Eastport), but I'm a local boy; just one of the outspoken Lewises.” Lewis is legal secretary and all-around helper at the Calais office of the Native American Rights Fund. That's where Thomas N. Tureen, lawyer for the Penob scot-Passamaquoddy land claims suit, has his headquarters. Tureen said he is quite fond o f Lewis, and that Lewis' aid is in valuable. Why does Lewis, after a long career with the U.S. Army, work on Indians’behalf? “I’ watched what the country has done ve to the Indians, and a lot of other people. They've sort o f taken their manhood,” Lewis said, adding that he simply “doesn't like things handled that way.” Lewis’ early contact with Indians was in high school, where his friends included Passamaquoddy classmates Anthony Alt- vater, Charles Socoby and ‘ Spider’ Francis. Lewis joined the Army in 1939, and "put in his 20 years.” From 1948-1960 he was associated with the Judge Advocate General’ Department. He served with s Army Engineers in the Pacific during World War II, and later held the title chief military court reporter. Lewis has been assisting Tureen on Indian claims in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. He joined the non-profit Pine Tree Legal Assistance agency when its office was at Machias, in 1968. Pine Tree now shares space with Native American Rights Fund. Lewis has defended Indians in letters and guest editorials in the Bangor Daily News. He recently helped incorporate a group to oppose the Pittston Company’s plans for an oil refinery at Eastport. His schedule is hectic, but it doesn’ seem to bother him. t Lewis, during an interview, paused to pick up a phone that had been ringing. "Yes.” he said into the receiver, "I think he wants to talk with you." It was White House counsel Robert J. Lipshutz calling for Tureen to discuss an aspect of the proposed Penobscot-Passamaquoddy claims settle ment. �Wabanaki Alliance March 1978 Page 1 1 Off-reservation Indian says he's left out INDIAN ISLAND — A Penobscot who has been visiting his relatives here says that off-reservation Indians are often left out of tribal affairs. In fact, Neil Phillips does not like the term "off-reservation.” He would like to talk simply of tribal membership, regardless o f where one happens to live. Phillips said his main complaint is that he and others who do not live at Indian Island are not informed o f meetings, plans and tribal business in general. This was especially clear at a recent tribal meeting where Penobscots were asked to vote on the proposed land claims settlement. “You’ sitting there dumbfounded and re you don’ know what you’ voting on,” said t re Phillips, who felt compelled to abstain on the vote. Several other off-reservation Pen o b sco ts com plained about not being informed on the land claims case prior to the vote. Phillips, a sheet metal worker, has recently settled in South Portland. He had previously worked in West Virginia. “ 1came here to find out how the (tribal) government is run,” he said. Phillips hopes to attend the next regular council meeting, to seek new, written guidelines on procedure. Tribal government "should be more open to the people who don’ live here,” Phillips t said. " I ’ an off-reservation Indian because m I’ been labeled it,” he said. ve Phillips said he wants to make sure he is not excluded from tribal goings-on: “I’ m basically looking for the rights of the individual member o f the tribe, regardless of where he lives. Formerly married to a Passamaquoddy woman from Pleasant Point, Phillips, 39, has one son, a Florida resident. Phillips said he accepts no special money or other benefits to which he is entitled as an Indian. “I’ proud o f what I've accomplished,” m he said, noting he has never been out of work. Phillips said he has not encountered a great deal o f anti-Indian feeling, but he did recall waiting 45 minutes to be served at a Calais restaurant in 1975, apparently because he is Penobscot. Phillips is the first Indian official o f the Denver-based American Canoe Association, founded a century ago. He is active in a local chapter, the Pejepscot Water & Ice Co. of Brunswick. He has canoed the Snake River in Wyoming, as well as many Maine rivers, and has won numerous canoe races. Phillips said he would like nothing better than to organize a Penobscot Indian canoeing team, but he has interest lacking. Madas Sapiel. [Cartwright Photo] Indian grandmother not timid about heritage INDIAN ISLAND — Madas Sapiel, a great-great-grandmother at 75, says she has become a traditional Indian after rejecting a strict Catholic upbringing that weaned her away from her heritage. Half Penobscot and half Passamaquoddy, Mrs. Sapiel was Evelyn Sapiel as a girl, and recalls attending the Catholic school on the reservation. “The sisters said I couldn’ talk t Indian anymore. English was the language we were going to speak. But I said my prayers in Indian in the comer.” Now, she says, " I ’ a traditional Indian.” m Mrs. Sapiel said she stays involved in In dian movements, having been present at Wounded Knee, and later at the occupation of Baxter State Park. “I was timid when I first started out,” Mrs. Sapiel said, adding, “I’ an Indian, and I’ proud to be an m m Indian. I’ a full-blood." m Bom to a mother who made baskets and a father who worked on the pulp wood river drives, Mrs. Sapiel herself had nine sons and three daughters. “ I’ retired seven times. ve But everytime someone starts a business I help them. I’ a fighter,” she said, and she m “fights for our senior citizens” who she thinks are denied rights. Mrs. Sapiel made it through fifth grade in school, but said her mother “never had any schooling. She couldn’ read or write.” Now t Mrs. Sapiel gives lessons in the Passama quoddy language. Her first lesson begins at 6 a.m. Two o f her students are Penobscots, Jerry Pardilla and Carol Dana. Last fall Mrs. Sapiel’ sister, Susie Dana s died. She was reputed to be one o f the last members o f the tribe who could speak Penobscot fluently. " If they’ willing to learn, I’ willing to re m teach it," said Mrs. Sapiel of her Passama quoddy lessons. She said she also speaks some Penobscot. Part o f being Indian is providing tradi tional hospitality, according to Mrs. Sapiel. “My house is open to all Indian people no matter who they are. The refrigerator is full. The only thing I don't allow is drinking,” she said. Mrs. Sapiel has not had a drink in ten years, she said. Although she calls herself “ a militant,” Mrs. Sapiel said another part o f being Indian is not hating people. “I don't hate anybody. I'm not against white people,” she said. She is against the bridge that connects Indian Island with the mainland, however. She said the bridge, built in the 1950’ started s, people locking their doors, and affected community spirit. Still, Mrs. Sapiel said she feels Indian traditions survive. “You don’ have to travel t all over the world to find your roots. You find them right in your heart,” she said. Mrs. Sapiel once traveled around the country in "Princess Golden’ Indian s Show," in pre-television days. Now she travels as a member o f AIM (American Indian Movement). If she had her life to live over, “I wouldn’ t change it one little bit,” Madas Sapiel said. BIA seeks monies The Bureau o f Indian Affairs has requested an increase of $62.1 million in appropriated funds for fiscal year 1979. The Bureau's request submitted January 23 to Congress as part of the President’s budget asks for $949.5 million of Federal appropriation. This includes- $761 million for the operation of Indian programs; $86.8 million for the construction o f irrigation systems, building and utilities; $71.4 million for road construction, and $30 million for payments under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Federal funding for these purposes in Fiscal year 1978 was $846.7 million. The 1979 Fiscal year begins October I, 1978 and ends September 30, 1979. For Indian education programs — the largest o f BIA’ programs — $271 million, s an increase o f $11.1 million, was requested. Urban council meeting SE A TTL E — The 1978 annual convention o f the National Urban Indian Council is scheduled May 15-17, at Kansas City, Mi. A press release said this year’ s convention theme will be “a time for rec ognition," and “unity for progress.” Further information is available from council head quarters in Seattle. Neil Phillips, off-reservation Penobscot. [Cartwright Photo] Island hosts hoop meet INDIAN ISLAND - The first Annual Indian Island Invitational Basketball Tour nament was held in February at the Indian Island Community Center. The Indian Island teams were undefeated during the tournament, with the high school league beating four other teams and the peewee league downing five opposing teams. Red Bartlett, who formed the two Island teams nine years ago and has coached them since, said he plans to hold the invitational each year. A banquet was held, following the tour nament to honor the players. Bartlett explained that the high school team, composed o f boys 10-12 years old and the peewee team, whose players range from 4-6 years old, are in the Old Town-Orono YMCA conference. The peewees also play in the Bangor Youth League. Teams in these leagues are not affiliated with particular schools. Bartlett said the Island’ high school age s team is the YMCA league champion. The peewee team is tied for the lead in the YMCA league with a record of 11-1, while they lead the Bangor Youth League with a record o f 5-1. Bartlett added that an Indian Island girls basketball team was started two years ago and is playing in the Bangor Youth League. �Page 12 Wabanaki Alliance March 1978 A flashback to the past THREE PENOBSCOTS — Young Carl Francis, center, fits an arrow to his bow. Bom in 1925, he was drowned in a hunting accident at age 17. At the time he was an excellent student and had been admitted to Maine Maritime Academy. At left is John Snow, and Carter would veto bill (Continued from page 1 ) Negotiations over the past few months have led to the current proposal, which would give Indians 300,000 acres o f Maine land, options on 200,000 more acres, and S25 million from the federal government plus $1.7 million annually for the next 15 years, from the state. That proposed resolution o f the claims has already been ratified in three separate meetings by the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes. Before going to Congress, the settlement needs the agreement o f state officials, as well as from a group o f major private landholders who would be asked to turn over land to the tribes in return for a federal payment o f $1.5 million. (That acreage could be worth as much as $34 million, according to one news report.) The current proposal exceeds an earlier settlement recommended by retired Georgia Judge William B. Gunter. Gunter’ plan s called for a $25 million payment to Indians, plus an award o f 100,000 acres from the state, and options on 400,000 more acres. But Gunter also wanted to see the option of presenting any future land claim s eliminated. Carter called Gunter “the finest lawyer I know” at the Bangor meeting. State officials and major landowners have until mid-April to respond to the proposal. If they refuse it, or take no action, a portion of the claims involving 3.5 million acres of land will be litigated in court, according to Indian and federal officials. Carter said at the meeting that, "Indians have said if you want to accept this, fine, we’ ready to accept it on those terms but if re the governor o f Maine or the 14 landowners don’ want to accept it they have three t choices. "They can either continue to negotiate, they can accept the agreement we worked out and have an end to it, or they can stay in court and litigate. I have no preference,” the President said. George ‘Skipper’ Mitchell, a Penobscot tribal council member also present at the Carter meeting, said Sapiel’ question s "cleared up a lot o f doubts in people's minds, both about the case and his (the President's) stand.” right, Nicholas Andrews. They are wearing the same collar and cuff set, with buck motif. No dates are given for these old photographs. Any information from readers is welcome, and any photos submitted will be handled carefully and returned. R.l. land suit resolved CALAIS — The Narragansett Indians of Rhode Island will receive 1.800 acres as settlement o f their land claims case, according to their lawyer, Thomas N. T ureen. As o f press time, the final agreement had not been publicly announced, but Tureen said the settlement had been accepted by all parties to it. In an interview at his Native American Rights Fund office here. Tureen called the Narragansett plan “a good settle ment; I'm pleased.” Tureen, who is lawyer for the PenobscotPassmaquoddy land suit in Maine, said that the state o f Rhode Island is turning over 900 acres o f land, near Charlestown, to the tribe, with private landholders contributing the other half o f the settlement. Comparing Rhode Island state officials to Maine state leaders. Tureen said the Narra gansett case shows “people can be rea sonable.” Maine Gov. James B. Longley has said Maine Indians should not get any land, nor any award of money above current services funding. Under the agreement, the state o f Rhode Island will place land known as Indian Cedar Swamp, Indian Burial Hill, Deep Pond and Watchaug Pond to a “State Cor poration” that will hold lands for Indians under an “irrevocable charter.” Terms o f the settlement also spell out that private landholders named as defendents in Out of court settlement seen The President answers. [O’Neal Photo] (Continued from page 1 ) particular acreage Indians would seek has not been identified other than to map out a large section of northern Maine’ eligible, s sparsely populated woodlands. Indians would probably harvest timber, reforesting cut-over land, but details have not yet been announced. Tureen said the tribes he represents, as a lawyer associated with Native American Rights Fund (NARF), have been "extraor dinarily fair.” He said he is pleased that the settlement in his opinion falls within "realistic limits." Comparing the proposal to an earlier rec ommendation by retired Georgia Judge William B. Gunter, rejected by both tribes and the state, Tureen said, “it’ Gunter’ s s proposal with the vague promises made clear.” the suit will be paid fair market value for their property, but only "upon execution of a mutually acceptable option agreement.” Further, the federal government will provide $3.5 million to acquire privately held portions o f the settlement lands. The agreement says that all land titles in Rhode Island will be cleared from any effects o f the land claims suit. Tureen said the 1,800 acres are in a densely populated region, and are "very valuable.” He said the settlement bodes well for other claims, including a settlement of Indian claims at Gay Head on Martha's Vineyard. Signing the agreement with the Narra gansett Tribe were Rhode Island Gov. J. Joseph Garraghy. Tureen. Ass’ (state) Atty. t. Gen. William G. Brody, a Charlestown town council representative, and several lawyers representing private landholders, a develop ment corporation, and a bank. Media erred on claims extension ORONO — Major newspapers and other media were dead wrong when they reported a 60 day extension had been granted by the White House to Maine state officials and the state’ 14 largest s landholders, to consider the proposed In dian land claims settlement. Under the original proposal negotiated between a White House task force and Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribal representatives, state officials and the major landowners have until April 6 to respond to the settlement package, which would involve 300,000 acres o f privately held land, options on 200,000 more acres, and monetary awards from the state and federal government. Indian sources said that Gov. James B. Longley may have requested the exten sion in a meeting with Presidential lawyer Robert J. Lipshutz, but that terms o f the proposed settlement prohibit any such changes without the tribes' consent. Those sources said it was unlikely the tribes would consider an extension. They said the White House may favor an ex tension, but cannot take action on the matter without Indian participation. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (March 1978) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-03 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-411 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission. https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/ad12b67c6c557597b529cb8a69924919.pdf 50112d674508dffd4371426c8578c761 PDF Text Text Wabanaki Alliance Non-profit org. U.S. Postage Paid 2.1* Orono, Maine Permit No. 14 February 1978 Half million acres, $40 million proposed Indians, White House agree on settlement A proposed settlement of nationally publicized Penobscot and Passamaquoddy land claims was reportedly on the verge of being announced at press time. Although Indian representatives and members of a White House claims task force refused comment on the joint federal-tribal agree­ ment, Wabanaki Alliance learned from a reliable source that the negotiated proposal calls for giving the two Maine tribes a $40 million dollar cash settlement, plus 500,000 acres of land. Each tribe would receive half the award. Thomas Tureen, lawyer for the tribes, would not confirm any specific figures, but said no settlement would be acceptable without a “ substantial”amount of land. It could not immediately be learned if the land portion of the settlement would involve Maine’ public lots, but it appeared such s land, including Baxter State Park, would not be part of the deal. Maine Atty. Gen. Joseph Brennan said at press time that he was expecting to meet with Eliot Cutler, a member of the Presi­ dent’three man task force, to review the s negotiated settlement proposal. “ m going I’ to listen to the proposal and then evaluate it,” Brennan said. Brennan declined to say if the State would change its steadfast position that Maine could overturn the land claims case in court. Brennan and Gov. James B. Longley have repeatedly said the claims are without merit. Maine officials have not been party to several recent negotiating sessions between Indians and the task force. Those sessions, held since appointment of the special task force last fall, have resulted in the current settlement proposal. Tureen and tribal officials have consistently sought an out-of-court, negotiated end to the land case, which was said to involve an initial claim to two-thirds o f the State. What land would be involved in an award to the tribes has not been spelled out. but major paper companies have reportedly been approached concerning the proposed settlement. Indians and non-Indian negotiators have not said what the next step will be, should the tribes ratify the proposed settlement. An approved settlement would likely be sent to Congress before any land or monies were awarded. The President last spring named a retired Georgia judge, William B. Gunter, to recommend a settlement. Gunter proposed giving the tribes $25 million and 100,000 acres o f land, plus options on 400,000 more acres. But his porposal would have extin­ guished all claims to aboriginal title under PENOBSCOT-PASSAMAQUODDY land claims were the subject discussed by Andrew Akins, left, and Timothy Love, both members of the tribes’ negotiating team. They were the Indian Nonintercourse Act o f 1790. That Act, which requires Congressional featured in a recent Maine Indian Journal program on public television. [Cartwright Photo] approval o f all treaties with Indians, is the basis o f the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy case. Indians allege their lands were taken in violation of the Act. Inform ed sources say the tribal negotiating team is well satisfied with the current settlement proposal. However, that proposal must be ratified by the Penobscot Nation at Indian Island, and the Passama­ quoddy Nation at Indian Township, and at I t HOULTON — Maynard Polchies is birthday cake and surprise party. “ don’ Pleasant Point. know whether to laugh or cry,” said suffering from ill health, but his physical A presentation and vote on the proposal Polchies, 42. His wife Marian, driver o f a condition doesn’ suppress his enthusiasm t INDIAN TOWNSHIP — Wayne A. was scheduled at each of the three for his work and the people he cares about. Maine Indian Transportation Association Newell, a Passamaquoddy Indian and for reservations, and the tribes were expected to bus, kept the party a secret. A Maliseet Indian, Polchies is president several years director o f Wabnaki Bi-lingual approve the settlement without much Polchies hopes to visit a specialist from of the Association of Aroostook Indians Education Program here, has accepted a controversy. the Arthritis Foundation next month to see (AAI), with headquartes at Bowdoin Street new position as director o f social services for Members of the Indian negotiating com­ here, and an office at Caribou. Membership if anything can be done to make him more the tribe. mittee include Wayne Newell and Jeannette totals about 1,500, mostly Micmac and mobile. Meanwhile, a telephone is his office, Newell said he will try to put together a Neptune o f Indian Township; Gail Dana Maliseet Indians. Job counseling, alcohol­ and people visit the Bridge Street house comprehensive plan for delivery of services and Robert Newell of Pleasant Point; plus frequently. He has had arthritis the past 12 ism, migrant labor and health and welfare in the newly-created department at Indian Andrew Akins, George Mitchell, Wilfred years. “ doesn’do any good to sit here and It t are just some of the services AAI offers Township. A building to house offices, and Pehrson and Timothy Love, representing members, using combined state and federal think about it,” said. he perhaps a clinic, is in planning stages, he Indian Island. monies. Living conditions said. Off-reservation Indians belonging to the Polchies has rheumatoid arthritis and is “ Things are changing” for Aroostook “ m really excited about putting together I’ tribes were expected to attend the meetings, taking four prescription drugs. He has been Indians, Polchies said, although a multitude a package for health and social services for but all other outsiders were to be excluded. bedridden the past couple o f months, but o f problems persist. Maynard recalls our community, as well as working together Serving on the task force with Cutler, an can now sit up in a chair, in some pain, and growing up in a “ shack” with no running with our Indian communities in the field,” O ffice o f M anagem ent and Budget once in awhile travel by car to the office. “ If water on a Canadian reservation near he said. employee, were Leo Krulitz, Department of I manage to keep busy and occupied, I’ m Woodstock, N.B. He attended a two room Newell, 35, is a Pleasant Point native. He the Interior lawyer, and Stephens Clay, a okay," he said. school run by Catholic nuns. “ you made it If attended Ricker College, Emerson College, through eighth grade, you were all done.” AAI staff gathered at Polchies’small and Harvard, where he received a master’ Gunter associate. s (Continued on page 5) (Continued on page 5) home Feb. 1 and presented Maynard with a , degree in education. Newell named head of social services Things are changing says Aroostook Indian �Page 2 Wabanaki Alliance February 1978 This past year, those who laughed at the land claims stopped laughing. Perhaps they were only jeering at the claims so as not to face the issues raised by Indians. Now, however, those issues — the rights, of Indians to justice, equality and self-determination — can no longer be ignored. When the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) recognized the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies as federal Indians, eligible for federal aid and services, that was merely a sign of the times, a sign that things are changing for native Americans. Another sign is Vice President Walter Mondale's pro-Indian The Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land claims appear to be almost comments appearing in recent press reports. We figure Mondale is settled, in a manner that will greatly benefit the two tribes. speaking for the President, and his stance on native Americans may Credit for a favorable resolution of the Indian land claims in be a genuine application of his stated aim to champion human rights Maine can be spread over many individuals and even over society everywhere. itself. We live in a cultural climate that has allowed a couple of We have a lot to learn, all of us. There is much to do, much to write almost forgotten Indian groups to involve the President and federal about, ahead of us. This is a new beginning for the Penobscot and government in negotiations over the return of illegally taken lands. Passamaquoddy Nations. We use that word "nation" in the sense of The claims have included monetary damages, but we hope that Indian identity and community. actual land — a priceless resource in our eyes — is a major part of The tribes’ time has come, and now we must make use of it in ways any settlement. With a land base, Penobscots and Passamaquoddies that uphold the common good. may eventually develop a viable economic base. Economic self-deter­ mination can in turn lead to social and cultural reinforcement. We see that “ land claims” could signify a new era for the two tribes, and might be the very thing that ensures tribal survival. We don’know exactly what effect the transfer of land and money t will have on Indians, and we doubt anybody could predict what With all the fanfare over Penobscot-Passamaquoddy Indian land would happen with certainty. The fact that Indians and non-Indians have kept secret almost all information regarding land claims has claims, little or nothing has been said or done for Micmac and Maliseet Indians. kept most of us in the dark. They are also Maine Indians, as much as are the Penobscots and Announcement o f a settlement is going to catch thousands of people by surprise, and shock waves will doubtless be felt for a long Passamaquoddies, and they number in the hundreds, mostly residing in Aroostook County. This newspaper is as guilty as others for not time afterward. The secrecy of negotiations and other work on the land claims case publicizing the plight of these northern Maine native Americans. W e’ talked with a number of Micmac and Maliseet persons, and ve may have been justified, although it left many persons ignorant. Probably the intent was to leave certain persons ignorant. In any some of them are bitter about the claims. Some of them feel left out, event, that numerous Indians knew about the land case through and some o f them are worried they may lose benefits from the State meetings, and that none o f them squealed, is positively remarkable. and federal government. Micmacs and Maliseets are unlikely to lose benefits, but on the That loyalty to the tribe and the cause of the claims is both a tribute to, and a reflection o f Indian values. Those traditional values other hand they are not about to gain any major ones in the have survived despite the encroachment of non-Indian ways, and the foreseeable future. Unlike the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies, Micmacs and Maliseets are not recognized by the federal government tribes’ lack of money and a land base. We have observed the progress of the land claims over the past as eligible for BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) services, nor have they year, sometimes at close range, sometimes from afar. We are one of any known documentation on which to base a land claim similar to the few newspapers in the nation that has supported Penobscot- the now famous one that alleged two thirds of Maine belonged to the Passamaquoddy land claims. And we clearly remember that a few Penobscots and Passamaquoddies. editorials The time has come Micmacs and Maliseets years ago, nobody outside the Indian community took the claims very seriously. Katahdin sunrise Last month we printed a poem about Katahdin, but now we feel moved to add our own comment. Driving Interstate 95 to Houlton, and then on the return trip to Orono, we gazed at Katahdin's formidable, snowbound peak. The sloping ridges, white snow, gray rock and blue sky, created a shock of pleasure to the senses, and stirred one’ thoughts in the s fresh morning sunlight. This is not a poem, only a tribute a mysterious, glorious summit that is somehow larger than all of Maine, and greater than all o f us who walk in the mountain’ s shadow. WABANAKI ALLIANCE Vol. 2, No. 2 Februaty1978 This is a reminder, because we ourselves were reminded, that s Published monthly by the Division of Indian Services [DIS] at the Indian Resource Center, peace, beauty and the natural environment are Katahdin’ gifts to 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. us. We find it so easy to abuse and forget the physical and spiritual harmony that nature has created around us. Steven Cartwright, Editor Not to see Katahdin, even from the vantage point o f an ugly, William O’ Neal, Ass’ Editor t. speeding automobile, is to miss a penetrating reminder of the earth, DIS Board of Directors sun, sky and life itself. Not to notice this is tragic. We stopped the car Jean Chavaree [chairman] Indian Island s John Bailey, CAP coordinator Pleasant Point for a m om ent’ silent appreciation. Even that recognition is better Albert Dana Indian Township than nothing, and that moment has already left its mark on us. Timothy Love, CAP director Indian Island Those Indians who see Katahdin as a source of spiritual energy Jeannette Neptune, Tribal Clerk Indian Township have something special. Those of us without that attachment are still Eriene Paul, Central Maine Indian Assn. Indian Island Roy Paul, Assn, of Aroostook Indians Houlton able to feel the mountain's pull, and respond. Maynard Polchies, president, Aroostook Indians Houlton Birds sang when we shut the motor off. We grew unaware o f the Michael Ranco, Central Maine Indian Assn. Orono biting cold. We drank in the mountain with our eyes, but without DIS is an agency of Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc. of Maine. Subscriptions to moving it overwhelmed us with its simple, profound grace. this newspaper are available by writing to Wabanaki Alliance, 95 Main St, Orono, Me. It’ enough to say we were privileged to see something priceless, s 04473. Diocesan Human Relations Services and DIS are a non-profit corporation. Contri­ free, yet with a beauty so inscrutable as to defy even poets. butions are deductible for income tax purposes. �Wabanaki Alliance February 1978 Page 3 letters To the editor: My name is Reginald Acquin, and I am a Malecite Indian from Fredericton, N.B., Canada. Also at this time I am an inmate here at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington. I was reading the Indian Life newspaper the other day and came across your notice, stating that you are or have already printed a newspaper called, Wabanaki Alliance. I would like to have a copy if I could. My pay from my job here at prison is very small, perhaps as time goes by I can save enough money to pay for a years' subscription. I remember a paper from Maine a few years back, and I wrote to inquire about it, but I guess it went out o f circulation. The name o f it was, Wig-Wam-us. Prestly I am involved in a school program and plan to continue my studies upon my release. Any educational information from your area would be greatly appreciated. I close with the though of our People’ s way o f life, that the essence o f life is to live in harmony with all things. An Indian brother, Reggie “ Zeke”Acquin #360407 Akwesasne sets speaking four MOHAWK NATION, N.Y. — Voices from the Earth, a native American group that tries to spread Indian ways and under­ standing through a variety o f presentations, is planning a March tour o f the Maine area. According to Yonahwaylut, a member of the group, the purpose o f the tour is to raise money for Akwesasne Notes, a national circulation Indian newspaper published here. Yonahwaylut said that an Akwesasne Notes speaker’ bureau can offer presenta­ s tions on topics such as native land claims, water rights, treaties, Indian law, and the need for an international native people’ s movement. “ in all, we feel very confident All that we can provide an exciting and infor­ mative presentation for your group,” he said. Indians seek status ruling BOSTON — Wampanoag Indians of Mashpee, Ma., were planning last month to ask that the U.S. Interior Department de­ termine their status as a tribe. A wire service story reported that lawyers for the Indians are making the request, directed to a Federal Judge, to avoid a final judgment against the Wampanoags in the court battle involving Indian land claims in the Town o f Mashpee. On Jan. 6, a U.S. District Court jury agreed that Mashpee Indians did not com­ prise a tribe on four different historic oc­ casions. That finding, after a 10-week trial, said Wampanoags were a tribe at various times in the 1800’ but were not a tribe in s, 1790 when Congress passed the Non-inter­ course Act. Mashpee Indian claims are based on that act, which says Congress must ratify all treaties. The Indians say Mashpee lands were illegally taken from them in 1870, when the town was incorporated by the State of Massachusetts. The Town o f Mashpee, arguing against the Indians, says Wampan­ oags no longer exist as a tribe or as recog­ nizable Indians, partly because o f inter­ marriage with non-Indians. M ashpee Indians have not been recognized by the federal government, as have other groups of Indians such as the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies o f Maine. The Mashpee land claims involve an esti­ mated 13,000 acres, compared to at least eight to ten million acres claimed by the two Maine tribes. Pen pals sought by Canadian students FREDERICTON, N.B. — Are you a young person who would like to make some new friends in Canada? A group of Indians aged seven to 17 have contacted this news­ paper saying they would like to correspnd with their Maine counterparts. The group is “ most enthusiastic,” ac­ cording to Stephanie Strilchuk, o f the New Brunswick Association of Metis and NonStatus Indians in Fredericton, N.B. Names of Canadian young people, their ages and interests, are as follows. Please feel free to write to them directly at the addresses given. Heather Angela Brigley, Colton Brook Rd„ R.R. #501-2, Rothesay, N.B. EOG 2WO, 10 years old. Interests: Skating, baseball, child games. Heather Ann Westhaver, Moores Mills, St. Stephen, N.B. EOG 2LO, 17 years old. Interests: Sports, reading, writing, working with people, understanding my culture, studying false advertising. Kim Wheatley, 2247 Hurontario St., Apt. 814, Mississauga, Ontario, 14 years old. Interests: Sports, disco music, dancing, and I like meeting people and making new friends. Marie Saunders, 2247 Hurontario St., Apt. #528, Mississauga, Ontario L5A 2G2, 14 years old. Interests: My hobbies are sports, I like to play the clarinet, my favorite subjects in Poetry school are gym and art. I also like to meet people and I like dancing. Charlette Anne Brigley, Colton Brook Rd.. R.R. #501-2, Rothesay, N.B., 9 years old. Interests: Playing dolls, playing games, skating, sliding, baseball. Helen Saunders. 2247 Hurontario St. #628, Mississauga. Ontario L5A 2G2, 15 years old. Interests: Collecting certain pennies, I play the recorder, a bit o f guitar, I paint a lot, sports (hockey) tennis, and I like to meet new friends. I like to write letters. Gary LeBouthillier, R.R. #1 Site 10 Box 5, Bas Caraquet, N.B. EOB IEO, 9 years old. Interests: Reading, karate, skating, base­ ball, skiing, swimming, fishing. Brian LeBouthillier, R.R. #1 Site 10 Box 5, Bas Caraquet, N.B. EOB IEO, 12 years old. Interests: Skating, skiing, swimming, fishing, hunting, karate, badminton, volley­ ball, football, baseball. Douglas Diotte. 431 Goderich St., Dalhousie, N.B., 13 years old. Interests: Playing sports, hunting, hiking. Perry Harquail, 431 Goderich St.. Dalhousie. N.B., 13 years old. Interests: Baseball, football, swimming, hiking, soccer. hockey, WALK BESIDE ME Junk yards, cigars, freeze dried food. I’ caught in a prairie fire. m Magazines and limousines. — unwanted children — I could just sit and cry. Smoke stacks, jet planes and evil eyes, streets full o f lies. Come, walk along beside me. We will go away to a place where there is life. Billy Pryor ANOTHER DAWN On a warm August dusk I walked quietly to the east end o f the pond to watch the sunset in the still water, picking blueberries on the way as the night began to show its life. Like music to my heart the deer came to drink on the far bank. A raccoon raised its head from a sleeping log, rubbing the daylight from his eyes. Across the sun’fading image s rode a beaver heading home to its lodge. So too, I must head home. For the night is only for the keenest o f eyes, and like the creatures o f the light, I must sleep till another dawn. Hart Lapointe, 431 Goderich St., Dalhousie, N.B., 10 years old. Interests: Soccer, football, hiking, swimming. Kathy Mary Nash, 248 St. Mary’ St., s Fredericton, N.B., 13 years old. Interests: Swimming, beadwork, leatherwork, biking, cooking and housework. Letha Brooks, 30 Maliseet Dr., Frederic­ ton, N.B., 15 years old. Interests: Horseback riding, baseball, volleyball, beadwork, needlepoint, dancing (Indian) and cheerleading. John Brooks, 30 Maliseet Dr., Frederic­ ton. N.B.. 10 years old. Interests: Hockey, baseball, horseback riding, football, biking. Indian dancing. Leonard Brooks. 30 Maliseet Dr., Fred­ ericton. N.B.. 7 years old. Interests: Playing cars, cards (fish or snap), running, swimming, Indian dancing, skating. Dana Brooks, 30 Maliseet Dr., Frederic­ ton, N.B,, 7 years old. Interests: Dolls, baseball, skipping, swimming, skating, cards (fish or snap). Tara Helena Brooks, 30 Maliseet Dr., Fredericton, N.B., 13 years old. Interests: Horseback riding, swimming, volleyball, baseball, leatherwork, beadwork, cards, skating. SUCH A THING Love... Is there such a thing as love ... anymore ... In this day o f one night stands and rock and roll bands, Lustful looks and how-to books. Is there a woman left Whose eyes can see through all this chaos to a lonely heart in search o f a sharing love away from this empty cold world. Billy Pryor THE CHANGING SEASON Tree tops bend gently in the wind leaves float softly to the earth. The feeling o f changing season all around. Overhead the hawk glides, seemingly effortless upon the currents. Below, animals fast at work storing for a winter’feast. s Billy Pryor I ponder the thought — the miracles before me Behold the Beauty o f Life — the meaning — Do not be diverted For it is here Within the changing season That I belong. Billy Pryor ED ITO R ’ NOTE: Poet Billy Pryor, an S Osage Metis Indian, has purchased an old farm near Smyrna, N.Y., where he and his wife Heidi have built a log cabin. The couple hope to do subsistence farming, and event­ ually form a metis (part Indian blood) com ­ munity in the area. These poems were sub­ mitted for publication by Pryor’ friend s Charles E. Colcord o f New York City, a Pen­ obscot Metis. �Page 4 Wabanaki Alliance February 1978 Passing on Indian traditions By Isabelle Knockwood Toney Traditions are unwritten moral codes and customs which were passed down to us, one generation to the next. Not only do they serve as vital links with our ancestors but they contain within them vital information regarding our identity which cannot be found in any text version, geological dig or museum display. Securely embedded within our traditions are the analytic tools and resources with which to rebuild our Wabanaki Nation of which the Micmacs are a part along with the Maliseets, Penobscots, Passamaquoddy and the almost extinct Abenaki. Their purpose is to unite people and to keep them united. Their principles remain constant even though lifestyles may change. Freedom violated Many small farmers who have found it impossible to make a decent living on the farm have migrated to the city. They choose to change their lifestyle and to keep their religious beliefs and ancient traditions. Native people no longer depend entirely on natural resources for food, shelter and clothing but unlike the farmer their freedom to choose where and how to live was not rec­ ognized but ignored and often violated. It is generally believed that traditions are regressive, hindering progress and even setting us back to the 14th century. Don t look back advise the progres­ sives. “ Look to your traditional counsel, the Medicine people. But where can native people search for answers to their innumer­ able and overwhelming problems? Tradi­ tions were never written down; one can’ t take a course on them. For those “ close encounters”o f the best kind we could start with the family unit because it is the smallest nuclear unit in society. Sadly, it seems that the only thing that brings families together today is a crisis, like the death o f one o f its members. That’not how it was meant to be. s Awareness o f ourselves as true people of the land will lead us to accept our indi­ viduality and joint responsibility to ensure the survival o f our race. Only through working together will we learn to appreciate the true social values o f our traditions. For the community-minded there are traditional suppers, story telling, guessing games that test psych ic abilities, and physical endurance, name-giving for those who want Indian names, impromptu chanting and dancing, and drum sessions. But can ancient traditions teach us survival techniques in today’ modern s world? Do they offer constructive alter­ natives to what we have today? Yes. The principles o f our native traditions are based on survival and they utilize the sharing and unity concepts as guidelines to living. But... does living in a highly mechanized society satisfy both material and spiritual needs? Can we afford to be subjective and sharing when our jobs demand that we be objective and competitive? For some, no: traditionalists grow weary o f the stereotyped Indian imagery and want to fulfill their purpose in life, to pass on to future genera­ tions the corrected version o f the native person. Monetary vs. spiritual values This leads us to question whether tradi­ tional people have human and civil rights or if traditional religious beliefs were ever made illegal? Mainly because the dollar sign has yet to sanction them, traditional ways and those who have the values o f their grandparents will continue to be ridiculed. The1general feeling is that monetary values invalidate spiritual ones. This is true when there is parallel thinking. This causes polarization. Going back to the circle, we will find that politics, economics and spirituality are all parts of the same whole. We then should be concentrating on the specifics that make things work without developing just one fragment o f our person­ alities, to the point that it invalidates the others. Federal funding has gone into various aspects o f native culture, including language and basket weaving. Land claims are being researched daily and reams written on native spirituality. We tend to forget that true spirituality is highly individualistic and comes from personal and interpersonal re­ lationships with other members o f the universe including plants, animals and the earth. It was exactly this philosophy that earned for our beloved grandparents the labels of savage, heathen and pagan. Because one’ beliefs determine one's s behavior, it is vital to our children that we re-examine those beliefs that cause us to behave the way we do toward each other, our women, children, elders and the land. On examination we may just discover that Sachems, Sagmows and Clan Mothers were indeed wise in the ways of working and living together. Individuals may say, “ far as I’ As m concerned I m getting along nicely without any traditions.”As a society though, we are alienated from each other, our families and brothers and sisters o f other tribes. Identity survives To have survived four centuries o f on­ slaught against the masses as well as violations against the earth and the elements sky, water, air and land — demanded of native people a little more than mere physical stamina. It extracted from them a strong will to live combined with a clearly defined statement o f purpose. To the extent that native people need money, they are capitalists. Because they live in isolation on reserves they have been labeled Red. Communistic, Socialist, Demo­ cratic and, or Anarchists. Whatever the label, native people will continue to be manipulated until they unite and define themselves. In an attempt to identify Indian problems, experts agree that there exists yet another disease brought over on the May­ flower, the Identity Crisis. Symptoms in­ clude High Alcoholism Rate, High-drop­ out-rate and a short life span that can terminate in suicide. Chronic conditions manifest themselves through depression, low employment and low productivity. You treat the symptoms in emergency cases with welfare and federally funded programs. Experts forget that one’identity does not s come first. It comes last, after: a land base has been inhabited. —a culture has been cultivated from avail­ able resources. traditions have been established from people working together, a history written by the people themselves because the history o f any nation is written by the conquerors. In conclusion Thw JoKph, a Micmac Indian and recent gradnate of Honlton High School, adjusts her snowshoes with help of David Sooobj, a Wilderness Pursuits instructor and also a Honiton area native Ttoa, who hopes to work with the Orono-based Indian youth program, joined in a recent leader training trip on the frozen Penobscot River Anti-backlash group organizes O u r forefathers and clan mothers endured many hardships and celebrated many joys in order to pass along traditions that would work within the context o f nature and the environment. Tradition helps us to maintain our in­ dividuality and identity. After we do all these things we will experience a little of what our ancestors.felt: Indian pride. WASHINGTON - Anti-Indian backlash to land claims suits has promoted the nation’ two largest Indian groups to unite s and launch "a national campaign for the survival of the Indian tribal governments.” According to a spokesman for the National Congress o f American Indians and the National Tribal Chairmen’Association, s "As a result o f court recognition o f Indian rights and claims, and the greater assertions o f sovereign rights and pow ers by increasingly sophisticated tribal govern­ ments, growing resentment is developing around the country,” according to a joint statement issued by the two groups. The spokesman added that the Interstate Congress for Equal Rights and Responsi­ bilities has coordinated backlash move­ ments in a nationwide effort to eliminate Indian treaties, federal programs, and Indian tribal governments. The two Indian organizations, which represent one-hundred tribes each, intend to raise at least $250,000 to fight the backlash. SS benefits and job said okay By David L. Rudolph Central Maine Indian Assn. Retired people can earn some money and still get social security benefits. And now, the amount one can earn increased from $200 to $230 per month, average earnings. But did you know that these earnings are used to determine, “ the absence o f in evidence to the contrary, ability to engage in substantial gainful activity.” This is what was published in the Federal Register and effective as o f 13 January 1978: 1 If a person earned: . a. Prior to 1976 an average o f $200 per month or b. Following 1976 an average of $230 per month; that person would be de­ termined to be able to engage in “ substantial gainful activity.” 2. If a person earned: a. Prior to 1976 an average o f $130 per month or b. Following 1976 an average o f $150 per month; these earnings would “ demonstrate that the person is not able to engage in substantial gainful activity.” Regardless o f the earnings then, with an increased amount allowable, many other factors still need to be included to determine if a person is disabled. To understand what use is made of this information by the Social Security Admin­ istration, the best action would be to call the office nearest you. Do you have a d rin k in g p ro b le m ? Wabanaki Corporation offers an alco­ holism program for Indian people who need help because o f problems with alcohol. If you have such a problem and need help, or know o f someone in need, please contact the Alcoholism Counselor in your community or area. Indian Island — Alcoholism Coun­ selor — Clarence Francis — 207-8665577. Indian Township — Alcoholism Coun­ selor — Martha Barstis — 207-796-2321. Pleasant Point — Alcoholism Coun­ selor — Grace Roderick — 207-8532537. Association o f Aroostook Indians — Alcoholism Counselor — Pious Perley — 207-762-3751. Central Maine Indian Association — Alcoholism Counselor — Alfred Dana — 207-269-2653 or 207-866-5577. �Wabanaki Alliance February 1978 Page5 Claims settlement (Continued from page 1 ) There was speculation that President Carter might announce or comment on a settlement package at his scheduled visit to Bangor (Maine) Feb. 17. The current Penobscot-Passamaquoddy case ffegan with the discovery in 1957 o f a 1794 treaty. The treaty, between the Passamaquoddy tribe and Massachusetts, was found in an Indian woman’home at Indian s Township. But not until 1966 did the find attract public attention. In that year Passamaquoddy tribal Gov. John Stevens led a sit-in at the Township when a non-Indian attempted to force Indian families off what he claimed was his land. Trespassing charges against Indians were dismissed, but not before Donald Gellers. Eastport lawyer, had become interested because the Passamaquoddies used the 1794 treaty as their defense. Tureen, then a law student, worked to research the treaty with Gellers in the summer o f 1967. In 1970, the tribe hired Tureen as their land claims lawyer. He is associated with Native American Rights Fund (NARF), o f Boulder, Co. In 1971. Tureen said his research showed the 1794 treaty, which took land from the Passamaquoddies. was "null and void" under the 1790 Non-intercourse Act. Maynard Polchies, AAI president, conducting business from his wheelchair at his Houlton home. [O’ Neal Photo] Indian leader sees change (Continued from page 1 ) Later, a relative was the first Indian student to graduate from Houlton High School. Now there are more Indians enrolled, but not as many as Maynard would like to see in school. He hopes his own children, Rodney, 14, and Mark, 11, will want to attend college. His sons are growing up "too fast,” said. he Maynard is pleased that his own father, who lives nearby, spends time with Rodney. "The old man learns him a little Indian; he’patient,”Polchies said. s In 20 years o f living in Houlton, first driving a truck and working on a farm, Polchies has seen Indians make advances in education, employment and health. But anti-Indian prejudice has yet to be overcome. “ Ever since we started the organization (AAI), there’ been prejudice. We tried to s fight it, but you can’ Polchies said t,” without bitterness. He said Aroostook Indians, who mostly do seasonal work as blueberry and potato pickers, hear the same thing when they apply for a new job: WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. William S. Cohen (R-Maine’ Second District) has laid s the foundation for Congressional public hearings on the Maine Indian land claims suit. Quoted in the Bangor Daily News, Cohen said, “ The Maine case would be the starting point in discussions to develop a compre­ hensive approach to all o f the Indian claims. We expect representatives o f the Carter administration, the tribes, the governor, and the attorney general to testify at the hearings.” Cohen said these hearings “ would in no way interfere with the current negotiations (between three federally appointed negotia­ tors and the Maine tribes).” The House move to schedule the hearings is viewed as an appeasement to the Maine Seasonal program serves many Indians By Bill O ’ Neal ORONO — The problem with seasonal work is that it’seasonal. s This is a serious problem for hundreds of "Someone came the day before and took it.” Maine Indians, who regularly find them­ Major problems for northern Maine Indians are lack of adequate housing, health selves unemployed at the end of harvest and social services, employment, and edu­ time, whether it be in the potato fields of cation counseling. "Almost everything we Aroostook County or the blueberry fields of have problems with, but we’ doing Washington County. re David Depew, head o f Maine Indian something,”Polchies said. Conditions back on the Canadian reserva­ Manpower Services here has the job of tion have improved so much that Maynard's assisting seasonal or migrant workers who brother returned, but Maynard is not have problems because o f the temporary considering any such move, even though his nature o f their work. Maine Manpower most uncle, Winston Paul, is a Maliseet chief in often trains them for permanent jobs, thus removing them from the uncertainties o f a Canada. Maynard Polchies does not think about seasonal income. W orking under the Com prehensive himself much; he’ too busy caring for s others. His was one o f the only licensed Employment and Training Act (CETA). s Indian foster homes in Maine. Over the Depew’ agency annually handles around years he and his wife have cared for at least 500 seasonal employees and migrant a dozen children, adding their own money to workers, entering Maine from other states the insufficient state check. It worries or Canada. Depew’budget for this year is $208,000, s Polchies that so many Indian youngsters are up somewhat from last year's figures. placed in non-Indian foster homes. To qualify for the program, a worker Whether it’ caring for foster children or s for AAI members, Polchies is on the job. "1 must have worked at least 25 days, but not more than 150. must meet income level never campaign or try to cut anyone down. 1 never promised anyone anything. I just see requirements, and earn 50 per cent o f his income from seasonal work. O f the 500 what I can do.” people assessed each year, approximately 200 enter the program, roughly 60 per cent being Indians, with the remainder being Non-Indian people who are in some way related to an Indian family. delegation, which was thwarted in its efforts For eligib le individuals a two-fold during the last session to have tribal claims approach (involving training and services in Maine extinguished. during training,) is used to prepare them for Vice President Walter Mondale said the the job market. Training includes work ex­ Carter administration is preparing a policy perience, on-the-job training and classroom statement assuring all tribes due process in training. pressing their claims. He further said that Depew described the work experience the administration opposes legislation such program as a "counseling tool.”It usually as that introduced by Maine lawmakers, involves placing an individual in a work designed to extinguish tribal claims. environment, not requiring specific skills, Mondale said the administration favors and is used both to evaluate problems he negotiations between the states and tribes might have, such as tardiness or absenteism, involved, rather than direct Congressional and to help him to adapt to a regular action. schedule o f employment. Most people Cohen said he feels the scheduled enrolled in the program have entered under hearings will enable Congress to deal with the work experience category. the land claims issue in a comprehensive Although Depew is occasionally able to fashion, instead o f through piecemeal leg­ place an applicant without first training islation as has been done in the past. him, usually some on-the-job training is Congress plans claims hearings In 1972 Tureen filed suit in Federal District Court, Maine, alleging that the Non-intercourse Act applies to the tribe, and creates a trust relationship with the federal government. After litigation, the government filed suits of $150 million each against the State o f Maine, on behalf o f both the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes. (By this time Tureen had included the Penobscots, who reportedly have a stronger claim o f aboriginal title to land than do the Passamaquoddies.) State officials apparently did not take the case seriously until 1974, but even after that did not intervene in court proceedings. Maine Congressional delegation drafted a bill to wipe out Indian land claims, but later withdrew it. In December 1975 these proceedings resulted in a U.S. Appeals Court decision upholding a trust relationship between the Passamaquoddy tribe and federal govern­ ment. Last fall, both the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes were recognized as federal Indians, a change in status that entitles the tribes to a range o f federal grants and services. The new status leaves the State Department o f Indian Affairs, formerly in charge of Maine Indians, in a confused role that has not yet been publicly explained. needed. Under this part o f the program, the employer who trains the applicant is reimbursed by CETA for one-half the expense of training, including salary. Most on-the-job placements occur during slack business periods when employers have time to train new people. Studies have shown that inadequate education often makes it difficult for seasonal and migrant farm workers to compete for non-agricultural jobs in the rural areas. This deficiency is approached through the third aspect of the training program, classroom training. Depew said this instruction ranges from preparation for taking high school equivalency tests to course work such as learning to drive a truck. Depew feels that training is the major force in stabilizing migrant workers’ incomes, because it lifts them out o f the seasonal cycle in which they are trapped. He is also able to offer a variety o f services, both to those enrolled in one of the training pro­ grams and to others satisfying the work and poverty requirements. Among these services are health and medical benefits, emergency assistance for purchasing clothing, child care, and transportation to training sites. Depew said that when he began the program he anticipated a great deal of response both in Aroostook County with the workers in the potato fields and in Wash­ ington County with the blueberry pickers and clamdiggers. However, federal guide­ lines did not recognize clamdiggers as migrant or seasonal workers. He fought unsuccessfully for several years to include diggers in the program, but now considers it a “ dead issue.” Most blueberry pickers do not derive 50 per cent o f their annual income from this pursuit and therefore are not eligible. Con­ sequently, although Depew feels that recognition o f the clamdiggers would greatly expand program participation in Washing­ ton County, his main thrust has been with potato harvesters in Aroostook County. Depew, originally from Montana, first became involved with working with Indian people while studying health planning. He said that during his studies it became obvious to him that it was “ Indian people who suffered most.” �Page 6 Wabanald Alliance February 1978 An open letter on state payment of priests NOTE: The following open letter to Maine say that had England offered them religious changed without the consent o f Massa­ Atty. Gen. Joseph Brennan was submitted to teachers before they would have accepted chusetts and presumably that of Congress State Departments to carry out their various Wabanaki Alliance by its author, Glenn rather than the French Catholics. In also, since the assent o f Massachusetts duties passed in 1977. This allocates money Starbird. Volume 9; Page 495 o f the Resolves 1708- would o f necessity have to be in the form of for this purpose up until June 30, 1978 at least. Indian Island 1720, Chapter 104 it provides for a an interstate compact. In that Act o f SepI have at this point been unable to get the Hon. Joseph E. Brennan committee to be formed to propose a . aration is the article concerning Maine’ s full text o f your opinion and can only go by Attorney General method o f instructing the Eastern Indians in assuming Massachusetts’ obligations to State House what I have read in the newspapers religion and learning, (passed November 15, Maine Indians. concerning it but I cannot think you could Augusta, Maine 04333 1716) Chapter 55 o f Resolves — passed June Thus it can be seen that the whole body of have arrived at the conclusions you did had Dear Joe: 21, 1717 — Report o f the Committee — Massachusetts Law in existance at that time you been furnished with adequate back­ It has been some time since I have written They could only find one minister who was adopted at one stroke by Maine. It is ground material. The record is clear from or talked to you, but your public statements would go as a missionary, a Mr. Baxter. His true that much o f that law has been repealed the Charter o f 1628 to the present time that o f last month concerning payment of church wouldn’let him go. It was voted to by the passage o f time and the action o f the t the intention o f the Legislature has always salaries and expenses o f the Roman Catholic let the Governor and Council proceed with Legislature but it would appear that the been to provide for the clergy serving the clergy on Maine’ Indian Reservations s the said affair. Baxter must have eventually Resolve o f 1798 establishing a salary for the Indian Tribes — indeed — it could probably struck me as directly contrary to my own been allowed to go as a missionary because priest has never been repealed only altered be argued quite successfully that in view of research on the subject. I have therefore put Chapter 52 o f the Resolves passed July 4, by changing circumstances. In addition to the historical and legal record clergy o f together my notes in what I hope is a com­ 1718 forms a committee to persuade him to this it would also seem from the above that other denominations than Catholic on the prehensible form, in order to show that the go another year and appropriates 150 the Legislature can only alter or perhaps Reservations should also be paid by the practice o f the State paying Catholic clergy pounds for his services another year as change the way the priest is paid, it cannot State. goes back several centuries and although formerly. He is to be instructed to teach altogether abolish such payment by the I may be wrong or the conclusions I have strictly speaking it is not authorized in our religion to grown people and the Indian State for it is bound to such payment by the come to may be wrong but I have gone over public laws, it is authorized by the Legisla­ children to read. Volume 1 o f Resolves — 1 Constitution in the Act o f Separation. The them again and again and I can come to no ture every time the Appropriations Com­ page 669, Chapter 48 passed July 5, 1732 Act o f Separation cannot be altered without other results from the facts presently mittee and the Legislature authorizes the voted 100 pounds each for three mission­ action by three bodies, the Legislatures of existing. I feel the research I have done into State Budget. For each and every Appro­ aries for five years to the Eastern Indians. Maine and Massachusetts and the Congress this subject is important enough to share priations Committee has been fully aware of They should reside at the truck house on St. o f the United States and probably also the with others concerned with it in State what is asked for in the requests o f each George’ River, Fort Richmond and the people o f Maine in a referendum since this s Government as well as with the public at department and I do not know o f any time blockhouse above Northfield. Again; we involves altering a part o f the State Con­ large, and especially with the Indian Com­ they have ever refused to authorize the find in Volume 24; Page 159 (Baxter MSS.) stitution. munity. I am therefore, sending copies of salaries and expenses o f Catholic Chaplains a record o f an agreement signed at the The presently existing legal vehicle that this letter to them for their consideration. on the Reservations. Furthermore I think Council Chamber in Boston between was used by the Legislature to carry out its you are well aware o f the terms o f tha Act of Governor Sir Francis Bernard and the constitutional obligations to the clergy of Sincerely, Separation passed by the Legislature o f Penobscot Chiefs; — July 26, 1769. — M aine’ Indian reservations was the s S. Glenn Starbird Massachusetts and embodied in our own Among their acknowledgements, agree­ document allocating money to the various Penobscot Tribal Historian State Constitution, regarding M aine’ ments and requests that they (the Penobs obligations to its’Indians. In Article 10; scots) ask for a Priest. Section 5; Fifth Part, it says in part; “ The Thus is would seem that by the time o f the new State shall, . . . assume and perform all Revolution the Province o f Massachusetts the duties and obligations o f this Common­ Bay had given up trying to persuade the wealth, towards the Indians in the said Eastern Indians to become Protestants and District o f Maine, whether the same arise had decided to pay for Clergymen o f the from treaties or otherwise; . . .”How large a Roman Catholic faith if one could be found. territory does the “ otherwise" cover? This Note the following; Massachusetts Con­ could probably be argued but historical stitution o f 1780: Part First o f Article III — research shows that it covered a very big “ Legislature to require towns, etc. to range o f obligations. It certainly did include provide for the publick worship o f God . . . payment o f the salaries and expenses of and publick support and maintainance.” clergy as will be shown. Section 6 goes on to say in substance that a The practice o f State support o f chaplains taxpayer . . . “ can require monies he pays on the Indian Reservations has a long for support . .. o f religious teachers be . . . historical precedent and is rooted deeply in applied to his own . . . sect or denomina­ Massachusetts colonial law. The firsr tion.”Article VI says further that “ laws All Charter o f Massachusetts Bay Colony under Colony, Porvince or State o f Massa­ granted by King Charles I in 1628 states chusetts shall remain in full force until that: “ principal reason . . . for forming the altered ...” the colony was the conversion o f the Under Chapter 8 o f the Resolves o f 1783, Indians. ’ Although this Charter was voided seventy-four pounds, six shillings and four in 1684, the Charter o f the Province of pence were paid to the priest for the Indians M assachusetts Bay granted by King in full for wages and rations, also forty-eight William HI and Queen Mary II in 1 1 69 shillings to defray his board. Said sums to be strongly reaffirms the provisions o f the 1628 charged to the United States and that he be Charter concerning the conversion o f the discharged from further services. (The Indian people. Resolves o f 1781 and 1782 on this subject The Charter o f William and Mary says, carry practically the same language.) speaking to the settler’ conduct: “ as s So Chapter 69A o f the Resolves — May their good life and orderly conversation may Session 1798 — Upon petition o f Francis win the Indians, natives o f that country, to Antony Matignon o f the Catholic Church in the knowledge and obedience o f that only Boston — appropriated S200.00 per annum true God and Saviour o f mankind and the for the support o f a teacher o f religion and Christian faith, which his Royal Majesty, morality among the Passamaquoddy and our royal grandfather King Charles the Penobscot Indians until further order o f the First, in his letters patent declared was his General Court — To be paid out o f the royal intention,... to be the principal end o f public treasury. Chapter 64 o f the Resolves the said plantation.” January Session 1802, raised the Priest’ s DYER BROOK — Ruby Schillinger finds Sweetgrass, which retains its scent foi How the Province o f Massachusetts Bay Salary by $75.00 to $275.00 per annum time to raise seven kids and maintain a years, is often incorporated in Mrs and later the Commonwealth o f Massa­ Chapter 210 o f the Resolves of 1819 raised basket making business as well. Schillinger’ baskets. She makes hampers, s chusetts attem pted to meet their the Pnest s salary to $350.00 per annum. A Micmac Indian who grew up here, Mrs. constitutional obligations toward its Indian The Constitution o f the new State of Schillinger is an expert in making baskets dog baskets and picnic baskets. And she teaches her children her skills. population is readily seen in the Acts and Maine in 1820 brought whole sections o f the for fishing, potato harvesting, backpacking “ mother taught me when I was a little My Resolves passed in the eighteenth century. Massachusetts Constitution into it with and for children to put their dolls in — girl. Then I got married and didn’ make t At first they tried to get the Indians to identical or nearly identical wording. Much woven cradles. baskets for awhile. I was rusty starting up.” accept a Protestant missionary and upon o f this phraseology will be found to have had When business is brisk, she can earn as But the rust was soon replaced by ability repeated refusals and only limited success its origin in the Charters from the English much as $200 weekly. “ Pretty near every­ and speed. “ used to make 100 potato I finally agreed to finance the Catholic Monarchs. In Article 10 o f the Maine Con­ body goes fishing around here,” Mrs. Priests, a practice that has continued to the stitution will be found a section repeating Schillinger said. And o f course, "The baskets per week,” Mrs. Schillinger said, adding that she worked some days from 6 present time. almost word for word from the Constitution County” (Aroostook) is potato picking a.m. to 10 p.m. Consider the following: In Volume 7; o f 1780 — That “ laws now in force in country. All Her son Arthur, 15, is an avid learner. “ If Pages 736-739 o f the Resolves 1692-1702 is this State, and not repugnant to this Con­ Her husband, Elden, a mechanic, I just keep after him, h ell be a good basket recorded a meeting with the Eastern Indians stitution, shall remain, and be in force, until obtained a vintage piece o f equipment from maker,”his mother said. Other children in at Casco Bay on June 3, 1701. The twelfth altered or repealed by the Legislature, or a blacksmith that is used to mechanically the family are Barbara, 13, Joanne, 1 6, proposition to the Indians made at that shall expire by their own limitation.”As also pound wood for basket making. Mrs, Roger, 14, Michael, 10, Carla, eight, and meeting offered them ministers of religion. is well known the fifth Section o f Article 10 Schillinger prefers brown ash for most Jimmy, five. The Indians answered by thanking the Com­ is the text o f the Act o f Separation, required basket work. It grows near her home, but Anyone wishing to order a basket, of missioners but refused for they said they had to be placed by its own provisions in any requires a snowmobile and snowshoes to get whatever kind, may write to Ruby their own religious teachers. They went on to constitution Maine adopts. It cannot be in wintertime, she said. Schillinger at B oi 67, Smyrna Mills, Maine. Basketry is family tradition �Wabanaki Alliance February 1978 Page 7 Reservation funding withheld AUGUSTA — The recent decision by the federal Law Enforcement Assistance Ad­ ministration (LEAA) to withhold funding of Indian reservation police has been termed “ suspicious” by Maine Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Charles W. Rhynard. The LEAA postponed distribution of the $134,000 grant until a report to the Eastern Maine Development District is completed, Rhynard was concerned that the Indians were not notified o f the decision. “ When the funds didn’show up, they had to ask what t happened.” The reasons for allowing funding to lapse may go deeper than the need to complete the report, he said. In a UPI article Rhynard stated, “ The feeling among tribal leaders is somebody in the Bureau o f Indian Affairs told the LEAA not to do any favors for Maine Indians, because they’ stepped on d some toes. Maine Indians have at times gone Carter's budget tags funds for Indians WASHINGTON — Recent news reports say President Carter’proposed half trillion s dollar national budget includes a $2.6 million appropriation for the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes of Maine. Those two tribes last year won federal rec­ ognition, making them eligible for a number of federal services and grants. Not eligible for such benefits are Maine's Micmac and Maliseet Indians, or native Americans of other affiliation. Carter’ $2.6 million would be designated s for health services to the two tribes. Summer jobs set in Youth Corps HOULTON — Indian youth aged 15-18 are invited to apply for summer jobs with the U.S. Youth Conservation Corps. Both boys and girls are welcome. Jobs will involve environmental projects in Maine. For more information call Clair Sabattis, 532-7158, after 4 p.m. Nutrition Notes By Natalie Mitchell Last month we had mentioned Vitamin A and its importance to bodily functions. Now, we will discuss Vitamin “ , also called C” ascorbic acid. This essential vitamin is important for the formation o f a substance called, collagen. It acts as a, “ cement” which holds cells, blood , vessels, tendon, etc., together. Vitamin C also stimulates white blood cells production which guards against infections. It also helps wounds to heal at a proper rate, helps to relieve excessive fatigue, and aids in the absorption o f iron in the intestinal tract. Food sources o f ascorbic acid or vitamin C is citrus fruits, raw cabbage, strawberries, broccoli, tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes (baked), raw green vegetables, and cantaloupe. Vitamin C is not stored in the body. Therefore, each day this should be taken in. One 4 ounce glass o f orange juice will supply a total daily requirement. If it is taken in excessive amounts, it will only be excreted through urination. directly to the person where they can get results instead of going through the bureaucracy.” He said the excuse o f a pending state report “ was a pretty lame one.” The state has advanced the Indians a portion o f the $28,000 it contributes to reservation police salaries. Rhynard said i t . appeared likely that funds will be reinstated on March 1 although he was not satisfied . with this date. “ I'm not going to stop bugging them until I figure out if we can loosen up the funds quicker. I would like to find out whether there’ any hanky panky s going on between the bureaucracies.” he said. The $162,000 provided by the state and federal government is budgeted to pay salaries o f a superintendent of police at each reservation, nine full time officers, nine part time officers and three part time secretaries and bookkeepers. Jesuit fakes post INDIAN TOWNSHIP — The. Rev. Joseph R. Laughlin, a Jesuit, has succeeded Raymond Picard as priest at St. Anne’ s Parish here. A veteran o f many years in psychological counseling work, Laughlin, 51, reports that attendance at his Church is excellent. “ I listen to the people and what they're doing, that's my philosophy," he said. A Boston native, Laughlin directed a learning center in Roxbury, and has taught in Boston public schools. A graduate of Boston College, he also obtained a master's degree in education from that school. He is a specialist in reading, and crisis counseling. Health building planned at Houlton HOULTON — Plans are currently being studied that would convert an existing building to a new Indian health and social services center in the Houlton area. Officials at the Association of Aroostook Indians (AAI) here, are negotiating to buy the Ponderosa arena, but one spokesman said the asking price for the large building is too high. A new clinic and office center would serve AAI’ 1,500 members, mostly s Micmac and Maliseet Indians. The center would be funded by federal Health, Education and Welfare funds, obtained through a joint effort with Gregory Buesing of the Indian Task Force, Federal Regional Council o f New England, a spokesman said. AAI’offices might be moved to the new s center from their present location on Bowdoin Street, Houlton, and the old building, a former residence, could be converted to a group home or halfway house, he said. CMIA spokesm en to testify on act WASHINGTON — Two representatives o f Central Maine Indian Association (CMIA) o f Orono were scheduled as of press time to testify on behalf o f the Indian Child Welfare Act o f 1977. Michael Ranco and David Rudolph were to meet with a Congressional committee on the bill, which has already been passed by the U.S. Senate. The bill has yet to pass in the House. Ranco said the bill is significant because it would help stop abusive child welfare practices that have often separated Indian children from their families, and from their Indian heritage. As of Tuesday, Feb. 14, the MITA office in Orono will have a new telephone system. Our new numbers will be: 866-5566 and 866-5567. Our state wide toll free number will remain the same at 1-800-432-7326. Maine Indian Transportation Association Annette McKee of Houlton, a Micmac Indian, confronts Everett Sapiel of Great Works, a Penobscot, in a friendly fracas on a recent Wilderness Pursuits course in outdoor leadership training, held at Sugar Island, on the Penobscot River. Indian holds high office WASHINGTON — Another office in the Executive branch might normally not be cause for celebration, but the new post of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs es­ tablishes not only a new voice for Indians but a voice with authority. Furthermore, the appointment of Forrest J. Gerard, 52, a Montana Blackfoot, to the post places an Indian in the highest Federal position since Charles Curtis was Vice President in 1928. As Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Gerard will also act as head of what he refers to as “ old and muchthe maligned Bureau o f Indian Affairs.”He is quick to point out that whereas before the BIA head was left out of policy-making de­ cisions, in his capacity as Assistant Secre­ tary, he is directly involved in policy decisions and is empowered to deal directly with the Office o f Management and Budget and with Congress. While extending no false hopes about revitalizing the Bureau o f Indian Affairs Gerard does “ intend to strengthen the bureau’ responsibility as trustee for the s Indians”and “ strengthen the tribal gov­ to ernments and improve the bureau’ services s to them.” One o f his chief priorities seems to be shifting control to the tribes themselves. In a recent New York Times interview he states, "The tribes should be allowed to exercise whatever sovereignty they are legally entitled to. Sovereignty means in part the control Indians have over the non-In­ dians living within their reservations, and what this really means is who controls the Indian resou rces.” “ There’ a growing feeling in the Indian s community that things are getting like they were in the 1880’ an apprehension that the s, tribes once again possess things—uranium and oil and natural gas—that are going into short supply. He was referring to the gold and silver shortages of the 1880’ when s, whites seized Indian lands, rich in the metals. Included In this increased sovereignty would be a restructuring o f the old BIA and an acceleration in the change o f the role of the area offices from acting as administra­ tors of Indian matters to training and assistance. Gerard’ role is a timely one, coming s when Indian land claims throughout the nation have forced many people to take a reluctant look at injustices to the Indian which they have been able to ignore for so long. In the interview in The New York Times Gerard said ". . . an increasing hos­ tility toward Indians is developing in Congress where we're confronting the most serious backlash we’ ever faced.” ve “ We need a solution to temper the attitudes o f the Eastern Congressmen, who have certainly faced new problems because o f the land claims,” he continued. “ For years they’ looked on the Indians as a ve Western problem like they considered busing a Southern problem. -Now, suddenly, it isn’that way any more, t and they are not happy about it,”He feels that the land claims are “ well founded.”He added that he was convinced that President Carter, who appointed him, was trying to solve the volatile Maine land claims through negotiation, which Gerard considers to be the best means. Not favoring militant tactics, he stated, “ WeYe seeing a decline in militancy among the Indians and, instead, an upsurge o f Indian determination to assert their rights and manage their own affairs, and 1 support that.”He views him­ self as “ cutting edge of a tough reform the movement.” Mr. Gerard’ government experience s began in 1949 after graduating from the University o f Montana. Born on the Blackfoot Reservation in Northwest Montana, his first posts were non-Indian health adminis­ tration agencies in Montana and Wyoming. He then came to Washington to work in the Bureau o f Indian Affairs as a legislative liaison officer and later worked as a profes­ sional staff member o f the Senate Interior Committee. During the last year he has been a lobbyist for several Indian organizations. His career has led him to one o f the most strategic positions held by an Indian, a position which now promises to be a major force in allowing Indians to shape their own future. As Gerard said: “ The root o f their problem is the right to govern their own affairs and guarantee the future welfare of the Indian people. That’ often lost sight of s in the strident rhetoric Indian matters are now generating.” �Page 8 Wabanaki Alliance February 1978 A flashback to the past News briefs By Vince Lovett Bureau of Indian Affairs NTCA-NCAI PREFER TW O-PAGE W A T E R PO LICY STA TEM EN T T O BIA’51: National Tribal Chairmen’Asso­ s s ciation and National Congress o f American Indians, and two major national Indian or­ ganizations, met in Washington, D.C., and adopted a two page statement on Indian water rights to go to the White House as the Indian community’ contribution to Presi­ s dent Carter’national water policy study. s NTCA and NCAI acting jointly, said they preferred their own concise statement to a 51-page document prepared by BIA under Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard’ direc­ s tion. Mel Tonasket, chairing a joint report session, said that the BIA statement was “ too long, didn’ hit the point and gave t OMB people room to get lost in.”He said that the working committee involved chose to develop a separate paper rather than to try to nit-pick the 51 pages. A transmittal letter to Gerard asked that the NTCA-NCAI statement be championed as the basic Indian paper; it asked that it be forwarded to the White House on an equal basis with Gerard’ document, not as an appendix s item or otherwise subordinated. The water policy material was supposed to be at the White House by February 1 . NTCA-NCAI LAUNCH JOINT EFFORT TO COUNTER BACKLASH: Joe DeLaCruz and Veronica Murdock, presidents of NTCA and NCAI, at a joint session in Washington, January 19 signed a counterbacklash document and tribal leaders AT THE EDGE OF THE SEA — This silhouette, from an early photograph, shows Wallace signed checks to make the document more Lewey, left, and George Stevens, Sr., in traditional tribal dress, at Pleasant Point Passathan just talk. maquoddy reservation. The last paragraph o f the document read: “ Accordingly, "the National Congress of American Indians and the National Tribal Chairmen’Association do hereby enter into s a joint effort o f cooperation in a national campaign for the survival of the Indian tribal governments, and do hereby invite the several tribes, their regional intertribal or­ SAN FRANCISCO — Jeanette Henry, 59, and self-determination, the Costos have ganizations, the various special-interest and and Robert Costo, 71, probably know more been able to put out all their publications professional organizations o f Indians, and about Indians than any other people in the without any government assistance, using non-Indian organizations that are sympathetic to the Indian causes for justice to United States, and for a very good reason. only Indian help. “ The purpose o f the American Indian assist us and join with us in this most critical As founders of the American Indian His­ torical Society, they have been compiling Historical Society is to promote and develop campaign.”It was announced at the session and publishing information about Indians the culture, education, and general welfare that some tribal groups had already made o f the American Indians, and to inform and contributions totaling more than $30,000 to since 1950. In an article in the Los Angeles Times educate the general public concerning the finance the effort; a check for $10,000, Costo described the society’beginning, “ s It history, languages, and general status of the another for $12,250 and other smaller ones was mostly a family research endeavor at natives as the original owners of this land,” — together with pledges o f various amounts first, building up a library, writing articles, Henry explained in the Times article. Al­ — were then added to the fund. The effort doing research.”What started as a family though publishing has been the chief means will be aimed at defeating anti-tribal legis­ research project has burgeoned into a o f pursuing this end, the Costos have been lation such as the Meeds and Cunningham bills and bringing about a change in public publishing and information center which active in many other ways, including: —Founding and organizing the Convoca­ attitudes that foster this kind o f legislation. regularly draws Indian leaders, scholars, tion o f American Indian Scholars, held LEGISLATOR SEEKS COMMISSION and politicians to the doors o f the society’ s every four years. ON TRIBAL-STATE RELATIONS: The San Francisco base. —Sponsoring a national conference on Speaker o f the Rhode Island State Legisla­ Henry, a Cherokee, and Costo, a ture talked at both the NTCA and NCAI California Cahuilla, entered the publishing Indian water rights. —Preparing curricula for educators in meetings in Washington, asking for Indian field with a modest mimeographed quarter­ involvement and cooperation in an effort to ly, the Indian Historian in 1964. The areas o f Indian studies. —Sponsoring workshops for classroom solve problems in tribal-state relations. magazine, which focuses on Indian cultural affairs, has grown to 64 pages and can be teachers on Indian history, culture, and The speaker, Ed Manning, heads a task found in libraries and universities through­ current affairs. force o f the National Conference o f State —Evaluating textbooks and placing the Legislators. Manning said his group is con­ out the country. In 1971 the couple began publishing The issue o f textbook correction on the subject of cerned about water rights issues, Indian Weewish Tree, a bimonthly magazine for Indians on a national plane. education and, primarily, jurisdiction. They Wassaja, the society’ newspaper, means think that court house solutions take too s young people stressing Indian America. “ showing the way.” long, are too costly and cause too much Over half o f the articles, poems, and illustrations are submitted by Indian children in elem entary school. The magazine now has 11,(X ) subscribers. X In 1973 they started the country’ first s and only national Indian newspaper, ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The presiBell, who is chief of Elementary and Wassaja. The 40-page paper, filled with dent o f an Indian^group had nothing but Secondary Education Branch, Area I, Office news, features, and photographs, has a compliments for a U.S. government official, for Civil Rights, Region VI, Department of circulation o f 80,000, o f which 85% are chief, after receiving his response to a com- Health, Education and Welfare, answered Indians. Although the paper has a dozen plaint filed earlier in connection with long her letter Dec. 16,1977. Indian reporters, the Costos do much o f the hair. His letter, said that "Data collected from writing, making monthly trips to Washing­ LaDonna Harris, president o f the Albu- the Pawnee Schools during an on-site review ton, D.C. to interview officials o f interest to querque-based A m ericans for Indian revealed that their current dress code does Indians. “ hope to have the first full-time Opportunity (AIO), wrote to John A. Bell, not speak to the issue o f hair length for We Indian press representative in the nation’ the official, that his letter “ s brought joy to males and, or females. No evidence is capital one o f these days,” Costo said. our hearts.” Harris had written to Bell’civil available to show a practice to the contrary s Over the past seven years the couple has rights, office in January, 1974, complaining in this regard. Consequently, we closed your served as co-publishers and editors o f over that the Oklahoma School System had complaint effective Dec. 16,1977.” 20 books authored by Indians. In keeping expelled some 200 Indian boys for wearing The full text o f Harris’ reply, dated Dec. with their emphasis on Indian traditions their hair long, traditional style. 21,1977, follows: West coast couple prints native American research bitterness. He said the state legislators want to form a commission composed equally of legislators and representatives o f Indian or­ ganizations to try to find solutions to some o f the problems, at least improve dialogue and perhaps start a few pilot projects. SUPREME COURT WILL RULE ON S E C R E T A R Y ’ P O W ER T O M AKE S “ INDIAN COUNTRY” The United States : Supreme Court has agreed to rule whether Federal or state courts have jurisdiction to try Choctaw Indians accused o f a crime that took place on their reservation in Missis­ sippi. The underlying question is whether the acquisition o f land and a 1944 procla­ mation by the Secretary o f the Interior that it is a reservation makes the area “ Indian Country” over which Federal, not state, courts would have jurisdiction. The gov­ ernment says the decision could have a serious impact on a state like California where many Indian reservations were created by a similar process. TRIBAL TAX ON OIL, GAS PRODUC­ TION RULED ILLEGAL: United States District Judge H. Vearle Payne o f Albu­ querque has ruled that an oil and gas tax levied by the Jicarilla Apache Tribe against non-Indian producers on the reservation is “ illegal, unconstitutional, invalid and void.” He wrote, “ The power to tax non-Indians is not one o f the enumerated powers given to Indian tribes”under Federal law. He ruled, further, that the firms would recover their costs o f the legal action from the tribe and the Interior Department. The tax would have amounted to more than $2 million annually. The severance tax was adopted by the tribal council in July 1976. INDIAN FISHING RIGHTS IS TOPIC AT MICHIGAN HEARING. Michigan sports fishermen and state and local officials were told that there is little chance that Congress would abrogate Indian treaty fishing and hunting rights which exempt the Indians from state regulation. Rep. Philip Ruppe o f Michigan asked the House Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment to meet in the state. Representative James Oberstar, Minnesota, who presided over the hearing, told a reporter: “ Abrogation of treaties by legislation would undoubtedly engender the most heated and impassioned debate in modern times. It would open up highly speculative questions o f compensa­ tion that could run into incalculable amounts o f money. That, in itself, would be a deterrent.” ANDRUS DESCRIBED AS ENVIRON­ M ENTALIST, IN DIAN SU PPORTER: The Washington Star recently carried a front page feature on Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus. It said Andrus is considered by some people “ conservation-crazed environ­ a mentalist who wants to shut down the Western states and turn them back to the grizzly bears and rattlesnakes.”It also said that many environmentalists “ critical of are his support o f Indian claims on water and hunting rights,”such as his support recently of the Eskimos on the bowhead whale issue. The article also mentioned that Andrus has recruited several Indians for top jobs in the Department. Agency praised for 'swift' action Dear Mr. Bell: Your letter o f December 16, 1977 answering mine o f January 31, 1974 brought joy to our hearts. I know that all o f the Indian community will be pleased as we are with the thoughtful, thorough and expediti­ ous handling o f Indian concerns. You may rest assured that anytime we have a complaint which can wait four years for resolution, we will call it to your attention. With warm regards, LaDonna Harris � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (February 1978) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-02 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-412 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission. https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/99367eca5fdd312b484de64d7926582f.pdf 6d9da25fee82479061357c6d590c2918 PDF Text Text Non-profit org. U Postage .S. Paid 2.1‘ Orono, Maine Permit No. 14 Wabanakl Alliance January 1978 Indian parent w ages custody fight UNITED — Martin A. Neptune, Penobscot Indian, relaxes with his three children and his second wife, Blanche, near their Indian Island home. The kids are from left, John, Naomi and Chris. [Cartwright Photo] Letter claims tribal governor hires kin INDIAN TOWNSHIP — A petition bearing 57 names has been brought to the tribal governor here, alleging he has filled jobs with his relatives. Allen J. Sockabasin and other Passamaquoddy Indian signers o f the petition say "It seems that most of the employment posi­ tions available are filled by the tribal governor's family and by non-Indians.” Passamaquoddy Tribal Gov. John Stevens flatly denies the charge. First of all. he said, "a personnel committee does all the hiring. The department heads are the only ones 1 hire and none of them are my relatives.”But Stevens did acknowledge some persons hired by the committee are his relatives. The petition lists Stevens’relatives by name, claiming they are currently employed by the reservation government. Stevens maintains that a number o f these persons no longer work for the tribe, for one reason or another. The petition also refers to a "recent shooting of Allen Sockabasin’ residence.” s It says two of Stevens’nephews. George Sabattus and Howard Stevens, were on the police departm ent payroll until that incident. Governor Stevens said he did not condone the shooting incident, in which Allen Sockabasin's wife was reportedly injured by broken glass. Stevens said Sockabasin has himself been involved in shooting incidents. According to the petition, many of the jobs in question are federally funded through an Indian CETA program, or a Washington County CETA agency. "Most government programs have guidelines to prevent conflicts of interest, but they are being ignored by tribal administrators. "This problem exists in all phases of tribal operations including the housing authority and the school system,” the petition says. Stevens, who received a copy o f the petition, said he does not have juris­ diction over those areas. The petitioners say they are mostly un­ employed, and their unemployment benefits have run out. “ When presented with our complaints in the past, tribal officials have stated that our complaints were without merit, or that we lacked the majority, or had got support from the news media which published biased news reports,”the petition says. "O ur intention in this (petition) is not to gain the support o f the news media, or to gain majority support, or to make state­ ments that are not factual. Our intention is for the tribal governor and council to look at the problem as it exists and try to resolve it.” CMIA sets m e etin g ORONO — Central Maine Indian Asso­ ciation (CMIA) has scheduled a regular general membership meeting for Thursday, Feb. 9, at its offices, 95 Main St., Orono. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. A previous meeting, slated last month, v/as cancelled. Picard transfers INDIAN ISLAND — The Rev. Raymond Picard has been transferred from St. Ann's Parish. Peter Dana Point and assigned as Pastor of St. Joseph’ Parish in Sinclair and s Holy Family Parish in Daigle. Picard served at St. Ann’ lor the past s year. According to Clarence F. McKay. Di­ rector of the Bureau o f Diocesan Informa­ tion. Picard’ position at St. Ann’ will be s s filled by a Jesuit priest from the Boston area. Picard. 37. is a Biddeford native. He was instrumental in sponsoring a Cursillo religious education program. By Steve Cartwright INDIAN ISLAND — Martin A. Neptune has carried a large paper bag around with him for months, filled with papers, letters, photos and documents. A saga o f his struggle to win custody of his three children is in that bag. but so far the 26-year-old Penobscot Indian father hasn’ t won. Nor has he given up. In the latest turn of events. Martin’ s ex-wife Kathleen drove from Florida to the Neptune home on Oak Hill. Indian Island, and picked up the two younger children. Christopher, four, and Naomi, three. JohnJohn. six. has stayed with his father as specified in the origian! court divorce decree. Martin Neptune, a quiet-spoken, articulate man who heads a Maine Indian wilderness program, still hopes to re-unite his three children on the Penobscot Nation, where he lives with his non-Indian wife. Blanche. Martin's divorce from Kathleen, a nonIndian, was granted last March 2 at district 1 court in Bangor. The couple had been about five years. The judge granted me divorce on grounus m cruet and abase, treatment, but defendent Martin said no such treatment ever occurred in the Neptune household. One day after the divorce decree. Kathleen Neptune took all three children and their belongings and tied to Florida. There the children remained, mostly out o f touch with their father, until Martin drove to Daytona Beach last July and returned to Maine with his children by his side. He had planned to file a new motion for custody o f the two younger children in district court. The children were together with their father for five months until under the threat of extradition to Florida, and pressure through a personal call from Maine Gov. James B. Longley, Martin complied with officials and the latest Florida trip was arranged. Apparent discrimination Martin Neptune’ story might be just a s chronicle o f personal struggle and family problems, but that the case involved highly(Continued on page 4) Discrimination case upheld INDIAN ISLAND — The Maine Human Rights Commission has upheld a claim of discrimination brought by a Penobscot Indian here. Dana Mitchell, a 36-year-old steelworker, had complained to the commission that Ironworkers Local Number 496, o f which he is a member, had failed to find him work or protect him on the job. The com m ission voted recently in Augusta that “ reasonable grounds”for the complaint exist. The commission will next propose a conciliation agreement between Mitchell and the union, and if that fails, may refer the case to the Attorney General’ s office for court action, a commission spokes­ man said. Mitchell, who says he "can hang iron just like any o f them,” claims he was unjustly laid off from a Scott Paper Co. job at Hinkley, and from a Central Maine Power Co. job at Cousins Island. He said in those cases, and also when he received a hand injury on the job, his union gave him no support. Mitchell said he hoped the commission’ s ruling on his case will boost an awareness of affirmative action guidelines on hiring min­ orities throughout the state. "This is what I’ been looking for.”he said, adding, "it’ ve s taken me over a year to get them to act on this case.” Although Mitchell said the commission "dragged its feet,”he said he was pleased that Atty. Gen. Joseph Brennan acted on his behalf in the case. Mitchell pointed out that Brennan opposes Penobscot Indians in the current land claims case, but that he never­ theless backed Mitchell’ discrimination s complaint. Union business manager Bill Shirland of Old Town, contacted prior to the Human Rights Commission action, said Mitchell’ s claims were groundless. “ this business In (work) is a temporary situation,” he said. �Page 2 Wabanaki Alliance January 1978 editorials The commissioner Housing Indians A great deal is going on in the Indian housing business. New pro­ jects are springing up on Maine’ three reservations every year, and s the whole appearance o f communities is in flux. That appearance is more than cosmetic. New housing can change the whole quality o f home life, and that, after all, is where life is based. The benefits are obvious: safe, warm, spacious, attractive houses mean healthier, happier families. Or that should be the case, anyway. Perhaps all this new construction is indeed a blessing, but we wonder if its longer range effects are under scrutiny. Certainly the new housing projects are a blessing for contractors, most o f whom are non-Indian. But what o f the Indians who live in these 550,000 houses? First of all, if a family moves from a cramped, drafty dwelling to a spanking new conventional suburban type home, the mere physical comforts spell improvement. But taking a closer look, we see these expensive new homes are not in the least bit Indian in character, and reflect nothing o f native American heritage. Further, many of the houses built to date are not environmentally or aesthetically adapted to Maine. An exception is Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy reservation with its demonstration project for solar heated homes. But what about woodstoves, roofs pitched to handle a snow load, and a home that somehow harmonizes with the rugged weather and natural habitat o f the northeast? Many new Indian homes lack these things, and we don’know who t is responsible, who calls the shots. If tribal housing authorities have surveyed Indians and learned that the kind o f houses being built are exactly what Indians want, well and good. But we doubt Indians are completely satisfied with what’ going s on. We doubt Maine Indians want to sit back and watch the Indianness o f their communities obliterated by outside forces, however wellintentioned these forces may be. (We’ not so sure about good re intentions; there’a lot o f money to be made in the housing industry, s and more than one reservation job shows shoddy workmanship.) Housing is more than four walls and a roof. Think for a moment how much one can learn about someone by visiting that person’ s home. When federal grant money becomes available to meet housing shortages, the pressure is on to build, build, build. But is this construction in the best interests o f Indians? Should Indians worry about how new houses affect their lives and the character o f the community? Shelter is a necessity o f life, but it is much more than that. A home is a spiritual center, a base for learning and growth. There is a difference between a house and a home, and perhaps still another difference between a home and an Indian home. These things are subtle and less tangible than bricks and mortar, but are the foundation o f Indian society. WABANAKI ALLIANCE Vol/l, N o . l Januaiy 1978 Published monthly by the Division of Indian Services [DIS] at the Indian Resource Center, 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. Steven Cartwright, Editor William O ’ Neal, Ass’ Editor t. DIS Board of Directors Jean Chavaree [chairman] John Bailey, CAP coordinator Albert Dana Timothy Love, CAP director Jeannette Neptune, Tribal Clerk Erlene Paul, Central Maine Indian Assn. Roy Paul, Assn, of Aroostook Indians Maynard Polchies, president, Aroostook Indians Michael Ranco, Central Maine Indian Assn. Indian Island Pleasant Point Indian Township Indian Island Indian Township Indian Island Houlton Houlton Orono DIS is an agency ol Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc. of Maine. Subscriptions to this newspaper are available by writing to Wabanaki Alliance, 95 Main St., Orono, Me. 04473. Diocesan Human Relations Services and DIS are a non-profit corporation. Contri­ butions are deductible for income tax purposes. Whatever happened to the Commissioner o f the Maine Depart­ ment o f Indian Affairs, one might ask. Many, but not all Maine Indians are now federally recognized and eligible for Bureau o f Indian Affairs (BIA) funds and services. That may or may not alter the status o f Maine’ Indian commissioner. s What may have had more affect recently is the Indian land claims issue, in which the State unilaterally opposes the Passamaquoddies and Penobscots. The State, briefly, is not on the best o f terms wr Indians. Also, ith the State is a political body and Gov. James B. Longley doesn’want t any clouds in his political future. He seems to be sitting tight on the question o f a commissioner. There hasn’ been a permanent commissioner since George M. t Mitchell, the second Indian to hold the post, quit over a dispute with the Governor. The controversy arose from the land claims issue — Mitchell said he couldn’ be neutral. t After Mitchell resigned, Longley named political consultant Charles W. Rhynard as interim commissioner. Chuck Rhynard was dubbed the “ day wonder” by some Indians, although he has 90 overstayed his original tenure. Rhynard said Longley asked him to stay longer than the mutually agreed upon 90 day term, and Rhynard accepted on condition he be part time. He was to work part time until a replacement was named, but there aren’ any successors on the horizon. t Perhaps Longley and other officials are hoping the problem will just go away. Apparently, a number o f candidates for the job were interviewed, but that’ the last we heard of it. s In fairness to Rhynard, he could have resigned and left the depart­ ment in the lurch. He hasn’ But the Department o f Indian Affairs is t. on a skeleton crew, and wading in paperwork. Set up in 1965 by then Gov. John Reed, the department was for a time headed by John Stevens, a Passamaquoddy Indian and new governor o f Indian Township reservation. The department and the com m issioner’role can be a great plus to s Maine Indians, both as an official voice and as a contact with Statelevel politics and policies. If the Governor and the Legislature, when they convene, d o not do something about appointing a commissioner and maintaining the Department of Indian Affairs, they should have to answer for it. Wampanoag claims There is no direct link between the Mashpee, Mass. Indian claims and those o f the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes in Maine, but there are actual as well as important symbolic similarities. In both states, native Americans are seeking some redress for lands illegally taken from them, and ultimately, they are trying to preserve their battered cultural customs and traditions. Ironically, it is the very abuse o f Indian ways and the break-up of Indian community that formed the basis o f the recent verdict in U.S. District Court, Boston. The all-white jury said the Wampanoags do not constitute a tribe. Why aren’ the W ampanoags a tribe? Because whites took over t their lands, intermarried, and because Indians were assimilated into the white culture. That's what former Nixon lawyer James St. Clair argues, adding that W ampanoags have no unifying culture. St. Clair represents the town and non-Indian landowners, a town built on former Indian land. St. Clair says he sees no tribe, even though Indians stand before him. How would St. Clair know what a tribe is? The W ampanoag Indians are a tribe that has survived as best they could in a system that usually wants them extinct, or at least wants their culture exterminated. No matter how few Indians there are, or how many white ways they have adopted, the have a right to their cultural identity. In Maine, the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies won federal rec­ ognition as a tribe. But obviously they are tribes with or without that federal stamp o f approval. Thank God, or the Great Spirit, that the W ampanoags have persevered through wars, discrimination and white assimilation tactics to stand tall in 1978 — two centuries o f survival — and call themselves a tribe. �letters Really proud Alliance criticized Bangor To the editor: As one who believes that unremitting praise tends to make one overly confident in performance, I wish to offer some questions and criticisms to obviate such an occurance. Firstly, I wonder why the editor began anew with “ Vol. 1” since there have been other editions of the Wabanaki Alliance? Secondly, though not questioning his enthusiasm and interest in the Indian com ­ munity, and realizing that he was perhaps approved by the all-Indian DIS Board, I wonder how effective the non-Indian assistant editor will be in relating to the Indian community? Thirdly, the omission of the colorful logo that introduced previous volumes is blind­ ingly evident. Just how “ brightly colored”is the mural pictured in black and white on page 3 of the Dec. issue? Is the cost of color prohibitive, especially where the paper issues monthly? Fourthly, though I realize that news about Indians outside of Maine may be interest­ ing, I yet question its inclusion to such an extent in a paper geared toward Maine In­ dians. Perhaps as much as one-half of December's issue relates in content or authorship to non-Maine Indians. And I question the policy o f publishing articles submitted by those who wish to remain anonymous. Paul A. Francis, Jr. Return collar, cuff Boston To the editor: I would like to receive the Wabanaki Paper. I am Penobscot and Maliseet from Indian Island. I’ read the paper and I'm ve really proud that they got people together and published a fine paper. Also, could you please say hello to my aunt Vivian Massey for me. Carla Francis Sadly needed Bass Harbor To the editor: Thank you for putting me on your mailing list. You do not mention a subscription price, but I enclose my check for five dollars, as I do not think I should receive it for nothing. Such a publication is sadly needed in Maine, and I hope it continues to reach a wider and wider audience. I have great admiration for what you are trying to do, to establish the Indian identity and way o f life which has been so cruelly denied for so long. I think there is more o f an audience now for the Indian ethic than in the past, if it could just be reached. I hope the Wabanaki Alliance can contribute to that outreach, as this country has much to learn for its benefit from the “ Indian way.” Right on! Hollis Piatt Solar panels at Pleasant Point These solar panels are in use at the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Reservation, as an experimental project of the tribal housing authority. Results won’ be known until spring, t according to housing officials. ____________________ ____ _____ Commentary: Prison life for an Apache-AAicmac By Bill O ’ Neal NORFOLK PRISON. Mass. — A letter to the editor in the December issue of Wabanaki Alliance concerning prisoner To the editor: David Brady, a Micmac-Apache. prompted In the November 1977 issue o f your paper, us to write to him about his experiences in there was another letter to the editor con­ prison. His reply detailed some o f the cerning a picture. In the letter, Eunice tensions and even horrors which befall Baumann made inquiries concerning the Indians entering prison and provides a tragic collar and cuff set belonging to the Pen­ reminder o f what society is like when a obscot Indian Nation. Mattawamkeag person, in prison or not, has surrendered or 1have heard from several people that the To the editor: lost control o f his rights and is subject to the last Governor to wear the collar and cuff set Thank you very much for sending me will of others. at inauguration was Francis Ranco and the Wabanaki Alliance. I am more than a little It was not necessary to open Brady’letter s last person to wear the medallion was John distressed by many o f the articles, but to see the first signs of the pressures under Mitchell. These are Tribal belongings and a part of realize the truth must be faced and which he lives. He had taped all the sealed accepted. Please continue to send me the parts o f the envelope to ensure that its our lost traditions. They should be turned paper as there are also many brighter sides contents could not be tampered with over to some caretaker for future governors. in the picture o f Indian affairs. without being noticed. They were never meant for an individual. Shirley Potter Hanscom In addition to having to tolerate the con­ Karen Rhine tempt of some of the prisoners, he has charged that he receives little better treat­ ment from some o f the guards. He states that he has received Disciplinary Reports for alleged infractions ranging from “ putting too much butter on my bread to being a sus­ picious person in my sleep. I guess the guard thought in my dreams 1was plotting against him. I have had verbal abuse thrown at me from guards as well as cons, but this is to be expected from an ignorant civilization.” For these same Indians chose legend as It’true that at your peak I mostly felt s When his daughter was murdered in 1975, I'd done it then at last — I'd conquered you: the way to meet on truthful terms with you, he received such remarks as, “ The only good the fact that twice I’ nearly turned back d and even as I made my slow descent Indian is a dead Indian.” Brady stated, "1 the reason for this started coming clear down, have to keep reminding myself I’ in a m in that I knew your reach down into me that my whole body seethed with ache and civilized society." strain — was no whit less than mine upwards to you. Harrassment of Brady has gone beyond these things were lost beneath the spread verbal abuse and threats. He alleges that in of joy August of last year two individuals jammed that came like spreading rain across As mists swirled by across the tableland the door of his cell while he was sleeping and parched earth. I realized suddenly the white-blazed trail hurled a blazing jar o f gasoline onto the was now a lifeline o f the frailest kind; I revelled in the thought that everything floor near him. Fortunately, he was able to as thunder snarled and boomed I tried to to see necessitated looking down — get himself and two kittens which he was hear far down the northern steeps to Chimneykeeping to safety. This safety was short­ just vacuum-filling air, but knew as well Pond, lived, however. Several weeks later he was I somehow heard Pamola voicing ire. or just down to the Knife Edge running called out o f his cell on what he considers to east — have been a “ wild-goose chase.”While there but even as I did so I began So I know now that I will always think (in the office of the officer in charge), one of to feel my burgeoned sense o f triumph wane. o f you whenever I shall take stock of the civilized convicts in my block went into the scope o f my own dreams, the limits of my cell, picked up my kitten, and proceeded And what this had to do with was your vast my strength, the kind o f life in legend I to strangle her . . . then this individual put indifference to terms like this o f mine — and my own people have, or do not have — her in a paper bag and left her outside my that I and others reached your highest point and thus our conversation, endless into time. cell door . . . I found her as she was left.” was even less the point than was the fear Although Brady feels that harrassment that kept the Abenaki Indians from the guards and inmates is in part due Richard Aldridge in olden days from climbing you at all. to the fact that he is an Indian, his opinion o f the prison superintendent is slightly dif­ Old Town Distressed Poetry Conversing with Katahdin ferent. “ The superintendent discriminates against everybody here, guards as well as cons. He has the viewpoint o f he doesn't care if you’ white, black, yellow, or red; you’ re re below his standpoint whether you be con or guard ... I am not sticking up for him. I am just facing reality in the whole situation.” Though plagued with enemies, Brady is not without some friends and support. “ A lot o f white cons in my block and in the prison are behind me all the way, as well as white administration workers, so any dis­ crimination is coming from a small group.” Still, there seems to be little he can do within the prison environment, where people with authority over him are free to make and break rules as they see fit. He stated that the prison infirmary recently denied him medication, which a doctor had told him he had to take on a regular basis. Fortunately, help from the outside in the form o f his lawyer convinced the officials to reconsider. Within prison there is little Brady can do to defend himself. He refuses to name the people who are persecuting him. “ won’ I t and can’ as this type of thing is against all t, the principles I have been taught in life.”He also could take a protective custody, which would remove him from most o f the people harrassing him, an alternative he refuses to accept. “ will not let a person who hasn’ I t the guts to come to my face and fight like a man . . . make me run to a cell where I’ be ll locked up 23 hours a day. He also pointed out that o f 26 prisoners killed in Walpole, Norfolk, and Bridgewater Prisons in Massa­ chusetts in the last three years, 22 have died in protective custody. He stated that the only way his situation can improve is if he is moved to a minimum security institution. With few places to turn within the prison, Brady has had to rely on his own resources and his culture to face the forces which are against him in the prison. He said he has done this by “ being myself, as I was raised; by being proud of who I am and being proud o f my people.”In 1971 during the unrest in the Massachusetts prisons he along with three other Indian prisoners started the Indian Rights Group. Presently this group’ s outside sponsor is the Native American Indian Association, Worcester, Mass. Last June, Brady’ case was accepted in s the Massachusetts State Supreme Court, and it is here that he has pinned his greatest hopes. “ When out, I will go to South Dakota, pick up my wife and return to Canada, where I’ from,” he said. m �Page 4 Wabanaki Alliance January 1978 Indian custody fight Jury rejects Mashpee status By Bill O’ Neal BOSTON — After a ten week trial, an all As Martin sees it, Maine was all too ready white jury has decided that the Wampanoag to bring a case against him through extra­ dition to Florida, but when the tables were Indians o f the town o f Mashpee, Massa­ reversed, and Kathleen had broken the law, chusetts did not constitute a tribe, when the Maine officials refused to lift a finger for Massachusetts Legislature in 1870 voted to change Mashpee from an Indian land him. “ They’ going all out to put me in jail, district to a town, nor are they a tribe today. re The jury returned the decision in response but they wouldn’ do a thing to help me t when I needed help,” Martin said, adding to three questions delivered by Judge Walter that he believes his custody fight has taken J. Skinner during his instructions to the on political dimensions and is not being jury. The jury concluded that the Indians were a tribe in 1834 and 1842, but not in considered on its own merits. 1790, the date of the U.S. Non-intercourse Martin goes further than his personal Act, and 1870. when the land was converted case to say that it’ about time officials s into the town o f Mashpee. Without tribal recognized there is a need for a national custody law, to prevent the chain o f events status there is little chance that the Mashpee Wampanoags can press their claim that he has undergone. Martin’ paper bag, which he finally forming the township was in violation o f the s 1790 Non-intercourse Act, which prohibited replaced with a new one after the other gave all land transactions with tribes without the out. contains considerable correspondence sanction of the U.S. Congress. with parents undergoing similar custody Selectman George Benway o f Mashpee. hardships. He has also located organizations contacted by Wabanaki Alliance, said that concerned with custody problems. the jury had been instructed by Judge Martin Neptune has learned he is far Skinner that the burden o f proof rested with from alone in his struggle. the plaintiffs (the Indians) and that, if they But Martin is also Indian and male. He felt there was insufficient evidence, they considers those facts two strikes against him were to decide on the tribal issue in the in the custody fight. negative. Benway said he felt the jury could ‘ Screwed by system’ not determine the tribal status of the Wam­ One Maine official agreed to comment panoags around 1790 and, so, tendered a publicly on Martin’ case, and admitted s negative decision for that date. He further Martin Neptune received poor treatment. surmised that the jury had decided against "There is no question he wasn’ helped. t the Indians for the 1869-1870 date, based on He was screwed by the system." said Charles defense arguments that the tribe had re­ W. Rhynard. commissioner o f the Maine linquished its tribal status at that time, Department o f Indian Affairs. when it requested the rights of town mem­ "The system did not provide good or bership. He said that, "relinquishment has adequate service to Martin, and I think he’ s continued up to the time the suit was filed.” justified in his feelings.”Rhynard said in a In an interview with Wabanaki Alliance, telephone conversation from his Augusta Russell Peters, president of the Mashpee office. "The legal system didn't do anything Wampanoag Tribal Council. Inc., objected to help him when he needed help." Rhynard to Judge Skinner’ instructions to the jury s continued. that the burden of proof rested with the But when asked if Maine officials could Indians. He stated that this ran counter to be blamed for the situation. Rhynard said all precedent in suits o f this nature. that no. the Attorney General's office, and Peters characterized the jury's decision as Governor Longley. "went the extra mile" on “ inconsistent” and "illogical.” He stated Martin Neptune's behalf. that the jurors “ didn’ understand the t Martin Neptune fights on. As o f press issues” and that making such a decision was Kathleen’ lawyer. Donald C. Jacobson, time. He said he planned to visit the Maine s difficult for them after only "a crash course also said that "during the proceedings o f the Human Rights Commission, and possibly to learn Indian history and culture.” divorce. (Martin) screamed and shouted also an office o f the U.S. Civil Rights Com­ Peters also felt that the expert witnesses ‘ discrimination.’ ” mission. He said he would continue to wage called by the defense were not well qualified A denial from judge his battle with letters to officials and others. to give testimony in the case. He stated that The judge who awarded the divorce And a motion seeking custody o f Chris and Dr. Jane Guilliman. a sociologist at Boston settlement at Maine District Court in Naomi has been scheduled for a hearing in College, "just didn’ know much about t Bangor did not let the lawyer's allegations March, at district court. Bangor. Wampanoag history.” He added that she go unanswered. What Martin really wants is to know that "drew her conclusions after three interviews Judge F. Davis Clark wrote in an open his children can grow to maturity in a stable, down in Mashpee.” Referring to a second letter that “ The allegations that Mr. loving home, not separated from one defense witness. Dr. Frank Hutchins, he Neptune was given custody because he is an another. said, "Until the last six months he was Indian is unfounded. It was based upon the Martin ended a letter to Ass’ Maine t. ignorant of eastern Indians.” evidence. The allegation that (Neptune) Atty. Gen. Richard S. Cohen with the state­ The composition o f the jury, all white, was screamed and shouted ‘ discrimination’ ment: “ When each o f my children were also disturbing to Peters. O f the potential during the proceedings is ... unfounded. He born. I committed my life to seeing that jurors, only one was black and only one did not.” their happiness, well-being and potential claimed Indian heritage. Both were rejected. Martin says Davis has been fair, and not were realized. This is o f the utmost im­ Peters stated, "Regardless o f how wellunsympathetic to his case. He cannot say the portance to me. meaning the jury was ... a vote for us would "N o one will break that commitment.” same for other authorities. mean white settlers would lose land in Mashpee.” He noted that the Indians had gone to Washington to try to negotiate a settlement WASHINGTON — Under Secretary of ship on B1A employees and upon estab­ which would remove the cloud from the the U.S. Department o f Interior James A. lished relationships between tbe tribes ana property o f homeowners and businessmen, Joseph announced today the appointment of BIA offices. "but the selectmen refused to go along.”In a task force to develop recommendations for The 11-member task force includes his opinion real estate interests among the Secretary on the reorganization o f the representatives o f the National Congress of certain o f the town’ selectmen influenced s Bureau o f Indian Affairs. American Indians and the National Tribal their decision to reject efforts to settle with “ Secretary Andrus wants to insure that Chairmen’Association; two representatives s private landowners. According to Peters the trust responsibilities o f the Federal Gov­ o f the BIA named by Assistant Secretary for these interests feared that “ a partial if ernment are carried out effectively, that Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard; Acting settlement let the homeowners o ff the services to Native American people are Assistant Secretary for Policy, Budget and hook.” they would no longer continue to provided efficiently and that tribal govern­ Administration Larry Meierotto; and six back the developers in the law suit. 80% of ments are strengthened,” Joseph said. public members. The public members the land involved in the suit is undeveloped “ part o f a continuing effort to meet include Stewart L. Udall, former Secretary As land. this objective a Task Force on the reorgani­ o f the Interior. zation o f the Bureau o f Indian Affairs has R ecom m endations o f the American It has been estimated that approximately been established to formulate and present Indian Policy Review Commission and other $600,000 has already been spent in the recommendations to the Secretary for im­ studies o f the Bureau and its responsibilities town's defense, approximately half o f this mediately improving the management, will be considered. bein g provided by “ titled insurance organization and practices o f the Bureau.” Among the areas for improving the per­ companies with a national interest in Under Secretary Joseph said the study is to formance o f BIA which will be studied are: defeating land claims.” be comprehensive and the changes will be planning, advocacy, trust protection Benway claimed that the Indians had fundamental — not just cosmetic. He em­ services, human resource development, stated from the outset that they were not phasized that the changes will be instituted natural resource development, social service interested in reimbursement for privately in an orderly fashion to minimize any hard- delivery, personneL owned land, but that when U.S. Sen. (Continued from page 1 ) placed officials in Maine and Florida, and in Martin’ opinion, involved substantial dis­ s crimination. To Martin the discrimination is obvious: when Kathleen took the children to Florida, including John who was awarded to his father, the judicial system did nothing. But when he returned the children to Maine, authorities seemed to pounce on Martin with a new-found zeal. When Longley received a request for Martin's extradition from Florida officials, he called Neptune and said he would wait ten days before signing them. He told Martin to return the two younger children to their mother within that time, and Martin did so. Martin said he did everything he could to set matters straight, talking to district attorneys, his lawyers, the Maine Attorney General’ office and the State Department s of Indian Affairs. But it all appears to have been to no avail. "Probably if I were white, middle or upper class, it would be a different story.” said Martin. “ started with the judge in Florida, who It took a personal offense to me when he ordered me to stay in the State and I left. From there it went up to (Florida Gov.) Rubin Askew (who contacted Longley).”he said. Martin began to feel the Florida courts would not give him a fair hearing, and would favor Kathleen in deciding the custody case brought by the mother in that state. Martin was not encouraged when he learned the judge’name was Robert E. Lee. s Jr. When Kathleen brought her action in Florida court, her lawyer notified Martin of a hearing and said. "Your petitioner feels that the only reason the court in Maine would have awarded custody o f the parties’ minor child (John, to father) was because of the fact that (Martin) is an Indian, and there are discrimination problems with the Indian in Bangor, Maine.” Task force to study B1A Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., proposed legis­ lation to uncloud the land, “ suddenly it had a price tag” o f $20 million dollars. According to Benway, this figure was “ quickly changed to $4 million,”to be paid by the Federal government. He said Ken­ nedy’ attitude was one of, "What are you s worried about? It’ not your money.” s Benway stated that the selectmen w-ere not willing to accept the proposed package which would have unclouded private homeowners’land, if it did not include 1,500 acres o f property which have been developed, but not acutally built upon yet. He said this was necessary to restore the market value of the homes in Mashpee and to "bring the economy back." "W e would have been run out of town, if we had accepted the offer,”he added. Charges of “ racial tactics” were levelled by Peters at the methods used by the defense. He stated, "The defense was trying to say we weren’Indians; we were blacks.” t He added that the defense "didn’bring out t that most intermarriage was to whites.” Benway called the allegations o f racism “ a smokescreen.” Lawrence Shubow, an attorney for the Mashpee Indians, elaborated on this aspect of the trial in a conversation with Wabanaki Alliance. He stated that false racial im­ pressions were generated in part by an 1870 U.S. Census, introduced by the defense in evidence and describing the Indians as being largely Negro. Shubow termed this "historical nonsense.” He continued that the Indians at one time had been referred to and had sometimes referred to themselves as "colored.”but that the connotation bore no relationship to the Negro race, as it has in more recent times. He suggested that the defense was implying the Mashpee Indians were "black, so you can forget about them.” Shubow reiterated his definition o f a tribe, given in a recent United Press Inter­ national release. "A body of Indians, (of) common ancestory. united under a com ­ munity bond, under a government leader­ ship, and common territory — that’ what s we think a tribe is.”Shubow told Wabanaki Alliance the issue was not so much over the definition o f a tribe, but over what con­ stitutes leadership. He said the white con­ cept o f leadership "does not fit with the Indian’forms o f decisions.”He pointed out s that leadership in Indian society is much more "democratic,”with less emphasis on one person telling the rest what to do. He said that the improper definition o f lead­ ership “ gave the jury the out they needed.” Buoyed by the results o f the trial, Benway plans to urge U.S. Rep. Gerald Studs, DMass., and U.S. Sen. Edward W. Brooke. RMass., to introduce legislation exempting all private property from the Indian claim. Benway said he hopes this will “ short-cir­ cuit”an appeal by the Indians. This would leave all but 1,500 acres of the disputed 13.000 acres with unclouded titles. The jury's decision will only be viewed as a recommendation by Judge Skinner, who will reserve final judgement until both sides have subm itted briefs this month, commenting on the verdict. According to Peters, "This trial is a long way from being over.” He said that if the court decides against the Indians, an appeal will be made. Shubow also mentioned the possibility of seeking to have a mistrial declared, if the jury’ verdict is upheld. He stated that the s jury, considering whether the Indians con­ stituted a tribe on two different dates, using the same evidence for both dates, reached different conclusions. He stated, “ There are elements o f absurdity which the courts will have to straighten out." When asked if he thought the results of the Mashpee trial would have any bearing on the land claims suits in Maine, he replied, “ Absolutely not,” although he added that there may be some psychological effects on both sides o f the issue. On the day the jury reached its verdict in the Mashpee case. Maine Attorney General Joseph Brennan’ office announced that s Brennan’request to reopen the question of s the tribal status o f Maine Indians had been denied by the U.S. Justice Department. �Nutrition Notes By Natalie S. Mitchell Everybody knows that food is vital to sus­ tain life. However, what about food? What is it that makes it so important? We’ start with the word, "vitamin.”This ll means, “ Vital to Life.” There are various vitamins contained in food and each has a function when consumed. Vitamin A. for instance is important for the formation of the mucous membranes (the lips, nasal mucosa, which also is the lining o f organs, and digestive system), it is also necessary' for the visual purple that prevents night blind­ ness and increases resistance to infections. Food sources that contain vitamin A are usually dark green and deep yellowvegetables. The dark green vegetables include kale, mustard greens, broccoli, spinach, turnip greens, and collards. The deep yellow vegetables include carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, yellow squash, and some red peppers. Other excellent food sources for vitamin A are liver, milk, cheese, eggs, butter, cantaloupe, apricots and fortified margarine. Your body does not get rid o f vitamin A when ingested. It is stored in the liver. If you overload on this vitamin, the results can be toxic. By eating regular foods that contain vitamin A this will not happen. The point is, don’ take vitamin tablets t unless your doctor prescribes them for you. Natalie Mitchell NOTE: Natalie Mitchell, a Penobscot, is food and nutrition coordinator for the Indian Island Health and Social Services Department. With this issue, she begins a monthly nutritional information column for this newspaper. Reader com m ent is welcome. Wheel deals By Kathy Porter Tim Love, a Penobscot from Indian Island, purchased a 1976 Volare station wagon from a Brewer auto dealer. After buying the car in May o f 1977 he suspected that the car had been in an accident and had had some repairs, but was not com pletely repaired. He noticed structural damage which he was unable to get repaired. Also the windshield leaks and the car shakes when driven. Tim will be going to Northeast Combat, a consumer action group, for assistance to rectify legally what can be done. Tim feels that the dealer knowingly sold him a defective car. These kinds o f situations can be avoided. Northeast Combat is an agency that helps to educate the consumer in all areas o f buying. They also deal directly with consumer problems. They are located on Idaho Avenue in Bangor. They have just put out a booklet called, ‘ Wheels, Deals and Lemon Peels’ The . booklet is designed to help the consumer become aware of his or her rights, avoid a bad purchase, and to get through the maze o f slick sales people, confusing credit rates and flashy advertising. The booklet is available for $1.50 from Combat. Dispute ended on water rights WASHINGTON — Secretary of the In­ terior Cecil D. Andrus announced today approval o f an agreement between the Gila River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Kennecott Copper Corp. to settle a long-standing dispute over w'ater rights in Arizona’Gila River watershed. s Under the agreement, the Indians consent to Kennecott’ continued use of water from s Mineral Creek, a tributary of the Gila River, in its mining operation upstream from the Indian Reservation. In return, Kennecott agrees to pay the Indians $1.5 million for past use of the water and to replace or pay for water it uses from that source in the future. The mining firm has committed itself to seeking an allocation of Central Arizona Project (CAP) water to exchange with the tribe for Gila River water. Until that is available. Kennecott will pay the Indians $70 per acre foot of water used. The provision for payment for Mineral Creek water expires when the CAP is com ­ pleted or in 1990 with the possibility of a 1 0year extension. K ennecott agrees to relinquish its claim to Mineral Creek water in 1990. The settlement also resolves a dispute over water Kennecott pumps from four deep wells in the area and the effect of that pumping on Gila River flows. Under the agreement, the Indians consent to the pumping until the year 2075; Kennecott agrees to pay $70 an acre foot for a portion of the water it pumps. "Anyone who has followed Western water disputes — particularly in the desert south­ west — can only view this agreement as a major achievement,” said Andrus. “ I certainly commend both parties for reaching a sensible, mutually beneficial resolution without costly, time-consuming court suits which might also have seriously disrupted the state’economy. s "While both sides were willing to litigate their claims if necessary, they agreed that would work to everyone’disadvantage. The s Indians’ prime concern is water, but they were reluctant to disrupt Kennecott’ s mining operations, a major force in Arizona’ economy. Under the agreement, s Kennecott will have the water so critical to its mining operations. The Indians have taken steps to ensure future water supplies to the reservation." Although the parties pledge in the agree­ ment not to sue each other over the disputed water rights, neither party abandons its claims, Andrus said. Kennecott claims it is using water it is entitled to under the 1935 Gila Decree or water from its tributaries which were expressly excluded from the scope o f that decree. The Indians counter that they were not a party to the decree, that it is not binding upon them and that, in any case, it does not settle the water rights to which they are entitled under the Winters Doctrine. The doctrine, developed by the courts over the years, holds that Indians are entitled to enough water to serve the purposes for which their reservations were created. The doctrine establishes a priority water right dated no later than the creation of the reservation. The Gila River Indians have the longest history o f irrigated farming in the nation through their Hohokam ancestors who used an extensive system o f canals to irrigate the Gila River Valley lands. The reservation was established in 1859 and has been expanded since to its present 372,000 acres. While Kennecott and the Indian Com­ munity are considered to be the major claimants in the watershed, they are not the only ones. Andrus said his approval o f the agreement as trustee for Indian water rights implies no position on any water rights within the Gila River drainage, including those of the San Carlos Irrigation and Drainage Dist., a major agricultural user downstream o f the water sources involved in the agreement. In a letter to the Secretary, Alexander Lewis, Sr., Governor o f the Indian Com ­ munity, termed the approval of the agree­ ment “ historic occasion.” a “ The agreement recognizes that we have always befriended non-Indians.’ Wabanaki Alliance January 1978 Page 5 VISTA worker joins Alliance Kathy A. Porter ORONO — Wabanaki Alliance plans to publish a monthly column o f consumer information, written by a new member of the staff who is a VISTA volunteer. Kathy Porter, on a one year program with VISTA (Volunteers In Service to America), may carry out other assignments at the newspaper, in addition to the consumer column. For her consumer research, she will use the resources o f Northeast COMBAT, Inc., a Bangor non-profit consumer action group. The consumer column will probably deal with a range o f subjects such as shopping for used cars, homes, insurance and other issues of interest to Maine Indians and others. Questions and suggestions from readers will be most welcome as a guide to the column’ s content. What the column does, and whether it’ s useful, will depend in part on reader response. Kathy Porter will work under the direction o f Wabanaki Alliance and Vivian Massey, supervisor of the Maine Indian section o f the national VISTA program. A native o f Old Town where she currently resides. Kathy Porter, 20. graduated from Old Town High School and has worked with racing horses at Bass Park. Bangor, and with riding horses at Orono. She is interested in consumer affairs, and news­ paper work in general. Cote succeeds Daigle at island INDIAN ISLAND — After two-and-onehalf years o f service at St. Ann's Mission. Indian Island. Old Town, the Rev. Donald R. J. Daigle has been appointed temporary administrator o f St. Joseph's Parish at Wallagrass. in Aroostook County. Wabanaki Alliance talked with Father Daigle as he was preparing his papers for transfer to St. Joseph's. When asked what he felt his major emphasis had been, while on the reservation here, he said he had worked primarily with the youth. He said he felt that he had turned St. Ann's into more o f an "open house.” and that it was "no longer a sanctuary." inaccessible to the people it was designed to serve. He said the Penobscot Indian people whom he served were "sincere and wise.” but stressed the need for self-determination, saying they are "imprisoned, unable to fly toward freedom o f spirit . . . locked bv dependency." A native of Aroostook County and having been associate pastor at St. Thomas in Madawaska, Daigle will be working among family and friends. He is bilingual in English and French, which will be invaluable in reaching the French speaking community in Northern Maine. The Rev. David P. Cote will be replacing Father Daigle at St. Ann’ Father Cote s. holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from Boston College School o f Social Work and Rev. David P. Cote has used his training in social programs throughout the stale. In 1975. he was appointed Director of the Diocesan Resettlement Program, in charge o f placement o f Vietnamese refugees. Since 1976. he has been the associate pastor of the Cathedral o f the Immaculate Conception in Portland. Wayne Walker, regional director o f the Diocesan Human Relations Services in Orono described Cote as "very energetic” and said he would be a dynamic force in the Indian Island community. Tribal status affirmed AUGUSTA — The U.S. Justice Depart­ ment has denied a bid by the State o f Maine to reopen the question o f the status o f Passamaquoddy Indians. Maine Atty. Gen. Joseph Brennan was quick to criticize the Justice Department decision. He is quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “ Although the government had not expressly so stated, I gather that the Justice Department is o f the view that they are obligated to argue the Indians’claim, even if they do not believe that it will necessarily be successful. I think it is un­ fortunate that the department has such a narrow perspective of its responsibilities.” He further stated, “ would like to give I (Assistant U.S. Attorney General James Moorman) some advice. I think the federal government ought to ask itself whether it is doing justice by pursuing a 200-year old claim against the innocent citizens of Maine." “ think the federal government ought to I ask itself whether it is pursuing a case which flies in the face o f 200 years o f history. I think the federal government ought to stop pretending they have done as much research as we have and take a good hard look at the historic facts. I think the United States government is wrong.” Moorman denied Brennan’ request s saying that the historical and legal evidence submitted by the Maine Attorney General’ s office was not adequate to merit reopening the case. In a UPI story Moorman stated, “ the On basis o f this material, as well as additional legal and historical research, we have con­ cluded that the prohibition against Indian land transactions applied throughout the United States. At this time, therefore, the Department o f Justice cannot agree to your (Brennan’ request.” s) The determination both that the Passamaquoddy and Penobscots do constitute tribes and were covered by the Non-intercourse Act o f 1790 has been a keystone in the development o f the land claims case, in which the tribes charge that lands comprising two-thirds o f the state were taken from them in violation o f the Non­ intercourse Act. �Page 6 Wabanaki Alliance January 1978 Indian legends The Story of the Big Dipper (Penobscot) In the old day o f the ancients there lived a poor family o f seven brothers and two sisters on the edge of a large village. Their parents had been killed and the care o f the family had been left to the oldest brother and his sister, Mooin. They were strong and brave and soon took part in the tribal festivals and won great re­ known for their devotion to each other. Each one worked hard and long except P’ ses-muk, the youngest brother and Alakus, the youngest sister, for they were frail and small. And they both loved their brothers. But they helped in their own way by sewing and decorating the skin garments with dyed porcupine quills. And when their relatives came to feast they would clean the wigwam and decorate it with sweet smelling maiden-fern and spruce boughs. One day while the brothers and Mooin were planting the corn in a large field, an old warrior crept into their wigwam. He told them he had escaped from an enemy camp where he had been tortured and held prisoner for years. There he had heard the enemy planning to attack his people soon, so he managed to flee in order to warn them. The brother called the Chief and all the people. He sent four large scouting parties in the direction o f the four winds. The six brothers pleaded with the Chief not to separate them. So he sent them toward the east. While they were preparing for the war­ path, the youngest brother, P'ses-muk begged them to take him along. He was strong enough, he reminded them, to carry their quiver o f arrows and to cook for them. But they would not listen to him. “ Little brother, next time thee will be as tall as we. And someone must care well for Al-akus with kindness. We dearly love you. also Mooin. But she who is strange, is unlike us. Badly we regret leaving you," the older brother said. After the brothers had gone, Mooin made P’ ses-muk and Al-akus work very hard. She was not kind to them. She would eat the best pieces o f meat and fish and leave them what was left. They did not complain to anyone for they had begun to be afraid o f their oldest sister. So instead o f getting stronger they grew frailer and frailer. In the evening when they had finished their day’work they would wander hand in s hand to the edge of the forest or to the top of the high hill to see if they could catch a glimpse of their brothers returning to them. One day Mooin disappeared and did not return that night. They hurried to their unde and told them what had happened. When she did not come home for many days the old uncle decided that she must have been killed or carried o ff by the enemy. One day when the uncle was hunting he thought he saw Mooin disappear in a cave which was in the side of a mountain. Soon the crops began to be eaten by bugs. Many o f the old people died from strange diseases. And children disappeared and were never heard o f again. The people called their Medicine Man. He warned them that someone was making magic on the tribe and that his power was not strong enough to learn who the Evil One was among them. The uncle hoping to help his people said that Mooin might be the cause of the great Evil. He led them to the cave on the side of the mountain. There they waited until Mooin left her cave. They waited until they saw her disappear in the woods beyond and then they rushed into the darkness. In the distance they could hear the growl of a bear. So they built a fire at the entrance o f the cave. And when the darkness became filled with strong smoke, the bear rushed out and they fell on him and killed him. When Mooin returned from the woods where she had been hunting she found the Great Magician dead and she wept for him. For in killing the bear the people had killed her husband. Angrily she swore vengence on her people. The next night she cut a piece o f bear­ skin and made it into a bag for it contained magical power. When she wore it around her neck she instantly became a large, fierce bear. She ran down to the village where it was dark and still. Swiftly she destroyed all of her people and the entire village. But she saved her youngest sister and brother because she still loved them in her way and she did not want harm to come to them. Then she took P’ ses-muk and Al-akus to the cave with her. For a long time they lived peacefully to­ gether. But the youngest brother and sister never ceased to fear their sister, Mooin. They held their tongues, not daring to speak to each other for fear Mooin might hear them. One night when they were pretending to sleep they saw her take out the magic-bear skin bag from her bosom and sing over it. This frightened them very much. She was still very cruel to them. She would send them out to gather firewood and hunt and fish while she stayed at home and sang over the bear skin bag. One day P’ ses-muk stayed away longer than she thought necessary so when he came back she beat him severely. That night as he and Al-akus lay on the fur bed he whispered to his sister. “ Little sister, today, I found Med-oulin, the greatest Magician o f them all. He is traveling and his camp lies far over to the other side o f the mountain. He gave to me, a powerful charm — a little moose-hide bag. It is here inside my clothes. Have no fear of Mooin, now. She can not harm us.” The next day Mooin was in a bad temper. As she built her fire and shook her magic bag over it the flames went lower and lower. Usually when she did this the fire would get brighter and brighter and the flames would snap and crack on the hearth. But she knew that her magic had been broken. So she planned to weave her magic over P’ ses-muk and Al-akus and make them into little worms that she could tread on. So the next day she said sweetly to them. "Today there must be much fire-wood. Many rogans (birch-bark pails) o f water must I have. Do not delay, my little sister and brother.” And when they were at the river filling up the rogans with water, P’ ses-muk told Al-akus to beware o f Mooin. They carried much firewood and water for Mooin. That day while the sun was still high in the sky Al-akus spied her brothers and her heart sang with joy. As they rushed across the shallow water she motioned them to be quiet for fear Mooin would hear their return. Happily they embraced Al-akus and P’ ses-muk but it made them sad to see how thin and frail their brother and sister were. When they heard from the people how cruel Mooin had been they shook their heads. "She possesses great magic, my dear brothers. I fear she will kill us this night.” said P’ ses-muk. The brothers who had traveled far and had encountered many strange and magical things told P’ ses-muk what to do that night. “ Gather all the pricky burdocks. And at midnight pile them around the wigwam. At the entrance pile them very high but leave a small passage so that escape is easy. We will wait here for you.” Just then they heard the sharp voice o f Mooin calling them. So P’ ses-muk and Al-akus left their brothers and hurried back to the wigwam. When they returned Mooin scolded them and sent them to pick berries. “ Hurry back for the fine feast we must have this night,”she added: They returned to the river and there with the help of their brothers they picked many baskets o f berries and large bunches o f bur­ Molly Spotted Elk: Folklorist INDIAN ISLAND — Mary Archam- motion pictures, and kept diaries from beau died Feb. 21 last year at the age of the time she was a teenager. Fluent in English, French, Spanish 73. Known also by her Penobscot Indian name of Molly Spotted Elk, she and Penobscot, Molly attended Swarthcollected, transcribed and authored a more. University o f Pennsylvania and the great many native American legends and Sorbonne, Paris. She studied geology and anthropology, and was interested in stories. As a child, Molly preferred storytelling Tibetan, Mayan and Aztec culture. She to playing with her peers. She would later worked with the Indian collections s listen to her elders as they retold legends at New York’ Museum of Natural passed along through an oral tradition. History. The accompanying reprinted texts are Molly Spotted Elk showed an early interest in accurate reporting based on from Molly Spotted Elk's works, some of facts. Once someone cautioned her that which are preserved at Northeast curiosity killed the cat. “ Whose cat, and Archives, University o f Maine. At the s whose curiosity,” she wanted to know. request of Molly’ daughter, Jean A. Married to French journalist Jean Moore o f Murfreesboro, Tenn. Mrs. Moore specifies that these Archambeau, Molly had a career as a professional dancer that led her to a writings are not to be reproduced without Paris exposition. She acted in several her written permission. docks. When the sun disappeared behind the mountains they hurried home to help Mooin prepare the fine feast o f fish, meat and acom-meal bread. Mooin ate so much she became sleepy and decided to take a little nap. When the brother and sister were sure that Mooin was fast asleep they crept out of the lodge and piled the burdock high around the wigwam. When they had finished they stole back into the wigwam and pretended to fall asleep on the bed of furs. When the moon was high in the sky P’ sesmuk was awakened by the lonely call o f the Whip-poor-will outside in tfre pine-tree. Quickly he aroused his sister and silently they stole out of the wigwam while Mooin slept on. Not far from the pine-tree the brothers were waiting for them and they all set out at a quick pace for Katah-din, the copper mountains and the dwelling place of the Gods. They had gone far when they realized that a big bear was chasing them. It was Mooin, their older sister, who by the magic o f her bear-skin bag had been able to change herself into a bear. Q u ickly P ’ ses-muk rem em bered his moose-hide bag and taking it out o f his shirt he waved it in the air. Looking back over his shoulder he saw the bear limp. The prickly burdocks stuck deeply into her feet and she had to stop and pick them out o f her claws. The brothers and their little sister ran as fast as they could but the bear managed to stay very close to them. Again P’ ses-muk shook the bag and wished that something big would come between them and the bear. Immediately a big lake appeared. On they traveled while the bear had to swim across the lake. Soon the bear was behind them, growling and gnashing his teeth. Again P'ses-muk shook his bag and a forest appeared. But this time the bear made better headway and P’ ses-muk had to order his brothers to climb the tallest tree. This they did dragging their little sister with them. P’ ses-muk was the last to climb, and he no sooner had left the ground than Mooin appeared beneath them, showing her teeth. With her big paws she shook the tree and four brothers fell to the ground. She snatched at them and would have tom them to pieces if P’ ses-muk had not thrown each o f them a piece o f skin from his moose-hide bag. Swiftly the four brothers left the earth and rose in the clear, silvery sky. P’ ses-muk hastily gave his other brothers a piece of his moose-skin bag and they too rose to the sky. In his haste he had tom his bag into pieces. With only two bits left he handed one to Al-akus and the other he kept for himself. At once they floated up into the sky to join their brothers. The power o f his magic bag was greater than the power o f Mooin. She could do nothing but watch them disappear from her evil sight. Today the brothers and their little sister are still together. On clear nights they may be seen as stars in the shape o f the Great Dipper. You can see, too, the four brothers who floated first to their home in the sky, for they form the lower part of the Dipper. And Al-akus and P'ses-muk who had the smallest pieces o f the magic moose-hide bag can be seen on the handle o f the dipper as the faintest stars. Turtle marries, cools off Glus-kabe meets turtle whom he loves, and wishes his uncle to marry. Turtle gets married and he gets lazy. And he begins to enjoy games. Game o f jumping over the wigwams. Turtle gets stuck in the tent poles. While dangling there and yelling, the smoke makes him become hard and soon a shell is formed on him, and the smoke marked his back. Turtle tries it again, when Glus-kabe tells him he has become a great chief. But the smoke became flames and he got burned so had to rush to the river to cool off. And there he lives today. Adventures of Rabbit: The Duck Hunt Rabbit had heard that there were many ducks in the neighborhood and without much ado he had hurried o ff to shoot one or two before any o f the other hunters would awake. So noiselessly he crept out of the wigwam one early morning and with his fine bow and a few arrows he set off toward the pond that was some distance away. But he soon reached there and when he arrived, he hid himself in the rushes and waited. For the ducks were many and they were floating around and playing in the water. He tried to shoot but his aim was not so good. His arrows scared many o f the ducks away so that soon there were only a few left. He had only one arrow left and he did not know what to do. Suddenly an idea came to him. He soaked his arrow in the water and cured it on his knee. And when it was properly shaped and curved he took careful aim and let it sing through the air. The ducks which were floating around in a circle dropped one at a time as the arrow passed through their bodies. All were shot with his one last arrow. He stuck out his chest, so delighted he was with himself. And when he picked them up he sang to himself. He tied them together and carried them on his back and made sure that he would pass in the center o f the village where everyone would see him. But when he reached the village there were only a few people moving about their campfires. But at least there were enough, so that when the day was over everyone would know that Rabbit had brought home a fine bunch of wild ducks. SUBSCRIBE TO WABANAKI ALLIANCE �Wabanaki Alliance January 1978 Page 7 The role of the totem By Isabelle Knockwood Toney The most universally accepted and there­ fore most practiced tradition among native North Americans today is the handcraft. Specifically, it is the carving and sculpting o f wood and rock that is gaining popularity. Non-native interests have also changed from starry-eyed curiosity and bewilderment to acceptance and understanding of the concepts of primitive symbolism. Within the last decade attention has expanded to every nook and corner until we have among us professional craftsmen and women who have mastered the skills and techniques of their trade so that they are able to earn a living wage or supplement an income through the sale of their arts. Sculptured works are being sought after to match the interior decor and furnishing o f homes and offices. Small pieces o f rock and wood are being used as conversation pieces on bureaus and desks or as wall plaques to match Indian rugs, drapes and spreads. The geometrical designs and panorama of contrasting colors that are unique to the native American reality are popping up everywhere from theatrical scenery to church altars. The tales o f the totem pole are more complete and fascinating than any you’ ll find anywhere, in any book because they are free from racism and sexism and also from moral and value judgments. They date as far back as the pre-literate era when people hadn’ yet discovered reading and writing t and native people were communicating with each other through the use o f symbols and emblems. Like other forms o f artistic native expression, their scope is prolific in that every available space is utilized and every phase o f living experience is weighed and balanced. Out o f this process comes the symmetry and planning. In interpreting meanings it might be helpful to understand some basic features. For instance, height denotes prestige. Top man on the totem is head o f the family, clan or tribe. Focus and attention is mainly on position and power in the community which commensurates with personal or public achievements and contributions to society. The bottom section is considered least important which is not meant to imply that it holds no importance. To have been deem ed worthy o f consideration is honorable. Among the woodland tribes, clans have been lost and although there is some revival and adoption o f clans today, generally the Thunderbird is most commonly found perching on peaks scanning the landscape. Like the Phoenix, the Thunderbird sym­ bolizes re-birth. At the time o f the ‘ Flood’ it was the Thunderbird that brought messages o f hope from the Creator to the survivors who had landed on Mount Katahdin. Mount Katahdin is to the Wabanaki as Mt. Ararat is to Christians. Wood sculpture originated along the West Coast o f North America, in, and near British Columbia where some of the largest trees o f the world are found. Carving of stone started with the Eskimos and Inuits. Today the woodland tribes are looking to these cultures as starting-off points in raising their own consciousness about the symbolic meaning o f totems. In recent times, the use of totem poles has been commercial, in promoting sales in handicraft shops and trading posts. Along with the wooden Indian, some totem poles can still be found in museums and second hand stores. Because o f the social mobility guaranteed by the Jay Treaty and enjoyed by native people the exchange o f ideas among clans and tribes is gaining momentum. Bit by bit, section by section our story is being re­ written in the language o f totems, talking sticks and medicine canes. Emphasis will again be placed on the achievements of the race, its contribution to humanity, and its potential. quality tools and materials is basic in the produ ction o f professional sculptured works. A jackknife made out o f good quality steel easily honed to a sharpness that will maintain its edge fairly well is fundamental. Besides a sharp blade, carving tools should have a handle that fits easily inside the palm. A handle too large can slip from one's grip, while too small a handle can cause cramping o f hand muscles. Woods easiest to whittle include soft woods, poplar, elm. cedar and pine. Roots of gray birch are used for heads of war clubs. For the ecology-minded, it’ helpful to s know that poplar is not popular for building or firewood so can be found along riverbanks, having been already cut down by beavers and seasoned. Excellent carving techniques can be ruined by a botched-up application of poor quality or water base paints. Sufficient timing between coats should be permitted to avoid smearing and smudging. Soap and clay carving is ideal for the beginner to practice basic shapes and geo­ metrical designs. Emphasis is always on proper handling and care of tools with safety features in mind. Artistic abilities will develop in propor­ tion to any conscious growth and sensitivity in the various aspects of native culture. Along with one’ need to express thoughts s and feelings, numerous mediums and modes will emerge. Shapes, sizes, contours and lines will take on forms that will tell the world “ The true people o f the land have survived.” Today’ native artists have added to the s color scheme o f things by using colors of the 20th century that were not available in the 14th and have added a permanence to their works by using fixatives and lacquers that have a shine and glass that is both attractive and weatherproof. O f the primary colors, red is most commonly used as it represents our blood lines. Another common color is brown, the color o f Mother Earth. Their style can be described as a merging o f two cultures, involving both traditional and contemporary perception. Some carvers have developed styles and markings that are their own trademark and can be deciphered as readily and clearly as signatures. Cultural changes always follow thinking patterns and socially acceptable behavior. By asserting our sovereignty we have opened up new ways o f thinking and communicat­ ing that lead us where our ancestors left their footprints and impressions eons ago. Directions for national unity were marked out for us in symbols and designs in the eloquent language o f the totems. WINTER WILDERNESS — Rick Love, instructor with Wilderness Pursuits, an Orono based Indian youth program, shoulders a pack along with Everett Sapiel, at the outset of i recent cross-country ski and camping trip. Wilderness courses scheduled O R O N O — W abanaki W ilderness Pursuits has scheduled a number o f outings for Maine Indian youth, from now through March 1978. The Wilderness organization is a non­ profit program that offers young persons the experience o f living and working together in natural surroundings for several days. The basic needs of survival are appreciated, and participants share in joys and sorrows, as well as struggle, hardship and a deep sense of reward, according to Wilderness Pursuits leaders. Self-confidence grows, as does an under­ standing c f cooperation and love, says Martin A. Neptune, program director. Wilderness Pursuits is staffed by Indians, and serves the M icmacs, Maliseet. Penobscot and Passamaquoddy communi­ ties. A description o f wilderness courses says, "you’ discover that you can do things you ll never thought possible; overcome fears, find out new things about yourself.” Winter courses take place either on weekends, or during school vacations. Complete schedules, equipment lists and other information is available from Wilder­ ness Pursuits offices at 93 Main St., Orono. Telephone 866-5577. Two trips are slated Jan. 28 and 29, one involving snowshoeing, the other cross­ country skiing. Snowshoeing is set for the Indian Island area; skiing for the Associa­ tion o f Aroostook Indians area. An instructor training course is set Feb. 2 to Feb. 6. A skiing trip for Central Maine Indian Association youth is scheduled Feb. 11-12; a snowshoeing outing is set those dates for Pleasant Point. An all-area trip using cross-country skis is slated Feb. 18-21; an all-area snowshoe trip. Feb. 23-26. Instructor training will take place Mar. 2-6. On Mar. 11-12 there will be both a snow­ shoeing trip for Indian Township, and a skiing trip for Indian Island. On Mar. 18-19, snowshoeing courses for Aroostook County and for Central Maine Indians have been scheduled. Cross-country ski trips for Indian Town­ ship and for Pleasant Point are set Mar. 25-26. On Apr. 1 a snowshoeing outing is -2, set for Indian Island, and a skiing trip for Aroostook County. Students will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis. Registration forms are available at the Orono offices, or from Joe Stewart at Indian Township school; Shirley Mitchell at Pleasant Point school, Ken Putnam at Indian Island school; Dick Felker at Association of Aroostook Indians, Houlton; Debbie Deveau at Central Maine Indian Association, Orono. Mobile clinic visits island ] j < j INDIAN ISLAND — Medical services are available to Penobscot Indians here at monthly visits from a mobile health clinic. Sponsored by Eastern Maine Medical Center of Bangor, the van travels to a number o f rural areas in Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties on a regular basis. The unit specializes in child care, offering physical check-ups, immunization shots, counseling, urine and blood testing and referral to other agencies where needed. Nurse Practitioner Nicci Kobritz said EMMC’ Rural Pediatric Health Services s provides 24-hour coverage. Any child from birth to age 21 is eligible, she said, adding that there is sometimes no charge unless patients are referred to the hospital at Bangor, or elsewhere. Fees for services are based on a sliding scale depending on in­ come, and number o f children in the family. The rural service unit can be reached �Page 8 Wabanaki Alliance January 1978 A flashback to the past Joe Attean: More than Thoreau 's guide By S. Glenn Starbird, Jr. INDIAN ISLAND — One hundred years after the death o f Joseph Attean, it is diffi­ cult for the historian to understand why his only claim to fame in the eyes o f the public is that for a short time he was Henry David Thoreau’personal guide. s Attean was far more than Indian guide. He was the son o f a chief, descended from a long line o f chiefs. He had the character, qualities and ability needed for the station into which he was born in 1829. The meager records o f Penobscot Tribal History which tell us o f the troubled times through which he lived give us brief snatches of his life story but more than that, they tell us of the political factionalism that nearly tore the tribe to pieces. It was finally settled, largely through the efforts and abilities of Attean. A winning team He worked, as did his fellow tribesmen, in the woods and on the river drives to earn his living, for this was a time when the lives of most Maine men were spent in the woods and on the rivers. Attean and his nephew Stephen Stanis­ laus soon gained a reputation for being two of the best river drivers and boatmen on the Penobscot. They normally worked in the same boat, one at the bow and one at the stern and so well did they work together, (they were nearly twins in their height, weight, general looks, manners and mental outlook) that they operated their boat almost as a single man. The fact that Stanislaus was not in the boat the day Joseph Attean died was the one factor perhaps more than any other that sealed his l ate and that o f two others. Joseph Attean was born Christmas Day. 1829 and grew up during the 1830's and 1840’ when strong resistance was growing s '.o many o f his father’ policies, and those s policies o f his father's Lieutenant Governor. John Neptune. This resistance and political unrest eventually came to a head in 1838 when the group opposed to Attean and Neptune, after consulting with the heads o f the Passamaquoddy and Maliseet tribes, (always up to ihis time federated with the Penobscots) attempted to depose Attean and Neptune ind choose new chiefs. Therefore a convention of the three tribes was called to meet at Indian Island Old Town in August 1838 for an election according to ancient custom. The group opposed to the old chiefs ac­ complished their purpose and chose new ones but the trouble did not end there for ihe old leaders refused to step down and ■ supporters continued to regard them heir is the true Heads o f the Tribe. Neither party would back down, even rejecting the State’ well-meaning effort at s settlement the next year. From that time on those who followed Attean and Neptune were called the Old Party and those favoring the newly-elected leaders Tomer Sockalexis and Attean Orson, the New Party. This state of affairs continued through­ out the I840’ causing much discord and s disruption in tribal life. Because of this more and more authority of the chiefs was taken over by the State and in several instances political differences resulted in actual bloodshed. When John Hubbard became Governor o f Maine he immediately tried to find a way to bring some order out of the chaos that was developing rapidly in both tribes, for a similar situation existed among the Passamaquoddies. In the case of the Passamaquoddies he was successful, with the Penobscots he was not. Political system shifts The agreement entered into about 1850 between the officers and principal members o f both parties at the urging o f the Governor of Maine provided that: "as John Attean and John Neptune were chosen according to the ancient usages o f the tribe into their respective offices, that they should remain in said offices during the remainder o f their lives, and on the decease o f one or both, the vacancy should be filled by majority vote of the male members of the tribe o f twenty-one years o f age and upwards, in a meeting duly called by the Agent. Said officers to continue for two years, and that an election should be held every year to choose one member o f the tribe to represent the tribe before the Legislature and the Governor and Council.” Sections were then held annually for choice o f representative and although the State now recognized Attean and Neptune as the legal chiefs there still existed much ill feelings often resulting in near riot condi­ tions at many elections. Governor John Attean died in 1858 and after the usual period o f mourning the Old willing to submit himself to the elective process for possession o f an office that was already his by hereditary right. Exactly how the firebrands o f the two parties were persuaded to submit themselves to the ballot is not known but quite likely Attean’patience and forbearance played a s large part in it. Only one change seems to have been made in the 1850 agreement, that the elections should be annual instead of biennial beginning in 1862. Eckstorm says in 'The Penobscot Man,’"Joseph Attean won his election by popular vote against great opposition, and carried seven out of the eight elections held up to the time o f his death. The eighth, by the intervention o f the so-called ‘ Special Law' passed by the state to reduce the friction between the parties, was JOSEPH ATTEAN — A celebrated Penobscot Indian who was Thoreau’ guide and an s expert on the Penobscot River log drives. This portrait will be exhibited at the tribal governor's office at Indian Island. s Party declared his son Joseph his successor, the New Party’first election, none o f Joseph and he was duly inaugurated by them Attean's party, the Old Party, or Con­ according to ancient Indian custom, for life. servatives. voting that year.” Attean's popularity even among New The succession to the offices o f governor .land lieutenant governor was still a hotly Party members did not set too well with Newdisputed issue between the two parties but Party leaders, with the result that the now a generation had passed since the Special Law o f 1866, (mentioned above) was original rupture and it seems apparent that passed giving the two parties exclusive Joseph Attean had decided in his own mind election rights in alternate years beginning that the time was ripe to settle the chaotic in 1867 with the Old Party. political situation once and for all. The agreement shows how far Attean was “ Good and open-hearted” willing to go to settle the party animosity s Fannie Hardy Eckstorm’The Penobscot that had almost destroyed his tribe’ s Man describes Joseph Attean as “ only political existance. Attean and his new not brave but good, an open-hearted, patient, Lieutenant-Governor Saul Neptune (who forbearing sort o f man ... loved for his mild was chosen by the Old Party to succeed his justness.”These were exactly the qualities father John upon the latter’ death in 1865) s needed in a leader, especially at that had little to fear in an open election. particular period. The new law had the desired effect, and In addition to his leadership abilities from that time on. for the most part, Attean had the prestige o f his background elections were conducted in an orderly and ancestry, an ancestry that traditionally manner, everyone abiding by the results traced to Chief Madockawando and perhaps until the law was again changed about 1930. even further to the half-legendary Bashaba. Drowned on river drive With these assets Attean commanded re­ Unfortunately. Attean was not to live to spect from even his New Party political op­ see the long term results o f his efforts. Holding political office in the Penobscot ponents. As soon as Attean was firmly in control of his own party he seems to have Tribe at that period was not the best place to made enforcement o f the agreement o f 1850 earn a living. Although there was a small one o f the first issues ,to be settled. stipend, the holder o f any office in the tribe Attean felt sure of his position and so could not support a family on it. earnestly did he desire a solution to the In Attean’ case his livlihood involved s tribe’ leadership question that he was working in the woods in the winter and on s the river drives in the spring and summt was while on one o f these drives in 1 near what is now Millinocket, that At was drowned in the West Branch of Penobscot, trying to save the lives of t fellow drivers who could not swim. Eckstorm has told the story as culled the memories of the men who were there saw it happen in her book ‘ Penol The Man.’ said the logs were "ricked up She jackstraws on both sides o f the falls.”Ir boat was Attean, but on this day his ne] Stanislaus was not with him and this ii end made the difference. In Stanis place was Charles Prouty, young and perienced. John Ross, the River Boss, later Eckstorm the responsibility was real!’ for putting Prouty in the bow positic that boat in the first place. The boat veered, shot across thundering current among the jagged i on the opposite shore close above the st: of water known as Blue Rock Pitch those who could swim jumped e: Attean. Attean dropped his useless pol< grabbed his paddle but the boat woul< respond. Attean stayed with boat Three non-swimmers clung to the Eckstorm says, "And Joe Attean stayed them, not clinging as they did, burii water; not crouching and abject, waitir the death that faced him, not a coward never, but paddle in hand, because water ran too deep for a pole-hold, star astride his sunken boat, a big caulked upon either gunwhale, working with th ounce that was in him to drive the su wreck and the men clinging to it into eddy or cleft of the log-jams before they carried down over the thundering fal Attean’ death closed a turbulent e s Penobscot history. His life had been : But by the time he died in 1870, the poi life of the tribe had been given a new largely through his efforts. It had turn a new direction now and was held some in check by the paternalistic power c state. And it enabled new generatio: Penobscots to develop the political that would give them an ever-increa control over their own destiny in the rr half o f the coming century. Pearson to push Indian programs AUGUSTA — Rep. Michael D. Pe (D-Old Town) said he will be involv funding of Indian programs during second session o f the 108th Maine Le ture. A press release from Pearson sail District 79 legislator will serve on th< propriations Committee. Do you have a drinking problem Wabanaki Corporation offers an a holism program for Indian people need help because o f problems alcohol. If you have such a problem and i help, or know of someone in need, pi contact the Alcoholism Counselor in community or area. Indian Island — Alcoholism G selor — Clarence Francis — 2075577. Indian Township — Alcoholism C selor — Martha Barstis — 207-796-2 Pleasant Point — Alcoholism C selor — Grace Roderick — 2072537. Association o f Aroostook Indian Alcoholism Counselor — Pious Peril 207-762-3751. Central Maine Indian Associatio Alcoholism Counselor — Alfred Dar 207-269-2653 or 207-866-5577. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (January 1978) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-01 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-413 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission. https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/3fc32006e3d393d74d69f4433a9eaec6.pdf 7a9b2b54d2396f0c95581975beebe118 PDF Text Text THE DOUBLE CURVE MOTIVE This design is of Penobscot origin and denotes the union of tribes. It is taken from The Double-Curve Motive in Northeastern Algonkian A rt (Ottowa, 1914, Figure 5B). It is also found in Symbolism in Penobscot Art (The American Museum of Natural History, Vol. XXIX, 1927, page 40, Figure 9A), both of which works are by the noted anthropologist, Frank Soeck In the latter work Speck tells us: ‘‘Penobscot art is rich in the elaboration of a tew elementary motives ostensibly for mere decoration, but carrying a realistic plant interpretation and symbolism. The decorative designs of this tribe are only part oi a series shared alike...by the neighboring Micmac, Malecite and Passamaquoddy. On the whole, the decorative designs of the northern Algonkian, from Penobscot east to the Micmac, are in stylistic form exclusively characteristic of the area. These are the double-curve figures which consist of two symmetrical opposed incurves which are themselves subject to a host of modifications in the enclosed space or periphery.” / The design to the right, serving as a masthead and over which Wabanaki Alliance has been imposed, is an ancient Penobscot motive. It is known as the ‘double­ curve motive and is symbolic of inter-tribal unity. A more fitting symbol of the Wabanaki peoples would be difficult to come by. Background story appears on back page. % .I ,* - ! S m BS POLITICAL SYMBOLISM Again on page 65 of the latter work referred to above: ‘‘It developed that political conceptions were associated with the curvilinear patterns, in which the ovals and curves, instead of depicting leaves, blossoms and stems, served as representations of political and social units, officers and individuals. There remained little doubt that a new and peculiar symbolism in ornamentation was developing over and around the curved floral ornaments evoked by the growth of the Iroquoian political idea among the Wabanaki. (i.e. mutually protective families or nations). Newell Lion, the last representative of the older regime among the Penobscot, gave these interpretations drawing them from the most vivid recollections of his younger days when the installation ceremonies of a chief were carried on seriously, and by men to whom the political values and symbols on their regalia were of real importance. , ‘‘It becomes clear that the curved designs in Iroquois are prominent symbols of the confederacy of the Six Nations. This idea is paralleled very strikingly by the curved symbol among the Wabanaki.” Editor's Note: The Wabanaki Alliance among the Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Micmac. and Penobscot was a political and cultural fact from about the year 1700 to mid-nineteenth century\ and we have the double-curve motive in Northern Algonkian Art to symbolize and demonstrate that fact. • DfrecIorS'Tnc!udc, left to right: [front row] Frank Loring, lieutenant governor, Indian Island; Erlenc Paul, Old Town; Mike Crawford; Terry Polchies, president, AAI; Eugene Francis, governor, Pleasani Point; [middle row] Wayne Newell, Grace Roderick, Susan Stevens, Ralph Dana, Tom Tureen; [back row] Alan Sockabasin, governor, Peter Dana Point; Tom Battiste; Andy Aikcns; John Stevens, commissioner of Indian Affairs; James Sappier. �W abanaki Alliance Page 1 Catholic Laymen Fund Statewide Indian Center The Division of Indian Services (DIS) of the Catholic Diocese of Portland has received funds from the DeRance Foundation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to set up an Indian Resource Center and a Youth Organization Program for Maine's Indians. The Division of Indian Services is one branch of the Diocesan Human Relations Services. MS Last fall DIS reached out to DeRance, Inc. and requested in a formal proposal that they sponsor a self-help program for the various tribes of Maine. In the past years their efforts had been directed to Indian peoples south of the border in Mexico and Central America. Their broad purposes involve charitable and religious giving with emphasis on Roman Catholic Church support for higher education and welfare programs in America and abroad, and for educational and social development in Latin America. The foundation was established in 1946 in Wisconsin. This funding represents their first effort to assist Indians of North America and is divided into two separate grants. The first of these is for $30,000 to establish an Indian Resource Center or, for a more descriptive title, a state-wide communications center to serve all of Maine’s Indians. The second grant is for $37,800 to implement a Youth Organization Program to come under the directorship of the Resource Center. This phase of the grants is well under way with the hiring of TribalCouncil-approved Indian Youth Co-ordinators. A search is being made at the moment for a professional person to serve as a consultant on a part-time basis to integrate educational, social and recreational projects throughout the State. The Youth Program is meant to enrich the experience of Indian young people during their growing years and leisure time and help them develop spiritual and other personal strengths so that they can more effectively meet the challenges encountered in their various communities in a period of rapid change in society in general. Rev. Joseph F. Mahoney, a Jesuit Priest, who has a Masters Degree in Communication Arts, has been hired by the all-Indian DIS Board of Advisors as Director of the Resource Center. He is also responsible for fleshing out the Youth Organization Program and for ensuring its refunding next year. The Division of Indian Services is a unit of the Catholic Diocese’s Human Relations Services and enjoys the services of the only all-Indian Board of Advisors which represents all the Indian Tribal groups in Maine. This Board meets on a monthly basis and discusses a wide range of issues affecting the welfare of Maine’s Indian communities. The DeRance grant will hopefully serve as a means of enhancing the growth of further inter-tribal union as a result of which a more effective voice can be heard for the benefit of all. The Indian Resource Center in Orono will try to bridge the communication gaps between Indian and non-Indian peoples by pursuing six major objectives: 1. Inter-Indian Communications 2. Religious Education 3. Leadership Development 4. Mobilization of Resources 5. Interpretation to the non-Indian community 6. Advocacy Members of the DIS Board of Directors pictured elsewhere in these pages. With remuneration, they have served their people well continue to do so. They deserve our gratitude support. are no and and JOHN L. STEVENS, COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, AND KENNETH M. CURTIS, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MAINE Eastern Indians Form New Alliance M aine In d ian lead ership la st D ecem ber participated in an unprecedented meeting of Indian peoples east of the Mississippi River. Over 125 people from some 65 eastern Indian tribes, communities, and organizations came together for the first time in this century in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital. The Eastern Indian Conference, sponsored by the Native American Rights Fund of Boulder, Colorado, was made possible by a grant from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation of New York City. It was the desire of the Clark Foundation to support this effort to bring together Eastern Indian leaders in an atmosphere of communication, cooperation and new public awareness. Eastern Indians are the descendants of Indian tribes living in the eastern part of the United States prior to the American Revolution. The Passamaquoddies, Penobscots, Micmacs, and Malecites of Maine, the Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Shinnecocks and Poopatucks of New York, the Manticokes of Delaware, the Miamis of Indiana, the Mattaponi and Pamunky of Virginia, the Coharie and Maccamau Siouans of North Carolina, the Catawbas, Creeks, Coushattas, Cherokees and Seminoles are some of the names of over 60 tribes, not to mention the second largest Indian tribe in the country, the Lumbees of North Carolina, with a population of 40,000. Some eastern Indians live on State reservations, a very few on Federal reservations, and some in cities. But most live in isolated rural areas to which they retreated from the advancing settlers. There they have remained and endured without knowing their rights or the availability of federal and state program funds, attempting to retain their cultural values. Even though the problems of Eastern Indians are similar to those of western Indians, eastern Indians do not receive the same kind of federal support and, indeed, most of them do not come under the Government’s OWN special agency for Indians, the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Eastern Indian Conference attempted fo fill some of the informational gaps shared by eastern Indian groups. During the meeting, representatives of government agencies like Health, Education, and Welfare, U.S. Office of Education, The Office of Economic Opportunity, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Departments of Commerce, Labor and Agriculture, were on hand to discuss services offered by their respective agencies for which eastern Indians would be eligible. Also present were lawyers and consultants who are working with eastern Indians to discuss the historical limitations as well as the current attempts being made by eastern tribes in gaining federal recognition and services. Representatives of the Clark, the Ford, the Rockefeller Brothers, and the Donner Foundations were also present to talk to conference delegates about their needs and aspirations. A keynote address was given by noted Indian author and lawyer. Vine Deloria, Jr., on the last day. In his talk, Mr. Deloria said that eastern Indians have come together at a very important point in history, for they are the Indian people who can help all Indian people redefine the Government’s obligation to Indian people based on the Constitution of the United States and numerous treaties and executive decisions. “ W hat Indian people must remember,” said Mr. Deloria, “ is that the trustee relationship of the Federal Government to Indian people is the respon­ sibility of all Government agencies and not just of the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.” The enthusiasm of the group was marked by their continuous meetings which were not on the agenda. Out of these meetings, some of which remained in session until the early morning hours, came a new alliance called the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans (CENA). By a unanimous approval of the entire assembly, the new organization was founded and an eleven-member steering committee, of which Mr. Thomas Battiste and Mr. Andrew Aikens of. Maine are members, was chosen by popular vote to head CENA in its initial development. W. J. Strickland, a thirty-year old Lumbee from Pembroke, North Carolina, was elected chairman of the steering committee. Regarding the goals of the new eastern Coalition, Mr. Strickland said: “ We pledge to help all Indian people in the East to move toward self-deter­ mination, both community by community and state by state. Each of these communities has its own leadership, and its own needs. Our work will be to remove road blocks and to deliver services so that these needs can be met.” Mr. Strickland added: “ I am pleased with the responsiveness of the people at this conference, their dedication and their willingness to cross community and state lines to resolve their problems.” The steering committee plans on incorporating as a non-profit private organization to serve as a technical assistance agency for eastern Indian groups. Funds will be sought from private and public sources for setting up an office in Washington, D.C. and for programs to assist individual Indian communities and tribes in their quest for self-determination. A long range goal of CENA will be to work toward a single Federal Government Indian policy whereby all Indians are treated alike for delivery of services and protection of resources, whether they be eastern, western, urban or rural. �Page 2 Wabanaki Alliance E D IT O R IA L S WABANAKI ALLIANCE It is appropriate that the first issue of WABANAKI ALLIANCE appear in this season of Easter, of rebirth and new growth. This paper is itself symbolic of a rebirth represented by our mast-head, of an ancient alliance among the Indian people of Maine dating back to 1700. The term Wabanaki itself means, “The Daybreak People” or “ People of the Eastern Lands” and embraced the very same tribes identifiable today within the State of Maine: The Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Mic Mac and Malecite. The very reason for existence of this paper is to improve communications amongst all Maine’s Indian peoples. Our philosophy will be to emphasize those areas of concern which unite the various tribes and to minimize those areas which historically have been the causes for disunion and dissension. We are most grateful to the DeRance Foundation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for enabling us to set up the Resource Center in Orono and to work out a well-coordinated Youth Organization Program now in the planning stage. We will work for more effective Christian witness to Maine’s Indian people in the name of these committed Catholic laymen. CONGRATULATIONS! The D.I.S. Board of Advisors, serving as the ex-officio Editorial Board of this paper, wishes to congratulate the Indian leadership of the various tribal units for the initiative they have taken in recent months to improve the lot of Maine’s Indian people. The various Governors and A.A.I. President, representing their various Tribal Councils, have been on the road a good bit of the time since last Fall meeting with Maine’s Congressional Delegation and various Federal agency representatives in Washington, D.C., Boston, Augusta and Bangor. Along with their dedicated professional advisors they have been working behind the scenes to improve the Indian’s social lot and to redress ancient injustices. One of the most hopeful developments has been the formation of a new alliance called the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans (C.E.N.A.) an organization badly needed to focus attention on the eastern and northeastern Indians’ situations. CONGRATULATIONS! INVITATION This first issue of WABANAKI ALLIANCE has been prepared chiefly by Fr. Joseph Mahoney, S.J., Director of the Resource Center acting in the name of and with the approval of his all-Indian Board of Directors. Following issues will, hopefully, be written and edited by volunteer Indian people from all levels of society, including and especially, the young both on reservation and from the university and high school communities. Articles, artwork, poetry, letters to the editor, are needed and wanted. From this reservoir of talent will come our all-Indian editorial board of future issues. Any person wishing to become involved should write to Fr. Joseph Mahoney, S.J. at 89 Main Street, Orono, Maine. WABANAKI ALLIANCE' Vol. 1, No. 1 May1973 Managing Editor: Joseph F. Mahoney, S. J. Editorial Board: DIS Board of Directors: Thomas Battiste, Chairman; Jean Chevaree, Alan Sockabasin, Nicholas Dow, Terry Polchies, John Bailey Published by Indian Resource Center, 93 Main St., Orono, Me. A LONG DEEP SHAME [The following are excerpts from a recent syndicated newspaper column by the outstanding black journalist, Carl T. Rowan. His appraisal of the significance of “Wounded Knee” is one of the best I have seen. J.F.M.] WASHINGTON—As a newsman, I have spent weeks among the Sioux. I have heard white Americans point to Indian bellies, bloated or tumefied by horrible diets, and exclaim: “You see, they can’t be hungry.” I have seen mothers shiver on the dirt floors of tarpaper shacks on the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota, massaging their babies to try to keep them warm. I have talked to hundreds of whites on the periphery of Indian reservations who produce a litany of stereotypes: “ Indians are lazy, Indians are dirty, Indians are drunkards” . . . a litany so painfully similar to what I heard about “niggers” during my young days in the Deep South. I have w alked enough dusty reservation roads to know that for all the ugly discriminations against, and oppressions of, black people, or Puerto Ricans, or Mexican Americans, it is the American Indian who is most ne­ glected, most brutalized, most de­ graded. And the pity is that those millions of Americans who do care somewhat for justice give a thought to these Indians only when an angry protest erupts at the Bureau of Indian Affairs here, or when a crisis is at hand at some place like Wounded Knee. The shame is that Indians must resort to force and law-breaking just to get the country to consider their grievances. We have “buried” the American Indian alive in the backwoods of American life. And because he is out of sight, he is out of our minds. It would be untrue in the physical sense to say that we have given ourselves peace of mind by keeping Indians in rural concentration camps. Because the Indian is now free to leave any reservation. But the prison shackles are in his mind. All but a few have been denied the education and training which would enable them to cope in the highly technological society at large. And however good the training of a few, isolation has made the American mainstream a strange, hostile world that some are loath to enter. Many Indians truly put priority on retaining their Indian heritage and culture, so assimilation is not their goal. Others are tied to their bleak, largely barren reserves by dreamy notions that someday, somehow the white man’s government is going to hand over the billions of dollars they say the white man owes them for their land. They want to be around to claim their share. So it is not just rage that dis­ tinguishes those Indian militants at Wounded Knee. It is also confusion, hopelessness, despair, these being the most plentiful commodities among American minorities these days. W hat I am saying, then, is that there is no way this government is going to satisfy the myriad age-old grievances of the American Indian movement in general or the W ounded Knee insurgents in particular. Only a genuine transformation of heart and spirit by the mass of Americans can produce that. —Carl T. Rowan. �Wabanaki Alliance Page 3 An Appeal INDIAN JUSTICE THROUGH MAINE S 106TH LEGISLATURE “The White Men made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it.” Indian Quote from: “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” Our Indian countrymen have been subjected to persecution and discrimi­ nation since the 16th Century. Yet, many Mainers still look with aloof curiosity or d isin terest a t the descendants of Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Crazy Horse, Chief Joseph, Cochise, etc. as they peacefully demonstrate or violently protest their grievances at historical sites such as Wounded Knee. Most of us realize that there is a small but significant part of the Indian Nation living in Maine; but few of us are aware that they have suffered and continue to countenance many of the same injustices perpetrated on their western Brothers from the Dakotas. The Penobscot, P assam aquoddy, Micmac and Maliseet Tribes comprise the estimated 2,500 Indians living in Maine. Although most of them live on the reservations at Indian Island-Old Town, Pleasant Point-Perry, and Indian Township-Princeton, many live off reservation in the north east section of the State. The Passamaquoddy settlements are State reservations with treaties dating back to 1794 and 1795 - 26 years before Maine became a State in 1820. Many Maine Indians feel that the State of Massachusetts and the State of Maine have violated their treaties with the Maine Tribes. One can only speculate on the outcome of litigations in Federal and State Courts over their suits, but one need not sp eculate on the conditions of poverty, alienation, and despair in our Indian community today. Economic depression with unem­ ployment rates between 50 percent and 80 percent; educational deprivation with nearly an 80 percent high school dropout rate on some reservations; substandard living conditions with no plum bing and often d ilap id ated housing; inadequate social, medical and dental services highlight this deplorable list of neglect and discrim ination. The m ost telling statistic is that of life expectancy - an Indian’s average life is approximately 44. a white American’s is 72. Maine Indians are not recognized by the Federal Government and, therefore, they are not eligible for federal assistance services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington. It’s true the Oglala Sioux may have justified grievances against the Federal Gov­ ernment for breach of treaty and corrupt m anagem ent o f Indian programs in South Dakota - but Maine Indians are not even eligible for millions of dollars worth of services afforded other American Tribes. Federal, State and local officials have admitted that the citizens of Maine have discriminated against and ignored the Indian people for too long. In order to provide better lives and a brighter future for our Maine Indians, we should seriously consider favorable action on the following legislative documents before the 106th Maine Legislature: LD 343 - PART H BUDGET Sponsor: Senator Sewall of Penobscot Purpose: This bill would provide a clerk -ty p ist, In d ia n developm ent specialist, typist, Accountant-clerk, full-time chaplain, fees for tribal gov­ ernments and increased support of Indian Housing Authorities. Referred to: Appropriations Committee Allocation: $183,928 for the biennium (1973-75) LD 284— AN ACT Relating to Actions for Money Due Indian Tribes and for Injury Done to Tribal Lands. Sponsor: Mr. Mills of Eastport Referred to: Judiciary Committee Purpose: This bill would allow the Commissioner of Indian Affairs upon his own initiative, or at the request of the governing body of any of the tribes, legal actions for money due any such tribe and for injuries done to tribal lands. The present law would be amended to allow suits or be filed for damages prior to Sep­ tember 16, 1971. This date, accord­ ing to the Indians, is unconstitu­ tional and creates a possible conflict of interest for the Attorney General who is authorized to protect both State and Indian interests. LD 287—Resolution, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution to Provide for Indian Representatives to the Legislature. Sponsor: Mr. Mills of Eastport Referred to: Government Committee Purpose: This resolution would allow the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Tribes to elect one non-voting repre­ sentative (from each tribe) to the leg­ islature. For the first 120 years of Maine’s history as a State, Indians sat and spoke on the floor of the House. In the early 1940’s this prac­ tice was terminated. This amend­ ment would establish privileges and duties of Indian Representatives by constitutional law as other represen­ tatives. LD 278 — AN ACT Relating to Lands on Indian Township, Washington County, acquired by the State. Sponsor: Mr. Mills of Eastport Referred to: Judiciary Committee Purpose: This bill would allow the conveyance of State acquired lands on Indian Township in Washing­ ton County to the Passamaquoddy Tribe. (These lands would have to be assessed for State, County or forestry District taxes.) The intent is to elim­ inate confusion as to the status of lands acquired by the Passama­ quoddy Tribe through purchase. LD 1290 — AN ACT to Appropriate Funds for the Purpose of Creating an Off-Reservation Indian Develop­ ment Office within the Department of Indian Affairs. Sponsor: Mr. Haskell of Houlton Referred to: Appropriations Committee Purpose: This Act would appropriate $59,845 for the biennium to estab­ lish an off-reservation office in order to provide a voice for off-reservation Indians and to insure that they re­ ceive much needed social services. LD 813 — RESOLVE, Appropriating Funds for Construction of Early Childhood Facility for the Passa­ DELIA AND NICK RANCO, who just celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary Easter Sunday, are a delightful example of the inner beauty that comes with the passage of time. But time is by no means the only thing which has wrought that quiet joy so obvious in this gracious couple. (Photo courtesy of Bangor Publishing Co.) THE BEAUTY OF O LD AGE The thought o f old age sends a shudder through many hearts. But like most fears that beset us, this one is a lamentable delusion, and needless. I looked long at the loveliness o f a young cherry tree, a p ink bouquet offered to the spirit o f springtime. I thought no tree could be fairer, and sighed to think o f the wanton breeze that would soon scatter the bloom and the beauty and leave to the tree but the dull duty o f fruitbearing. Around the bend o f the road there towered a noble tree, fu ll two centuries old. It bore its majestic crown on a stem that rose like a bronze column reaching jrom earth to sky. I t breathed o f serenity, power, and understanding, and shed a great peace. The dainty pink tree was a poem, a lilting lyric poem; but this was an epic, a classic o f majesty and music. Suddenly age meant something beyond all losing. I t meant the gain o f all that was good in life, kneaded into a soul that transcended all littleness, all trifling— a spirit aglow with an inner glory. Men are as trees walking. “How beautiful you are!" exclaimed a young enthusiast to an old woman philosopher. “M y child, I ought to be beautiful. I have lived eighty years," she replied. Youth is a time o f fleeting beauty, a passage o f storm and stress. We regret it, but we would not have it again i f we might. Age brings peace: and it will, i f we desire it, bring to us a beauty beyond the touch o f the earth. — Unknown maquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point. Sponsor: Mr. Mills at Eastport Referred to: Committee on Human Resources Purpose: To appropriate $83,500 to construct an early childhood facility for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point, Washington County. The facility would provide Head Start, Educational, Vocational li­ brary and career development pro­ grams. LD 465 — AN ACT Relating to Leg­ islation Affecting Penobscot Tribe of Indians. Sponsor: Mrs. Murchison of Mattawamkeag. Referred to: Committee on Human Resources Purpose: No legislation directly affect­ ing the Penobscot Tribe shall be in­ troduced into the legislature without first being submitted to the governor and council of the Penobscot Tribe of Indians for their approval. —John Kerry, H RS [Adaptedfrom the Church World, 4/23/73] �Page 4 Wabanaki Alliance Dental Clinic Services Opportunities At Hand Human Relations Services, Inc. (HRS), District IV, has been operating, in one manner or another, dental clinic programs since the summer of 1968. Perhaps a brief history of the dental clinics operated by HRS, District IV, would be of some benefit to the Indian reader. AAI LEGAL HELP — The Association of Aroostook Indians, Inc., received a grant from the Campaign For Homan Development, of the United States Catholic Conference, for the purpose of establishing an Indian legal services program in Aroostook County. Operations under the grant began last fall with the h i r i n g of an attorney. The person hired is Robert Moore and the office is located in the building owned by the A.A.I. at Bowdoin Street in Houlton. The program will provide legal counsel to Indian people in Aroostook County. This will include both civil and criminal matters. By providing a lawyer for Indians accused of crimes, the A.A J. project is broader than Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Inc., which is limited to civil matters. The attorney is not yet admitted to practice in the state courts of Maine. However, the results of the bar examination will be out in early April. After that time the Aroostook Indian Legal Service will be in full operation. At present, the Indian Unit of Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Inc., is cooperating with A.A.I. to provide necessary representation in court. Normally, the A.A.I. attorney is in the Caribou area one day a week. With no office in that area, it has been Helen Ciganik, A.A.I.’s VISTA worker in Caribou, who has put the people in contact with the attorney if needed. Left to right in photo: Tom Battiste, Bishop Peter L.-Gerety, Terry Polchies, Brenda Polchies, Gloria Tomah. [Church World Photo] TONY KALISS REPORT In the summer of 1972 a survey was commissioned by the Board of Directors of the Division of Indian Services. Recently, the results of that broad and challenging work was published by Mr. Tony Kaliss. It is a most valuable fact sheet and resource. Following is the formal title of the work embracing 174 pages followed by the intro­ duction to the report as written by Mr. Kaliss: An inventory and evaluation of the programs serving the Indians of Maine and Recommendations for the future work of the Division of Indian Services— Diocesan Human Relations Services of the Catholic Diocese of Portland, Maine. This inventory and evaluation of the programs serving the Indian population of Maine was undertaken at the request of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Diocese of Portland’s Division of Indian Services. The DIS was established in the Spring of 1968 as part of the Diocese’s Bureau of Human Relations Services. Both the DIS and the Bureau of Human Relations Services, which was set up in 1966, represent the belief of the Diocese in Portland that a true Christian concern must extend beyond the spiritual needs of a man to deal with the social and economic conditions in which he lives. It represents, as well, the pressure placed on all churches in the 1960’s to respond to the day to day problems of living faced by the poor and non-white minorities in our country and around the world, as well. The DIS first consisted of a Director, then responsible to the Director of the Bureau of Human Relations Services. Next, an Advisory Board of Indians and non-Indians was set up and, finally, in June of 1971 the Advisory Board was changed into an all-Indian Board, with two representatives from each Reserva­ tion and two from the Association of Aroostook Indians, which represents the large Indian community in Aroos­ took County. This Board was also given increased powers and is now basically a Board of Directors rather than an Advisory Board. The first Director of DIS was Louis Doyle, who served from 1968 to 1972 when he resigned. His place was taken by Father Richard Rokos, who accepted the job temporarily to help the new Board get on its feet. Feeling that he has done what he intended, and after discussion with the Board, Father Rokos resigned as of June 30, 1972 to return full time to his duties as Pastor of the St. Anne’s Mission on the Penobscot Reservation. He is now pastor in Bucksport, Maine. Because the DIS Board is still new and because many things have changed since DIS was set up in 1968, the Board decided to take the opportunity of getting a new Director to make some decisions about where DIS should go in the future. But to know where to go from here, one has to know where “here” is, and so the DIS Board decided to have someone do an inventory and evaluation o f the programs now serving the Indians of In the summer of 1968, a dental clinic was established in the Calais Regional Hospital in Calais, Maine. The clinic was intended to be operated only during the summer months and originally only for the benefit of the Indian population residing on the two reservations located in Washington County. In August 1971, this summer clinic was reorganized so that a full-time dentist could be hired and dental services provided to all low-income children living in Washington County. While the summer clinic program in Washington County was being carried on, a year-round clinic was established, initially, in Lee, Maine. The Lee Dental Clinic began tre a tin g low-income children within a 35 mile radius of Lee on July 1,1970. Subsequently, the clinic was moved to its present location in the Marianne School in Chester, Maine. This clinic is now known as the Chester Dental Clinic. As the two dental clinics began full-tim e operations, geographical guidelines, eligibility criteria, and clinic procedural policies were drafted and put into effect. Basically, in order to qualify for the clinic’s services, a child Maine and make some recommenda­ tions to the Board about future work. This survey, then, is the result. It is divided into three parts. Part One is an inventory of programs serving the Indians of Maine. It contains just the facts; opinions have been left for Part Two, which is an evaluation of the programs. Part Three is based on Parts One and Two, and contains recommen­ dations to DIS about possible future work of DIS. The facts in this survey are based on ten weeks of field work. The opinions are based on many conversations with some 70 Indians and a good few nonIndians during the ten weeks and on six years of work and contact with the Indians in Maine. Every person has his own way of looking at things, and the author of this survey certainly has his own, but he has tried, as much as possible, to learn from the people on the receiving end what they think and where they want to go in the future. Any resemblance that the opinions in this study have to the opinions of other people is not at all coincidental since the author thinks that many other people besides himself have a lot of good common sense. However, the opinions expressed here in writing are those of the author and he alone is responsible for them. Corrections and additions to the factual material in this survey, as well as any comments on the evaluations, are very welcome. They should be addressed to the Division of Indian Service, 53 Illinois Ave., Bangor, Maine 04401. must meet the following criteria: 1. The child must be 18 years of age or younger. 2. The child’s family or guardian must be receiving State public assistance, i.e. A .F.D .C . or A.A.B.D., State general assist­ ance, Municipal or County Public Assistance, or be eligible for or receiving donated com m odity foods. 3. The child must reside within the geographical area served by each clinic. The clinic located in the Calais Regional Hospital is staffed by Dr. William Baker, D.M.D., and he is open five days a week, generally Monday through Friday, from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon. Referrals can be made either by the person seeking dental health directly or by another person acting on behalf of a family and the family’s child or children. The telephone number to call is 454-7521. No fees are charged for the general procedures offered a t the clinic, except that laboratory fees must be paid for, either by the family or some other party, and fees are charged for services for adults on an emergency basis. Generally, adults are treated on an emergency basis only for the alleviation of pain, and thus usually means a simple extraction of a tooth or teeth. The Chester Dental Clinic has the same general operating guidelines, services provided, eligibility criteria, and other limitations which apply to the Calais Clinic. The Chester Clinic is staffed by Dr. David Levy, D.M.D. and is generally open from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon. The phone number to call is 794-8185. Again, referrals can be made by individuals on their own behalf or by some other party acting for a family and a family’s child or children. The area served by the Chester Clinic essentially extends from just north of Old Town (including In d ian Island) to the northern most boundary of Penobscot County and also includes a small part of southern Aroostook County. The two clinics are prevention oriented and children are treated with the expectation in mind th at the clinic directors may terminate services to a patient if that patient refuses to comply with those instructions given to him or to his family. The clinics cannot afford to pay for transportation to or from the clinics, so this must be worked out by the individual families and their children who want to receive dental services from the clinics. As of the date of this article, the patient load in the Chester Clinic is such that there is a ten month waiting list; in Calais, the patient load is rapidly expanding. However, it is the intent of each clinic to try to serve as many low-income c h ildren as possible consistent with limited personnel and quality dental care. For additional information regarding the clinics Program in general or any specific aspect of it, please contact the Human Relations Services—District IV office, 53 Illinois Avenue, Bangor, Maine, 04401. Telephone 947-8664. Jon McNulty, HRS., Disk IV �Wabanaki Alliance Page 5 MERCY' AND THE MAINE INDIAN In the year 1878 a request for assistance in missionary and educational work among the Penobscot Indians of Old Town came to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Mercy in Manchester, New Hampshire. In response to this request from Rt. Rev. James Augustine Healy, Bishop of Portland, four Sisters left Manchester on August 25, 1878. They arrived at Indian Island accompanied by Rev. Michael O’Brien, pastor of the Old Town Church and Mother Francis Xavier Warde, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy in the United States. Mother Warde came to officially open the Convent and School that were to be established there. During these ninety-some years the The Sisters were met by the Chief of Sisters of Mercy have continued the Tribe, Sockabeson Swassin, who uninterruptedly their work as educa­ along with many others brought the tors; provided health service for most of those years through Sister Nurses at Sisters in canoes to the other side of the river. There they were welcomed with Pleasant Point, and nursing care in the warmth and genuine sincerity by large early years wherever the need; and were ever ready to respond to any need, be it numbers gathered on the bank. Tribal spiritual or physical. Chief Sockabeson had given up his own home in order that the Sisters would The general feeling of good will that have a place in which to live. exists between the Reservation com­ munities and the Sisters of Mercy is a In 1880 the Penobscot Indians built a living tribute to the ninety-some years new Convent for the Sisters, assisted of service that the Sisters have given to financially in its erection by Bishop the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Healy and priests of neighboring Tribes in Maine. parishes. A schoolhouse was built by the State in the early 1880’s. Prior to The “warmth and the genuine that, classes for the children were held sincerity” of the welcome that the in a private home. Sisters experienced on their arrival in 1879—has been handed down like a A nother b an d of Sisters left burning torch to successive generations Manchester and arrived at Pleasant . . . and for the warmth of that “light” Point on Passamaquoddy Bay on June the Sisters of Mercy are eternally 21, 1879. They, too, were received with grateful. great enthusiasm and the people formed a guard of honor as the Sisters —Sister Doris Kirby, R.C.M. were escorted by the Tribal Chief to their Convent, a finely constructed log cabin adjoining the Church. The Sisters from Pleasant Point spent four months out of every year at Dana Point. This arrangement continued for a few years until more Sisters arrived to As reported In the Bangor Daily maintain' a separate residence and to News of April 9, 1973, the Economic continue the school at Dana Point Development Administration has made which was established in 1879. a $50,000 grant to Maine’s Passama­ Early in 1927 fire destroyed the quoddy Indians. Church and Convent on the Pleasant Sen. Edmund S. Muskie said that the Point Reservation. For a time the money will be used to set up a Sisters lived in Eastport continuing all marketing system for the sale of baskets the while the education of the children made by Indians on the tribe’s Indian and the care of the sick. The Township and Pleasant Point reser­ cornerstone for the present Church and vations. Sen. Muskie said that the Convent structure was laid in the latter E.D. A. will pay for the entire cost of the part of 1928. project. In 1955 Sister Beatrice Rafferty died Representative leaders of the tribe and was buried, at her request, in the were in Washington in pursuit of the cemetery at Pleasant Point. The Indian idea. Muskie said they discussed the people there, in recognition of her thirty marketing grant application and other years of service on that Reservation applications for Federal help with the named the present new school—the Maine Congressional Delegation and Beatrice Rafferty School. other Federal officials. E.D.A. And The Passam aquoddy B asket Co-op MR. JOHN BAILEY MRS. FRANCIS C. CHAVAREE INDIANS SERVING INDIANS Pictured in this issue of WABA­ NAKI ALLIANCE are two members of the DIS Board of Directors, Mrs. Francis C. Chavaree, R.N., a Penobscot of Indian Island and Mr. John Bailey, a Passamaquoddy of Pleasant Point. Other members of the Board are Mr. Thomas Battiste, a MicMac of Houlton and Chairman of the DIS Board; Mr. Alan Sockabasin, a Passamaquoddy and Governor of Peter Dana Point; Mr. N icholas Dow, a Penobscot and President of the Tribal Council at Indian Island; Mr. Terry Polchies, a M aliseet and P resid en t of the Aroostook Association of Indians. Mr. Polchies is filling out the term of Mrs. Helen Ciganik, of Caribou. We wish to extend our appreciation to all of the members of the Board of DIS who have served their Indian people well at considerable expenditure of time and energy and with no remun­ eration. Especially do we wish to thank Mrs. Helen Ciganik, a dedicated servant of her Aroostook people, who has recently finished service with the DIS Board. Also we express gratitude to Mr. Tom Battiste, who has served the Board well as its Chairman and who will be resigning in July of this year. Tom has recently received a Ford Foundation Grant for private research in the development of Indian leadership. Congratulations to our Chairman! Y outh O rganization Program There was a Grant of $30,000 made by DeRance, Inc. for the establishment of an Indian Resource Center. Most people concerned are aware of this fact. But what is probably less well known is the fact that a second grant for $37,800 was given to set up and imple­ ment a Youth Organization Program for the benefit of all Maine’s Indian' people. This second grant operates out of the office of the Director of the Indian Resource Center. Approxi­ mately two thirds of the allotment for the Youth Program is committed to salaries. Each reservation and the A.A.I. were to hire a youth co-ordinator to be approved by the respective tribal councils. The three reservations have so chosen and in each instance the person chosen was already serving as Recrea­ tion Director under an existing pro­ gram . The present recreational program will be expanded to include formal instruction in Indian arts and crafts, tutorial work, domestic sciences and intercultural seminars and field trips. To oversee this broadening of the youth effort the Board of Directors is currently searching for a part-time professional person who can bring know-how plus experience and dedication to the job. The Youth Coordinators approved by the various Tribal Councils are: Penobscot: Orland “ Sparky” Clark Pleasant Point: Francis “ Red” Sapiel Peter Dana Point: Justin “Jake” Lola O rono S ite For C enter After considering the advantages of various locations around northern Maine, a firm decision was made last month to establish the Indian Resource Center in Orono. The Resource Center will share facilities, office personnel and equipment with District IV of the Diocese of Portland’s Human Relations Services in the former Grammar School of St. Mary’s Parish. Renovations are beginning on the first floor of the well-preserved building and should be completed by the end of May. According to present plans, the large classroom on the south-east comer of the building will be divided into two offices with the classroom on the south-west comer being prepared as an all-purpose area with plans to use it as a seminar room. This room will also serve as an Indian Museum Library and arts and crafts display center. The Division of Indian Services has been warmly welcomed by the pastor, Rev. John Crozier, and by the Parish Council of St. Mary’s, all of whom have generously given of their time in working out financial and other arrangements. In the name of the DIS Board of Directors, Fr. Mahoney expresses appreciation and gratitude. �Page 6 Wabanaki Alliance Latest CENA Word From Washington The eleven-member Steering Com­ mittee of the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans met in Washington, D.C. on March 23, 24, 1973 for its second meeting since its inception at the Eastern Indian Conference in Washington, D.C. on December 7-9, 1972. Also present were representatives of Native American Rights Fund (L. Graeme Bell, III) and the Institute for the Development of Indian Law (Kirke, Kickingbird and Lynn Shelby). In addition, John Stevens (Chairman, Planning C om m ittee) and M ike Crawford (Resource planner) and other interested persons in the .area were present. The session opened w ith Mr. Strickland bringing the Committee up-to-date on activities since the last Steering Committee meeting. These activities consisted of meeting with officials of the Office of Economic Opportunity and Health, Education and Welfare. As well as the discussion of funding possibilities with foundation program people, Mr. Strickland announced that funding had been received from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in the amount of $5,000 and from the Clark Foundation for $3,000, for a total of $8,000 for the operation of C.E.N.A. activities. L. Graeme Bell, III, of the Native American Rights Fund’s Washington office, reported on the . progress of Public Law 92-318, regarding $18 million for Indian education. Another purpose of the meeting was to finalize the incorporation of CENA. Mr. Kirke Kickingbird announced that incorporation papers were filed March 23, 1973 in Washington, D.C. Mr. Dale Wing, Assistant Executive Director, National Council Indian O p p o rtu n ity , suggested, and the Committee concurred, that the Revenue Sharing Act be studied by attorneys to Penobscot Y ouths W in O ld Town YMCA Basketball Tournam ent TOURNAMENT WINNERS — The Indian Island Basketball Team, winners of the Old Town YMCA Tournament, included: Steve Hamilton, Dave Almenas, Rick Love, Mike Paul, Ray Chavaree, Junior Pehrson, Mark Mitchell and Burnell Mitchell. The 7th and 8th grade boys repre­ senting In d ian Islan d won the basketball tournament sponsored by the Old Town YMCA, held Wednesday, April 11,1973. The Indian Island team, lead by Ricky Love, who was high scorer of the year averaging about 22 points per game, compiled a 10-3 record for the season. Entering the tournament seeded in first place, the Indian Island team won three games to clinch the double elim­ ination championship, defeating Mil­ ford 7th and 8th grade team in over­ time by the score of 40-38. Ricky Love led all scores for the tournament averaging about 20 points per game. For their efforts, in addition to the first place team trophy, each boy received an individual trophy. Ricky Love received an additional trophy for being the highest scorer for the year in the league. Team members are: Ricky Love, Wilfred Pehrson, Jr., Mark Mitchell, Dave Almenas, Ray Chavaree, Michael Paul, Steve Hamilton, Burnell Mitchell. The YMCA is sponsoring a banquet for the league winners to be held on May 9, 1973 at the K of C Hall in Old Town. The Penobscot Tribe will honor the team ’s efforts with a community banquet. The date is to be announced later. work with CENA in developing strategy for landless and rural and state reser­ vations in their quest for a share of the money that is going to be distributed to local and state officials. Trudy K. Hypes, Contract Officer, International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies, suggested, and the Committee concurred, that the Coalition be used as a clearinghouse to work with IAOHRA in developing strategy for all official human rights agencies in discrimination in employ­ ment practices in their relationships with Eastern Native Americans. Mrs. Helen Attaquin was chosen to represent the Coalition at the planning meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 28-31,1973. Mr. Andy Akins, Treasurer, Lucille Dawson, Secretary, and Helen Attaquin suggested and the Committee concur­ red that the Coalition support the formation of the Commission of Indian Affairs in the State of Connecticut. The above represented the Coalition at the March 26, 1973 hearing at the State Capitol Building in Hartford, Connec­ ticut, at the request of the Indians of the State of Connecticut. The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be in Buffalo, New York, June 1, 2,1973. For further information, please contact: Mr. W. J. Strickland, President Coalition of Eastern Native Americans 927 15th Street, N.W., Suite 612 Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 638-2287 Jesuit Attacks McGovern's Stand On Custer Violence [Ed. Note: The following is a letter to Sen. George S. McGovern o f South Dakota written by Fr. Richard G. Pates, SJ., director o f the M other Butler Center, Rapid City, S.D., and formerly o f St. Francis mission on the Rosebud Sioux reservation in South Dakota where he had served fo r many years.} This is a letter concerning your recent statements on the incidents at Custer, S.D. It is distressing, to say the least, to hear your comments suddenly become so one-sided. It would be well for you to let the white community of the Black Hills area know that you don’t so much deplore the violence of AIM last Tuesday, Feb. 6, but rather deplore the need for such violence. This need grows out of violence. The need grows out of the long-standing, insensitive attitude of most of the non-Indian people in this area with regard to the injustices done to the Indian people. Somehow, some way, the whites do not consider their routine violations— both individually and institutionally— of Indian civil rights as violence or a breach of good law and order. It’s true that there is usually little blood or fire connected with it, but it is a low-profile type of violence that does its deadly, violent work in producing untold suffering, and agony—physical and mental— on the Indian people, young and old, good and bad. Attempts to gain a hearing and redress to mitigate this violence usually W arren M itchell New A ssistant Mr. W arren Mitchell has been selected by the DIS Board as the new assistant to the Director of the Indian Resource Center, Orono. He is a Penobscot and lives at Peter Dana Point. The screening of applicants was held April 17 at the Newman Center in Orono. Mr. Mitchell comes to the DIS after a distinguished career as Sergeant-Major in the U.S. Air Force Military Police. His military career spanned 22 years and involved leadership training of close to 1,000 Air Force personnel. He will be a welcome and valuable addition to our staff. and routinely end in lots of bureaucratic talk and paper shuffling, but with no appreciable results. The agony just silently goes on and on and on. B ut eventually violence begets violence, and violence' on the Indian side finally erupted at Custer. It may still happen elsewhere if nothing is done. As a responsible representative of the U.S. government, it should be your job to seek remedies and alleviation for the violence on both sides. You shduld try to eliihitiate the need for any violence. I really can’t understand your sudden blindness in this matter. Indians have pretty well given you their support. They were one of the few groups who supported you at the ballot box in South Dakota in the recent presidential election. They thought that your campaign speeches showed an under­ standing of how the violence of oppres­ sion and injustice works. Violence to the Indian people exists daily here in your state of South Dakota. And it is just as real in its results as were the bombings of Hanoi. Now when the Indians make a thrust for justice in apparently the only way left to them — returning evil for evil—you show complete lack of understanding and empathy. I never found you that way before. I ask you please to reconsider and see if you cannot find a better way and better words to show your impartial concern for all the citizens of South Dakota, and particularly for those who share your former convictions for the help needed by the oppressed of the world. Could it now be th at you realize Nixon was right? Richard G. Pates, SJ. P.S. And in case someone advises the answer that you do have concern for the Indian people, but not for AIM, hear the quote of an elderly Indian woman when she was asked the identity of AIM. She said, “They are the Indians who speak up for the Indians who can’t speak up, or are afraid.” Many can’t and won’t follow the way of AIM, but their silent sympathy and hope is that the way of AIM gets something done no one else seems to have been able to do. [This appeared in the A pril '73 issue o f National Jesuit News]. �Wabanaki Alliance Civil Rights For Indians The following report was written by Harriet Price, a member o f Maine's Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, nnd a loyal supporter and friend o f Maine's Indian people: “Fedeial and State Services and The Maine Irdian” was the subject of an investigaion of the Maine Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The t\vo day hearings vere held in the Federal Courtroom in Bangor, February 7-8,1973. Harve} Johnson, chairman of the Advisory Committee, led a panel lhat questioned oyer 70 witnesses in 22 hours of sitting to hear testimony. The people? questioned were repre­ sentatives of Ffderal and State agencies which should }iave a special relation­ ship to Maine, Indians. The agencies called to testify were in the areas of liuuMiig, licdteli, education, law en­ forcement, welfare, community ind economic deve|opment. Elected Indian leaders and represen­ tatives of Indi^i agencies testified as to their relationship to the Federal and State agencie|7 T- ’- ‘'"evens, Maine’s Department of Indian Affairs, said he vouldjlike to see direct grants given to the tnEes rather than serving as a welfare a g e i^ . A lan' Passam aqucddy governor of Indian Township, said lhat with Federal cutbacks, unemployment on his reservation would be almost 95 percent. Matthew. Sappier, Penobscot gover­ nor of Indian Islan d , told the committee that the agencies should be held accountable to the Indian com­ munities, even before they plar a program. Passamaquoddy governor Eugene Francis, Pleasant Point, described the health problems, specifically citing the new Lubec Family Health Clinic. Terry Polchies, president of the Association of Aroostook Indians, said he thougit very little good would come out of the hearings for the M ane Indians. Hon. Kenneth M. Curtis, Governor of the State of Maine, spoke of his concern for the State’s service of off-reservation Indians. He felt the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes should have “their day in court” in regards to the Treaties. R epresentatives o f th e M aine Attorney General’s office, Indian Legal Unit of Pine Tree Legal, and Associa­ tion of AroostooK Indians spoke about the legal obstacles to services for Maine’s Indians. Representatives o: the Bureau of Indian Affairs (U.S. Dept, of Interior) and the Indian Hedth Service (U.S. Health, Education Sc Welfare) were invited to the hearings but refused to appear. Maine Indians are not served by either of these agencies. The Committee was concerned about all the Federal cutbacks and how they would affect Maine’s Indian commun­ ity. It has therefore met with authorities in Maine including the Governor, Attorney General and two legislative comnittees (Appropriations & Human Resoirces). The Committee will send a delegation to Washington, D.C. to talk with the Congressional delegation and Federal authorities. A preliminary rppnrt will be released shortly with findings and recommenda­ tions. L ater a full report with documentation will be released with specific recom m endations :o the agencies affected. A staff report given at the hearings said that health and unemployment were the two greatest problerr.s con­ fronting the Indians. Employment will be the subject of another hearing by the Main; Committee this year. IN DEBT TO THE INDIANS Half of all the names of this nation’s states are Indian n origin. Here are some examples: Alabama—Creek Indian word meaning “Here we rest.” Arizona—Indian word meaning “Plac; of small springs.” Arkansas—Quapaw Indian Tribe. Connecticut—Indian word meaning beside or on the long river. Dakota—Indian name for “ allies.” Id ah o Sh>sshon© Indian word E Dali Ho, m eaning “ Behold! The sun coming down the mountain.” Illinois—Irdian word “Illini” meaning “A great man.” Iowa—Indian name meaning “ Sleepy waters.” Kansas— Kaw Indian tribe meaning “Wind people.” Kentucky—Indian name “ Kentake” neaning “ Prairie.” Massachusetts—Indian word meaning “ Great Hills.” Michigan—Indian name for “ Great Like.” Minnesota—Indian name meaning “ Goud-tinted waters.” Mississippi—Indian words meaning “ Treat river.” Missouri—Missouri tribe meaning “Town of the large canoes.” Nebraska—Otoe Indian name meaning “Fat water.” Ohio—Indian name for “ Beautiful river.” Oklahoma—Choctaw Indian word meaning “ Red people.” Texas— Indian word “Tejas” meaning “ Friends or Allies.” Wisconsin—Indian name meaning “Meeting of the rivers.” NATIVE ART Page 7 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (May 1973) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-05 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-414 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission. https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/acabe9eee6353db2d334dbaae0df001e.pdf b7438a3e8abe817f98cc2631962efa1c PDF Text Text The design to the right, over which Wabanaki Alliance has been imposed, is an ancient Penobscot motive. It is known as the ‘double­ curve motive’ and is symbolic of inter-tribal unity. A more fitting I N D IA N P R A Y E R • symbol of the Wabanaki peoples would be difficult to come by. $ se e k stren g th n o t to be su p e rio r m w ... to m y b ro th ers a n d s is te r s , b u t to be a b le to fig h t m y g r e a te s t en em y - m yself. S t a k e me e v e r r e a d y to com e to y o u w ith clean h an ds a n d s tr a ig h t eyes so w hen m y life fades, a s a fa d in g su n set, m y s p ir it m a y com e to y o u w ith o u t SH A M E . This painting, the work of Thomas Lewey, a Passamaquoddy high school student, symbolizes the freedom and light of the Indian spirit released through education and pending legislation. �A PLEA Delegation Writes Advisory Committee Reports To Civil Rights Commission The President The White House a 8, 0 7 7 the Maine On Februaryn 7 and q 11973 th p M aine Advisory Washington, D.C. 20500 I •T m tired o f fighting . . . Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Dear Mr. President: I "That's b e e n a fig h tfo r29years . . . Rights met in open session in the Federal Building in There are approximately 3,000 Indians — j "It's been a long fig h t and I ’m tired" Bangor, to receive information from private citizens Penobscots, Maliseets, Micmacs and Passamaquodand public officials on the subject of “ Federal and —John Stevens, Passamaquoddy dies — residing in the State of Maine, who do not Commissioner of Maine's State Services and the Maine Indian. receive the services of the Federal Bureau of Indian Department of Indian Affairs Affairs or of the Indian Health Service. The PassamaSOME FINDINGS quoddy Tribe has two reservations, Indian Township “The Maine Advisory Committee found that Maine and Pleasant Point; the Penobscots have the Indian Indians are not receiving Federal I n d i a n services from Island Reservation. The Maliseets and the Micmacs such agencies as the Bureau of Indian Affairs ® A) of have no land base. However, due to their mobility and the Department of the Interior and the Indian Health to the close ties which exist among the various tnbes, Service (IHS) of Health, Education and Welfare there are members of all four tribes on and off the (HEW) These denials are based on an unnecessari y reservations throughout the State. Most off-reserva­ restrictive reading of the Snyder Act, a 1920 provision tion Indians reside near the reservations in Aroostook, which gives the BIA authority to spend money m a Penobscot and Washington Counties in Maine. broad range of categories for the benefit of Indians Maine Indians are in great need of assistance from "throughout the United States.” the Federal Government in order to develop their The National Council on Indian Opportunity personal and tribal resources and in order to protect (NCIO) of the Office of the U.S. Vice President their legal rights. The denial of these necessary estimated for the Committee that if Maine Indians services by those agencies specifically charged by were to receive BIA and IHS services, they would total Congress to serve all Indians, we believe, is arbitrary nearly S5 million in Fiscal Year 1973. and unfair. It is our understanding th at this denial of The Committee also found that in terms of Federal Federal services by BIA and IHS can be reversed by services specifically designed for Indians the BIA and administrative decision. We urge you to help bring IHS restrictions may inhibit other Federal agencies about such a change in policy. from funding Indian-relafed projects. The obligation to provide services for American The Committee found th at non-Indians have Indians is rooted in the United States Constitution written proposals for programs to serve Indians in and more specifically in the Federal statutes which whole or in part, without meaningful Indian establish special benefit programs for American participation; that programs have been funded which _ Indians. The most important of these is the Snyder do not serve Indians in a substantial manner; that at Act (42 Stat. 208, 25 USC 13) under which most BIA times the Indian population statistics are used by funds are allocated. The Snyder Act gives the BIA agencies to receive funding which either does not serve authority to provide a. wide range of services to Indians or gives Indians a limited portion of the “Indians throughout the United States . . • The program; th at programs for Indians have been Bureau of Indian Affairs, on the other hand, has operating with limited or no Indian staff; and, that interpreted “throughout the United States” to mean Indians have very rarely been represented on citizen on or near Federally recognized Indian reservations advisory boards which would have policy decisions and has limited the availability of its services about Federal programs and funding coming into accordingly. Maine. In adopting this policy the Bureau has denied services to two categories of Indians in Maine; onRECOMMENDATIONS: reservation and off-reservation. The on-reservation The following broad recommendations are bemg Indians are denied services because they live on a made because of the urgency of the situation facing WASHINGTON — The Nixon administration “state” rather than a “ Federal” reservation; the Maine Indians. off-reservation Indians because they do not live on or Thursday promised an early policy decision on the All official representatives of Maine (the Governor, near a “Federal” reservation. All .Maine Indians, eligibility of Maine’s 2,500 Indians for the broad U S Senators, U .S. R epresentatives, M aine s therefore, are denied services because they do not range of services now provided all other American Attorney General) should seek the best methods, with I belong to a “federally recognized” tribe. However, the Indians living on or near federal reservations,_______ Maine Indians, of acquiring Federal services (such as 1 use of the concept “federal recognition” as an White House Council The report was enthusthe BIA, IHS, and any Federal agency which is con­ 'i administrative vehicle for denying services to Indians Brad Patterson informed iastically endorsed by the tingent upon the BIA and IHS policy). \ has no basis in law. Only congress can terminate Gov. Curtis, members of congressional delegation All official rep resen tativ es of M aine and Indian tribes and it has never taken such action with the congressional delega- at the meeting in the appropriate State agencies should immediately assist regard to Maine’s Indians. tion and the Maine Ad- capitol. Sen. Edmund S. Maine Indians in assuring that previous Federal The question of whether a person or community is visory Committee to the Muskie, D-Me., said die funding, which either benefitted Indian projects or or is not Indian, then, is largely anthropological and U.S. Civil Rights Com- delegation would be willprovided employment for Indians, be retained. They cannot be denied by administrative decision. General mission that the question mg to sponsor legislation, should also assist in seeking funds for any program Washington and the Continental Congress certainly of broadening the basic if necessary, or intervene the Indians have demonstrated will benefit their recognized the Indians of Maine when they requested 1921 Snyder Act is cur- with administration ofcommunities, such as the foster care program or the and received their assistance during the War for ren tly u n d e r in ten se ficials to obtain clarificahousing projects. Independence. The Indian Office of the Department study. tion of laws discriminatIn view of the critical problems facing on and oft0f ^ a r — the BIA’s predecessor — recognized the From its inception, the ing against Maine In­ reservation Indians, the Maine State If!P slf ure Indians of Maine when they surveyed the Indians of law has been interpreted dians. should significantly increase the budget of the Maine the United States in 1821 and when they financed to exclude Maine and A fter th e one-hour Department of Indian Affairs and authorize and special public schools for Indians in Maine during the m ost E a ste rn In d ia n s conference in the speakadequately fund the DIA to serve all Indians in 1820’s. Indeed, the BIA recognized Maine’s Indians who are not “federally- er’s dining room, the Maine. # . when they accepted, and graduated, a number of recognized.” governor and representaFederal, State and private agencies which are Indians at its Carlisle Indian College in the early years The W hite H ouse fives of the MAINE concerned with programs and funding which might of this century. meeting coincided with T r i b e s , along with several affect Indians in Maine should seek to have adequate On July 8, 1970, in your message to Congress on the release of an interim members of the panel, Indian representation and input prior to the funding/ Indian Affairs, you spoke out strongly against the report by the Maine met with Patterson and program. policy of termination, calling such a policy “morally advisory panel, headed top Indian affairs ofThe Maine State Legislature should seek to legislate and legally unacceptable.” You further called upon by executive council ficials of the interior. policy and to fund those projects which are vital to the Congress to “expressly renounce, repudiate and Chairman Harvey John- commerce, welfare and improvement of the condition of all Maine Indians. repeal the termination policy” and urged the passage son, calling for discus- housing departments, In view of the grave employment crisis for Maine of a resolution that “would reaffirm for the Legislative sions “ at the highest Indians, the State of Maine, either through the State branch — as (you) hereby affirm for the Executive possible level” to remove (This article was wrltPersonnel Board or the implementation of the branch — th at the historic relationship between the the barriers which have ten originally for the Governor’s Executive O rder related to Fair Practices Federal Government and the Indian communities long prevented Maine Bangor Dally News by in State Employment, should develop an affirmative cannot be abridged without the consent of the tribes from taking part in Donald R. Larrabee of action program that would hire and train IndiansJ-----many federal programs. the Washington Bureau.) Indians." W abanaki Alliance P « g e l [Continued on Page 7J „ Policy Decision May Lead To Increased Indian Aid r , _ �EDITORIAL EDUCATION, LEGISLATION As the WABANAKI ALLIANCE “goes to bed” for the second time, we find much reason to be pleased with our first issue. The fundamental reason, however, is the general positive reaction on the part of the Indian peoples of Maine. Several letters of commendation came into the office from white persons concerned with Indian causes, but the most memorable reactions were those few spoken words of acceptance from Indian friends throughout the State and from relayed messages from their relatives out of State. Most of this issue has been dedicated to Indian education and Indian-oriented legislation. At some added expense, we have chosen to reproduce in color on our lead page the stirring art work of Thomas Lewey of Pleasant Point. The great bird reaching for the freedom of the open skies readily symbolizes the Indian quest for life through freedom — the liberty and opportunity to be gained through education and personal effort. The sunburst, of course, is rich in meaning for the people of WABANAKI, the “ Daybreak People of the Eastern Lands.” NOTICE The second edition, 1973, of the National Indian Directory is now available at $10 a copy by sending check payable to: National Congress of American Indians 1346 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 312 Washington, D.C. 20036 For $1.00 one can obtain a copy of Indian Leadership In New England, 1973, by writing to: Intercultural Studies Group 1644 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, Mass. 02173 INTERTRIBAL MEETING — At Peter Dana Point May 26, the principal guest was Bishop Peter L. Gerety. Seated left to right are: Nicholas Dow, chairman of Tribal Council, Indian Island and new DIS Board Chairman; Terry Polchies, president of AAI, Alan Sockabasin, governor of Indian Township; Bishop Gerety; Tom Battiste, past chairman of DIS Board; John Bailey Pleasant Point and DIS Board; Matthew Sappier, governor of Indian Island. Meet at Peter Dana Point For the first time several Maine Indian Tribal Councilors met each other and talked with Indian Affairs Commissioner, John Stevens and with Bishop Peter L. Gerety. ---------------------------------------------------The somewhat historic occasion, up of people directly connected with the hosted by Alan Sockabasin, Governor spiritual well-being of the people both of Peter Dana Point, was sponsored by on and off reservation and Fr. Vickerson discussed various alternative the Division of Indian Services (DIS). The purpose of the meeting on May 26, approaches in a most candid and 1973, was to discuss and explain the refreshing manner. structure and purpose of DIS as a After a few subjects of lesser branch of Human Relations Services of importance were discussed, the meeting Maine’s Indians are well represented in both catalogs. the Diocese of Portland. was adjourned comfortably within the 3 Thomas Battiste of the Association of p.m. deadline. All agreed that it was a Aroostook Indians (AAI) presided over profitable, as well as historic occasion. the meeting in his capacity as Chairman Plans are under way to sponsor a of the DIS Board of Directors. second Intertribal Council meeting Several people commented on how sometime this fall. It would be held in The Board of Directors and Staff of the Division of Indian Services well the session was conducted. During conjunction with an Open House at the wish to express sincere sympathy to Bishop Gerety on the recent death the morning segment, opening at 10:30, Indian Resource Center in Orono. of his mother. Mr. Battiste described the current Details later! procedures for selecting members to the DIS Board and the purposes of the Board. Neil Michaud gave a rather complete synopsis of the history of the DIS and its connection with the Bureau of Human Relations and to the Bishop. To the Editor: TO W N OF Mr. Michaud, apart from his personal I think this land belongs to Indians. commitment to the Indian peoples of After all, they were here first. I think O r o n o , M a in e Maine, was especially well qualified to the Indians have been treated badly by portray the Bureau, having been its the U.S. Government. All the things the Director from its beginning in 1967. U.S. did in the past has come back to us HOME OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE After Father Mahoney gave an now. The Indians have every right to explanation of the newly established this land. Why can’t we be like the Indian Resource Center in Orono, its Pilgrims? They were friendly with philosophy, purpose and relationship to Indians and didn’t hurt them. Why not the DeRance Foundation, all were follow the Pilgrims’ example? summoned to dinner. And such a Sincerely, The official letterhead of the town of Late 1700’s Within the Original Limits dinner! Governor Sockabasin and the Jayne Levesque Orono pays recognition to its name­ of the Present Town and Was Known to Sixth Grade ladies of Indian Township concerned sake, historic Penobscot Chief Joseph the White Inhabitants for His Ability, Orono with this effort must be congratulated Orono. In addition to the illustration Fairness and Kindly Conduct. During on this distinctive and delicious meal above, the letterhead includes the the War of the Revolution, Orono Held served in the school cafeteria. following explanation — His Tribesmen on the Side of the Upon returning to the parish hall for Colonies and Was Instrumental in “The Town is Named for Joseph Saving Eastern Maine to the United the resumption of the meeting, Fr. Orono, Famous Chief of the Penobscot Mahoney was asked to give a rundown States.” Indians. Chief Orono Lived During the of the history of what has developed in to th e N orridgew ock P ro ject, calculated to restore and re-create the S a turday-S un day, J u ly 2 1 -2 2 sym bolic In d ia n village on the Kennebec River which dates back to the July 1973 Vol. 1, No. 2 17th century. Copies of correspondence Ceremonial Dances among its sponsors, Governor Q irtis, Managing Editor: Joseph F. Mahoney, S. J. Review of Penobscot History & Legends Bishop Gerety and Fr. Mahoney were Canoe Races distributed to all concerned council Editorial Board: members and the DIS Board. The DIS Board of Directors: Thomas Battiste, general conclusion was that the various Saturday Performance 2:00 p.m. Jean Chavaree, Alan Sockabasin, Nicholas Dow, governors and tribal councils be given Terry Polchies, John Bailey Sunday Performances 2:00 & 4:00 p.m. an opportunity to review the project. Contributing Editors: Fr. Harry Vickerson, pastor of the Adults $1.00 Children .75 Paul Francis, Jr. P assam aquoddy people a t In d ia n Reuben Cleaves Township, then gave an illuminating treatm ent of the work of the Task Force S P O N S O R E D B Y S T . A N N 'S L A D I E S C L U B Published by Indian Resource Center, 93 Main St., Orono, Me. on Religions Education Among the Indian People. This Task Force is made CONDOLENCES MAILBOX Orono Acknowledges Namesake INDIAN PAGEANT Indian Island, Old Town WABANAKI ALLIANCE Page 2 W abanaki Alliance �PASSAMAQUODDY BILINGUAL PROGRAM DEVELOPING Bilingual means two languages. The bilingual program is concentrating on four areas: Instructional, Staff De­ velopment, Materials Development, and Community Development. Follow­ ing is a summary of the Instructional Component. Five to 13 Passamaquoddy words have been introduced each week in the classrooms. So far this year children in grades K-2 have learned an average of 15-20 new Passamaquoddy words and children in grades 4-6 have learned an average of 35-40 words. Passamaquoddy staff have been speaking to children and to each other in Passamaquoddy as often as possible. Children are learning to use correct English words in sentences, having drills with words such as: his, her, they, them, is and it. Language Master cards are also made available to the children whenever they want to listen to them. Children have learned two songs, Whpiye and Eqanute. Four dances they have mastered are: the welcome dance, pine cone dance, Tomahawk dance and the snake dance. Delegation At NIBEC In New Mexico At the National Indian Bilingual Education Conference (NIBEC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, w'e got a lot of good ideas ab o u t developing materials and running the bilingual program here. M any program s throughout the country have the same problems and hopes that we do. vve were considered exotic, coming from Maine: “M aine?” “Where’s that?” A reporter from the Albuquer­ que journal wrote an article about us. Most of the other people at the conference were from the Southwest— Navajos and Pueblos or from Alaska Eskimos. There were also Crows, Cheyennes, Apaches, Crees, Chippewas, Seminoles, Choctaws, Menominees and members of California Indian tribes. After the conference ended, we took a cable car ride to the top of a 10,000 ft. mountain overlooking Albuquerque and had dinner in the sky. We rode up to Santa Fe to see the oldest church in the U.S. (1610) and the church of the Miraculous Stairway. Next year the conference will be held in May in Billings, Montana. Those who attended this year felt that the conference gave them a valuable opportunity to learn from one another and see one another’s achievements. — Mary Ellen, Sr. Janet, Wayne, Robert. Children are increasing their reading in English. There are various ways this has been done. One is the phonic series which is being used in grades 1-3. Each child in grades 4-6 will have access to a skill b u ild in g m agazine. E nglish read in g in stru c to rs are using a “motivated reading technique,” that is, the instructors take down stories or whatever the students want to dictate to or tell her. She then makes copies of these and uses them as materials for reading in class. The kindergarteners are using a scribble writing technique which they seem to enjoy. The 2-3 class has a silent reading period each day. The first hour and a quarter is usually devoted to some reading activity in 4-6. They also use S cholastic News Magazine both in lessons and reading. Children are increasing their reading in Passamaquoddy as materials become av ailab le such as th e bilin g u al newsletter, Passamaquoddy language master cards, Passamaquoddy labels throughout the school, work sheet exercises and Passamaquoddy language geography will be covered in Passama­ quoddy and English. State, National, and World geography will be covered in English. In grades 2-3 these subjects will be covered at a more elementary level using less Passamaquoddy. Grades K -l elementary Social Studies and Science concerning, for example, the tribal governor — council will be taught in Passamaquoddy. Other subjects will be taught in English. Since September there have been four units in Science or Social Studies that have been used in each classroom. The English teachers have taught subject matter in English and the Pass­ amaquoddy instructors have taught complementary, although not identical material in Passamaquoddy. The units have been the following: animals, government, foods and seasons. In grade 4-6, biology was covered, half in Passamaquoddy and half in English. Other science will be covered in English. Permission was secured for .the hiring of four part-time craft instructors and the date set for beginning craft activities was March 23, 1973. Each child was to complete at least one craft item such as a basket, leather purse, or head band for display in the school in May and to the public on Indian Day. Children will study social science units on: l)th e history and origin of the land base, 2) the history of the Passamaquoddy, 3) a contemporary history of the Passamaquoddy land case In Social Studies — Indian Law, Government and Occupations will be covered in Passamaquoddy. White m an’s law, government and occupa- We Did' ! And Are Proud of It V£j | g g r g HMBF ! B fr - * a s" BT j , .aW1 1 .HP - v W k t& f "T: . -4 * We attended the first Literacy Volunteer teacher-training workshop to 1 be held in Washington County. We numbered 20 strong — different ages, : different backgrounds, but all working toward the same goal — that of tutoring : . persons who wish to learn to read better. During the evening we worked in groups of four, then one to one. “ You be the teacher and I’ll be the student.” The last evening together, each group gave a class demonstration. Given a case history, we presented what we would do telling what materials would be used and how we would use them. A fter com pleting th e 18-hour workshop, we made a commitment to tutor a student in two one-hour sessions per week. There will be another opportunity for anyone who is interested in helping someone to read in the Fall when another Literacy Workshop will be held. W ashington County needs all the volunteers it can get. W E did it — so can you — Anna H arnois, S ister Jan e t, M ary M. Larrabee, Wayne Newell, Patricia Nicholas, Mary E. Sockabasin, Barbara Kendakk, Princeton and Patricia Dow, Woodland. t | Jfc \1 f Father Bowe’s First Communion Class, May 10,1973 at Pleasant Point ! Cooperative Agreement Formed On June l l , 1973, the State Board of Education approved a cooperative agreement between the three Indian School C om m ittees. A ccording to Maine State School Law, school committees may form cooperative agreements to conduct projects and activities beneficial to all. The three reservation committees have formed a cooperative school board to be called th e M aine In d ian Education Council whose purposes shall be: t (1) To secure funding from the federal government and other sources, public and private, for programs to benefit all Maine Indians on and off reservation; (2) To serve as an advocate for Maine In d ia n s in m a tte rs re la tin g to education; Passamaquoddy Literacy Progress Reported Many of the school children are m aking rem arkab le progress in learning to read and write Passama­ quoddy. Recently, they took a reading test at school. Out o f 119 items on the test, 11 children scored 100 or better. Wayne Newell has started an adult literacy class to teach the Passama­ quoddy writing system. At present, there are three enrolled students, Jake Lola, Rita Alvater and Mary Sapiel. C hildren are in creasin g th e ir knowledge in mathematics taught in English by working in a group or using workbooks and individual work with the teacher. Students from Bowdoin College have also worked with some of the children individually, using flash cards. The purpose of the class is to teach people the system so that they can read or teach the system to other Passama­ quoddy or Maliseet people. “Tokec wen kilowaw kotowokehkimsit, tehpu geni natsakiyot Wayne.” It’s still not too late for more people to enroll in the literacy class. So “Psite ckuwiyahtiq naka ktokehk im su ltin sen P e sto m u h k ati latow akon.” — Wayne A. Newell (3) Tq assist and consult with schools or other agencies or individuals, public and private, which administer or wish to develop programs designed to meet the educatio n al needs of M aine Indians; (4) To c o o rd in ate educational programs designed to meet the needs of Maine Indians. Each community school committee shall continue to have full authority for development of education and approval of all educational programs in the community. The School Committees from each reservation and the Association of Aroostook Indians requested the Maine Indian Education Council to apply for a Headstart program to be conducted in each community. Education Act $ Released In early May, President Nixon was forced by court order to release $18.5 million appropriated by Congress for the National Indian Education Act (Title IV, P.L. 92-318). The Indian Education Act provides for funds for all schools with 10 or more Indian students, creation of a Bureau of Indian Education in the office of Education, an all-Indian education advisory committee, and funds for innovative and a d u lt ed u catio n programs. The school committees at Indian Island, Indian Township and Pleasant Point as well as Houlton, Caribou, Fort Fairfield and Mars Hill, in co-operation with the Association of Aroostook Indians have all submitted applications under Part A for entitlement funds. The newly created Maine Indian Education Council has also requested Part B funds which are awarded on a competitive basis. Wabanaki Alliance Page 3 �WABANAKI By Paul A. Francis, Jr. Once upon a time in a land not too far removed from reality, there lived a young Indian brave named Little Bigfoot. That Little Bigfoot was an Indian was not to be refuted, for it was well known that both of his parents were Indian. This circumstance proved somewhat unfortunate for whenever he and some of his friends got together to play Cowboys ’n Indians, he had no choice b ut to play the part of an Indian. And, of course, he always ended up being massacred. But being an Indian gave him the dubious privilege of using such esoteric words as: ugh!, wampum, fire­ water, and — discrimination. One sultry summer day Little Bigfoot was paddling down the river in his birch-bark canoe, pausing now and then to shoot an arrow at a wayward missionary, when out of the halcyon August sky came a swooping white bird. Little Bigfoot raised his bow in studied destruction, but before he could release the arrow, the bird had swooped onto the shaft of the arrow. Little Bigfoot became incensed at this bestial display of insolence, and kindly asked the bird to perch on the bow of the canoe so th at he might more easily shoot him. The swooping fowl must have been related to the owl, for it was wise enough not to comply with little Bigfoot’s request. As the bird burst into song praising the joys and beauty of nature, Little Bigfoot whipped out his hatchet and mercilessly decapitated the hapless creature. The swooping bird, no longer having the sense to take flight, fell head-first into the river. Little Bigfoot was much amused and quite proud of his conquest. He pictured the delight on the face of his father, Little Biggerfoot, and on th at of his grand­ father, Little Biggestfoot, as he would relate his version of how he had singlehandedly vanquished a flying creature of monstrous proportions as it threatened to defile the village with its vile droppings. But even as he daydreamed this, an ominous darkness began to descend over the earth. The rippling waters no longer stirred, the trees stilled to a quietude that was death-like, and innocent creatures of nature scurried for shelter. Now the sun had eclipsed, for a cloud of darkness hid its face, moment by moment growing in dimension. little Bigfoot watched in gape-mouthed awe as the cloud resolved itself into a m ultitude of white swooping birds. It was strange to see that so much whiteness could cast such a profound darkness over the earth. Anxiety struck terror into the heart of Little Bigfoot —- he looked at the dead white body in the water and read vengeance in the approaching cloud. Swiftly he paddled ashore and ran like a discovered thief toward his village. “To arms!” he cried, as he streaked through the village, stopping at his tepee to pick up his umbrella. By now the formidable cloud ceased flight and hovered over the village. Every member of the tribe gathered in a panic-stricken cluster at the center of the village, each holding an umbrella aloft. From horizon to horizon the white darkness extended, and a ' shower of feathers began to rain down on the village. The Chief, ceremonially attired, came to the fore. In his left back pocket could be seen his imported can of genuine warpaint. Assuming his responsibility as spokesman for the tribe, he extended his arms in supplication to the heavenly multitude and bellowed, “ Q#9n$ J?*Wa3c—5%.” In response to this appeal one of the swooping birds swooped down and perched on his Indian nose. W a h a n a k i A llia n c e As the roar of countless beating wings thundered above them, and as white fluffy feathers floated down upon them, the Great Chief related his cunning plan to the humbled brave. At last the Chief returned to the tree where Bia, in the interim, had been intently searching the ground for worms and other crawling delicacies. With a furtive gleam in his eye, the Great Chief offered his challenge: If you indeed are from the Sun, Then your God of Truth should solve this pun. For it is well known th at Apollo’s logic Bespeaks a God all pedagogic. If he, your God, can solve this pun, A ready victim shall be won. But if he cannot bring the pun to light, Then yon brave, for his life, has won the fight. The swooping bird squawked in disbelief, for how can mortal man hope to deceive any God, especially Apollo. Certain that Apollo could solve any riddle, the Swooping Bird accepted the challenge. “Tell me your riddle then,” cried out the Swooping Bird. “ I represent the Civilization of the Sun,” croaked the Swooping Bird, and reached under its right wing for an identification card, only then remembering that he had given his last to a housewife in Toledo. “My The Great Chief rather noisily cleared his throat name is Bia, and we have come here to demand 1 and related with much gesticulation: reparation for the senseless slaying of one of our It’s known th at we of the race called Red, comrades.” Have suffered woes; our country has bled. “I know not of what you speak, but get off my noSe Before the Whites came to our land. or I’ll smash your beak,” the Chief returned, his eyes O ur earth was rich, but now it’s sand. crossed while attempting to focus on his adversary. Our woods and fields were filled with game, Swooping Bird complied and flew to a nearby tree Indians and Nature were one and the same. so that the Chief had to climb the tree to resume And now we both have suffered loss their conversation. “ Now,” continued the Chief, From the greed of Whites who have played the threateningly fingering his can of warpaint, “Now, ‘Boss’. you charge that we have slain one of your comrades. So how do we as a race remain Please explain.” To further your efforts to defile our strain? The swooping bird reflected upon this for some “ One of your braves, the one you call Little Bigfoot, moments before deciding to refer it to the God of the just now mercilessly decapitated one of our hapless Sun. “We’ll be back in a jiffy,” said Bia, convinced yet comrades. In return we demand that he forfeit his life and preclude the necessity of our defiling your village that Apollo would easily come up with an answer. But since the cloud of swooping birds returned to their with our vile droppings.” heavenly home, not one of them has ever returned. The Chief called a ‘time-out’, jumped from the tree, The great god was apparently unable to solve the and accosted Little Bigfoot who stood shivering in his riddle. moccasins. The G reat Chief, as he was called when his office required wisdom and stealth, placed his wizened hand on the youth’s head, and said, My son, it seems that you’ve done wrong. But whimper not, your heart keep strong. For I’ve a plan .that may work well. Come to me, in whispers I ’ll tell.________________ _ THE HUNTER — Louis Dana performs the Hunter’s Dance at an Open House held at the Indian Township Elemetary School. The program featured singing and Page 4 MALARKEY So Little Bigfoot and his tribe lived moderately happily-ever-after; and the featheTS that were rained upon them were used to stuff mattresses and pillows and to adem their ceremonial garb. For how else can Indians employ whatever the ‘Whites’ shower upon them?_________________________ .______ Snake Dance Story Told dancing groups and displays of the children’s work. Photo by Robert M. Leavitt, Perry, Maine. The most universal dance and legend am ong all A m erican In d ia n s is probably that of the Snake. The story behind the Snake Dance is that one day in the early summer months the messenger of all dangers, the T h u n d e rb ird , cam e to the Penobscot Tribe to warn them of the forthcoming Great Flood which would cover the land. The bird told them to retreat to the highest ground possible and to make careful use of all parts of animals, for it would be a long time before they would be able to return to their homeland. Then, after many months of waiting and hoping for their return to their homeland from the highlands, the Indians saw a snake making its way up the hill which indicated that the low­ lands were dry enough for them to return. Thus, the snake became the symbol of the Great Spirit :hat the Penobscots could return home. Since then, the Snake Dance has been performed to give thanks to the Great Spirit for sending the snake. �Being an Indian Is: By Allison Lola Being an Indian is having over 800,000, brothers and sisters. Being an Indian is feeling that Grey Wolf, Thunder Chief, and SnakeWalker, are more beautiful names, than Smith, Jones, or Brown. Being an Indian is watching John Wayne whip 50 of your kind, with a single-shot pistol, and a rusty pocket knife. Being an Indian is fighting with the U.S. Army to save your country from Communism and against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from stealing your land. Being an Indian is having your teenage child ask you about the strange beliefs of Indians that her/his teacher mentioned in school today. The Ghost of Gluskap at Dana Point A STO RY When A m y built me as a snow-girl, she called me Sylvia Sleet. One day a sleet storm came along and covered me and I glittered like a diamond. A m y came out to see m e and was so happy that she went to tell her friends about me. They too came to see me. One said I was like a shiny girl, another said I was like a silver girl, and another said I was like a mirror. A m y decided to change my name to Sylvia Sleet. The girls said, “That's a good nam e.” A m y said, "Thank you, girls.” When the girls were in the school, a big dog knocked me down. When A m y told the girls, they were sad. By JOYCE T. Mr. Popcorn left his castle. The sun knew Mr. Popcorn left his house. Mr. Sun would like to live in the castle. He moved in and lived happily ever after. By NINA L. Pretty-Pete, the bird, wanted to eat the sun. The sun went away so Pretty-Pete couldn't eat him. But then it was dark out. Pretty-Pete could not see in the dark. By ROGER W e Indians Live Forever We Indians liveforever— not in our own life times—, B u t in the lives o f our children's children's lives. They will walk in the footprints o f our life times. In thought, in action, in deed, they will do as we have done. The tomorrows' children will look at our photos and ask:— ‘ id they fig h t fo r Indian rights? D What did they do? What can I do fo r my children o f today?' How will they ever know? We Indians live forever. by: Tilly West —Aroostook —This part of North America, U.S.A. Being an Indian is never making quick judgements of people. Being an Indian is feeding anyone and everyone who comes to your door with whatever you have. Being an Indian is knowing the Great Spirit. Being an Indian is never giving up the struggle for survival. Being an Indian is hearing your grandparents say “ when we get our landclaims paym ent. . . ” And it is suddenly hearing your children use the same phrase. Being an Indian is sad. Being an Indian is tough. Being an Indian is to cry. Being an Indian is to laugh. Being an Indian is great. Being an Indian is beautiful. Being an Indian is human. Being an Indian is forever. AN ANALYSIS OF PENOBSCOT TRANSFORMER TALES By Robert Conkling Another important theme in the mythology is the marginality of Gluskap, who seems to have no wife In this paper a study is made of a few myths chosen anywhere in the mythology and whose father and from an extensive W abanaki literature. These tales mother never appear. However, he does have a rather were chosen partly by chance and partly because they weak social relation with his Grandmother, and so he are still remarkably intact and therefore somewhat belongs partially in society and partially outside it in more easily understandable. an intermediary position. Very often Gluskap has to The lengthy analysis that is necessary, and the overcome another sorcerer such as Wind, who is many interpretations that it eventually yields, attests totally outside society and has too much power and is, to the depth, complexity, and general excellence of therefore, dangerous to the Indians: Wind, for these particular tales and of Wabanaki literature in example, ruins the hunting. But Wind is not general. The tales dealt with in this paper were told by purposely malevolent; on the contrary, he is a rather a Penobscot, Newell Lion, to anthropologist Frank benign and agreeable fellow and cooperates when Speck in 1918; they were not peculiar to the Penobscots, of course, but were common among the ~r- Gluskap tells him to alternate windy days with calm days. Wind simply has too much power, so that when other Wabanaki groups as well. For the most part he uses it others suffer, which points up a conflict they involve Gluskap, the Wabanaki culture hero, which was apparently common in Algonkian societies. who had great supernatural power when he grew into manhood. In this summary only some of the conclusions of the paper will be mentioned. A shaman naturally tried to gain as much super­ The first tale shows Gluskap as a small child who natural power as possible. This involved his with­ lives with his Grandmother; she helps to guide him drawal from social relations, for he had to seek power through adolescence and into manhood. In Wabanaki and knowledge alone, in fasts and in the sweat lodge, society supernatural power was necessary to be a good and what he learned and experienced he could not hunter, and a man had to be a good hunter in order to reveal to anyone lest he become ineffective. The obtain and keep a wife. Thus the vision quest occurred shamans stood outside society to some extent, as sometime in a boy’s teenage years, before he hunted Gluskap does or as Wind does, and consequently the large game, before his marriage. W abanaki thought that the rules of society The myth suggests that at one time the Wabanaki constrained shamans less than other band members. In pursuit of a legitimate social goal — supernatural conceived of the relation between man and animal as power — a shaman, less and less bound by rules, analogous to the relation between man and woman. A man had to have supernatural power to be successful could easily become a social deviant and a danger to at either pursuit; success at the one (hunting game) his own people. It is such deviants, like Wind, that Gluskap tries to conquer. Gluskap himself never meant success at the other (hunting women) and entrance into adult status and responsibility. becomes a dangerous deviant because he is never totally cut off from all social relations, that is, from his Grandmother. One long tale, “Gluskap Steals Summer,” expresses an ambivalent attitude toward festive social life involving large groups of people. It accurately represents the fact that in the summer, people come together in large numbers. It suggests th at the W abanaki did not get along well in large groups for any length of time, probably because they were accustomed to small band and family life. Friction in large groups was expressed in the constant fear of sorcery; it was difficult to get along with others, especially shamans, without irritating or angering them and provoking them to sorcery. The theme of the jealous brothers suggests that there was friction between close kin. In the tale there is also friction between men and women. Summer ends in the tale with the disintegration of the summer village and amid conflict, sorcery, and some violence. Gluskap destroys the summer village, or the “total society” ; he also destroys, or at least chastises, the totally marginal characters such as Wind, who are without any society at all. He restores the one desirable state, the interme­ diary one between “total society” and total deviance, the one he himself occupies through his relation to his Grandmother. Finally, the paper deals with the relations between the sexes as expressed in a tale about Long-Hair, a secondary transformer hero, who eventually dies at the hands of a female sorceress. It seems to comment on the historic decline of shamanism and loss of power by W abanaki men, and the increasing influence of women in W abanaki society.______________________ Wabanaki Alliance Page 5 �COMMENT Editor Writes May 30,1973 Mr. Frank B. McGettrick, Acting Deputy Commissioner U.S. Office of Education Dear Mr. McGettrick: I am in receipt of a copy of the Federal Register for May 17, 1973, wherin Part 188 is amended to Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations as added by. part C of Title IV of the E ducation A m endm ents o f 1972. Therein is contained an invitation to interested persons to submit written comments and objections. This I propose to d o ----In general, I wish to commend those involved in this effort, belated as it is, to acknowledge and face up to some of the glaring inadequacies of the Adult Education A c t. . . . , Two basic questions, however, trouble me deeply. First, how can government hope to implement such a far -reaching program for what is generally acknowledged to be an Indian population of over 800,000 on a budget of $500,000? This comes down to scarcely more than sixty cents ($.60) per person. Granted that not all are adults and that not all would be involved in the programs. But it is an indication of where the priorities of this and past administrations lie when such a dispro­ portionate amount of the national budget can be squandered on so called ‘defense’ and the military establishment while tossing crumbs to our most sinned against and aboriginal citizens. I feel badly for those public servants who painstakingly drew up this de­ scription and criteria knowing, as they must, that the means for implementing its good intent simply aren’t there. Secondly, is your definition of an ‘Indian’ on page 12932 an indication of the government’s changing its policy as to who are Indians and who are not? Eastern Indians are not and have not been recognized by the Federal Government and have been excluded from programs that accrue to the benefit of Western Indians— as meager as that is. In the State of Maine our offreservation Indians have been tradi­ tionally non-persons, being recognized neither by the Federal or State Government. The on-reservation Penobscot and Passamaquoddy peoples have some piece-meal and grudging recognition by the State of Maine. But from the federal point of view, they along with our offWANTED APPLICANTS FOR DIRECTOR OF INDIAN RESOURCE CENTER !— Postionwili-be open as of SeptemberT, 1973 —Any qualified person with experience in management, publications, communications —Major duties: liaison among tribes, publishing newspaper, advocacy, dealing with the “media” and non-Indian public — Preferably an Indian — Send for application form to: Rev. Joseph F. Mahoney Indian Resource Center 95 Main Street Orono, Maine 04473 Page 6 W abanaki Alliance Federal Register Spells Out Changes in Act SUBJECT: Financial Assistance for the Improvement of Educational Op­ portunities for Adult Indians. SPONSOR: Department of Educa­ tion in amendment to the Adult Education Act under Section 314. (The amendment is identified as Part 188). #188.1 SCOPE: The new Part 188 would contain regulations governing financial assist­ ance to State and local educational agencies, to Indian Tribes, institutions, etc . . . to support planning, pilot and d em o n stratio n projects which are designed to plan for and test . . . programs for improving educational opportunities for adult Indians under section 314 of the Adult Education Act. #188.2 DEFINITIONS “ Adult” means any individual who has attained the age of 16. “Adult education” means services or instruction below the college level for adults who: 1) Do not have a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education and who have not achieved an eq u iv alen t level of education; 2) Are not currently required to be enrolled in schools. “ Indian” means any individual, living on or off a reservation who: 1) Is a member of a tribe, band, or other organized group of Indians, including those trib es, b a n d s or groups terminated since 1940 and those recognized now or in the future by the State in which they reside, or who is a descendant, in the first or second degree, of any such member; 2) Is considered by the Secretary of the Interior to be an Indian for any purpose; 3) Is an Eskimo or Aleut or other Alaska Native. #188.5 ELIGIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE Planning, pilot, and demonstration projects — State educational agencies and local educational agencies, Indian tribes, institutions, and organizations may apply for grants to support planning, pilot, and demonstration projects which are designed to plan for, and test and demonstrate the effective­ ness of programs for providing adult education for Indians. Such projects may be designed: • To test and demonstrate the ef­ fectiveness of programs to improve employment and educational opportun­ ities. • To assist in the establishment and operation of programs designed to reservation Mic Macs and Malecites of Aroostook County, have literally been invisible men. And our off-reservation people considerably out number the on-reservation Indians. The vanishing American has not quite vanished and he will not. He will continue to exist as a rebuke to us all. Your Department of Education can begin to make reparation by working out such educational programs as Part 188 describes and be adequately funding them on an on-going basis. In the name of retributive justice, I urge you to continue to work toward this end and commend you for your efforts thus far. Respectfully, JOSEPH F. MAHONEY, S.J. Division of Indian Services St. Mary’s Center Orono, Maine stimulate the provision of basic literacy opportunities to all nonliterate Indian adults, and high school equivalency opportunities in the shortest period of time feasible. • To support a major research and development program to develop more innovative and effective techniques for achieving the literacy and high school equivalency goals. O peration Mainstream' News from Pleasant Point Several m en, and women are being trained at the Basket Co-op at Sebayik. Various motives involved are good ex­ ample, self-determination, support of the Co-op, and maintaining the culture. Five men, two from Mainstream, were accepted by Bath Iron Works. They were to start training as welders June 20, 1973. Those accepted were John Francis (Peck), Lewis Homan, Allen Tomah, Denis Tomah and Lewey Dana. Lawrence Robichaud has successfully completed his first year at the Vocational Training Center at Calais, Maine, working in the field of Auto Mechanics. He plans to build a business in automotive repair at Pleasant Point. Talent shows are being conducted by Mary Sapiel. The concept of this is to discover and develop any talent that any Indian child might have. Robert Mendoza, an employee of Mainstream, teaches art work to school children and to anyone interested. from Indian Township Justin Lola is the new Director for Operation Mainstream Program. There are three new enrollees on the program, Ramona Soctomah, Eunice Sockabasin and Charlotte LaCoute. Jeffrey Fowley, U.S. Dept, of Labor, Boston, Mass., visited at the M ain­ stream Office during the week of May 21,1973. Congratulations, Graduates! We wish to congratulate sincerely the following high school graduates of the Class of 1973: INDIAN ISLAND: (Penobsoct) Dale Lola, Carol Goslin, Gayle Phillips, Donald Nelson Jr., Janet Dana, Valerie Mitchell, and Joyce Albert from Old Town High School. INDIAN TOWNSHIP: (Passama­ quoddy) Allison Lola and Samuel Dana from Higgins Classical Institute. AROOSTOOK COUNTY: Ursula Shannon (Maliseet) Salutatorian at Oakland High School, Carol W ilcox (M icM ac), Ja n e t Socoby (P assam aquoddy), L orraine Brewer (Maliseet), Michael Kelly (Maliseet), Charlene Minor (MicMac), all from Houlton High School. Philip Fraser (MicMac) from Fort GRADUATES — Al­ lison D . Lola [left] and Samuel Dana [right] received their diplo­ mas June 9,1973 from Higgins Classical In­ stitute in Charleston, Maine. They are the first two graduates from high school from Peter Dana Point in several years. Wabanaki Alliance, to which A llison has contributed material elsewhere in this issue, offers congratulations to all concerned. Fairfield High School, Conrad Paul (MicMac), Marilyn Adams (MicMac), Earl Hewitt (MicMac), Donna Ellis (Maliseet), from Caribou High School. In addition the following have been awarded a State of Maine High School Equivalency Certificate as a result of having passed the GED (General Educational Development) Test: INDIAN ISLAND: Nelson Francis, Douglas Francis, Barbara Jean Francis, Wayne Mitchell and Juanita Mitchell. Several of these graduates are planning to further their education at various institutions of higher learning chiefly in the State of Maine. Congratulations to all! We hold them up to our readers for admiration and to younger Indian students for imitation. Straight on! �A Dream Becomes Reality For more than two years, Sebastian Moore, a member of the Passamaquoddy tribe of Indians in Perry, Maine, had a little dream of owning his own business in woodworking. And although Sebastian had the ability and desire to start this business, he had one big obstacle that he could not overcome —money. Sebastian did not have enough personal assets to start this business nor could he obtain a loan for the same reason. Then about five months ago, he was discussing this little dream with Father Bowe, the parish priest for the reserva­ tion. As a result of this conversation, Father Bowe made some inquiries on Sebastian’s behalf. Through personal contact. Father Bowe was able to obtain a $3,000 loan for Sebastian. With this Sebastian was able to: • Build a 18x24 foot wooden struc­ ture for a workshop. • Purchase equipment for this workshop: a bandsaw, jigsaw, table saw, electric san d ers and other e q uipm ent necessary to co n stru ct novelties and furniture. • Utilized the O.I.C. (Opportunities Industrialization Corporation) during the construction of this workshop. • Set aside enough funds to build inventory in novelties and in furniture. As for future plans, Sebastian hopes to be able to adequately set up his business in such a manner that he can utilize some of the training programs that exist on the reservation. He also plans to hire about three people on a A Going' Program for Indian Youth in Aroostook County In addition we would like to develop more volunteer service work among club m em bers by providing a babysitting pool, tutoring, assisting in activities for younger children by having Halloween parties, Christmas and Valentine’s Day parties, and providing assistance to the A.A.I. office staff if the need arises again. At the clubs’ inception, members made their own regulations, elected officers, and decided to contribute 25c a week to the Club treasury. SEBASTIAN MOORE full time basis. W ith a crew of five, this business should be able to fill any order they encounter. This indeed is quite an achievement for a person who, up until recently, was a student in a training program himself. When asked to discuss the realization of his little dream, he said, “ This is a reality only because Father Bowe had faith in me and was able to get someone to finance me and from the assistance I received from the O.I.C. program when I was building my work­ shop. For this I have three people to thank. Father Bowe, Melvin Francis (O.I.C. instructor), and the party that Father Bowe had convinced to finance me. If these people have that much faith in me, how can I lose?” — By Robert Newell The purposes of the clubs have become apparent since members of each have indicated exactly what they would like to accom plish. T heir interests lie in the following areas: Rap sessions, arts and crafts, sports, social activities, and other group activities. Mrs. Helen Ciganik, a Mic Mac of Caribou and AAI, is one of the out­ standing and dedicated Indian people committed to the service of his fellow Indians. As a recently retired member of the DIS Board, this profile is meant as a tribute to Helen and a means of saying, “Thank you.” Currently an Outreach worker for VISTA assigned to AAI, Helen is a genuine presence for good as she c o n ta cts h e r people re g u larly in northern Aroostook County. Her ability to speak French, Indian and English is a great asset in her work. Married 15 years “to a wonderful man,” she and Bill have one adopted daughter, Edie, age 14. They make their home on Brissette Road in Caribou. Service: VISTA Outreach worker AAI — Treasurer and staff member. Board Member Rose Acres, Inc. — Board Member ACAP — Board Member CLIP — Board Member (Chairwoman) DIS — Board Member (retired) American Legion Auxiliary — Member (Caribou) Daughters of Isabella— Member (Caribou) Holy Rosary Parish — Member (Caribou) For children between the ages of 6-11, we have tried to provide weekend recreational activities in arts and crafts and in sports. Next year we hope to include dramatics workshops and field trips as well. In addition, students from Ricker College will be spending the month of January with this age level, using the community for resources in o rd e r to c re ate a w ell-rounded educational program for them. — Judy Litz, Youth Coordinator News Note: Mr. Philip Fraser, a Mic Mac from Fort Fairfield, has been hired by A.A.I. as youth coordinator under the De Ranee Foundation. He is presently working in the A.A.I. summer camp program at Mud Lake along with Miss Judy litz . SORRY ABOUT THAT! Lieut. Gov. Kenneth Nelson of Indian Island was incorrectly identified as Frank Loring in the first photo of Issue No. 1. • • • Thomas Lewey, our talented artist from Sebayik, was wrongly described as being 14 years of age. He is a young m an of 18 summers. INDIAN DAY AT MUD LAKE [Continued from Page 1] Editor’s Note: The above is a letter from Maine’s Congressional D elegation to President Nixon subsequent to the Civil Rights Hearings on behalf of Maine’s Indians held last May in Bangor. We have also encouraged both clubs to become independent financially and to use their club treasury for purchasing some of the materials they have needed. They have since decided to raise money by cake sales and raffles to pay for the overnight trips they would like to take. In the following year, the clubs will participate in activities from the five Delegation Writes Mr. President, we support your position th a t there should be no termination without the consent of the Indians. Moreover, we believe th at in an instance in which the termination of Federal services is the consequence of decisions by an administrative agency, the restoration of services can be accomplished w itho ut C ongressional action. W e th erefo re respectfully urge th at you act to bring about a In all aspects of the club we have tried to encourage parental involve­ ment. This has come slowly but nonetheless is progressing. To date, parents have taught girls dancing, have gone bowling, and have played softball with club members. Rap Sessions — religion, sex e ducation, h e alth and diet, love matters, etc. Arts and Crafts — dancing, em­ broidery, sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, beadwork, etc. Sports — roller skating, basketball, softball, volleyball, swimming, etc. Social Activities — pizza parties with both clubs, kite flying contest between both clubs, bowling match with parents and foster parents while other club prepared dinner. Other group activities — preparing for a talent show, cake sale, business meetings. INDIAN SERVING INDIANS MRS. HELEN CIGANIK areas at least once a month. We hope to expand the group activities and social activities somewhat by including the following: overnight trip s to the Caribou area to visit with the boys and girls clubs (and vice versa); overnight trips to the other reservations to visit the clubs in that area (participate in sports there as well). The most important aspects of the A.A.I. youth program have been the boys and the girls clubs, initiated in the winter for students between the ages of 12-18. The clubs have given them an o pportu n ity in which they can participate in a number of interesting activities, and they have developed a feeling of group solidarity, identity and loyalty. resumption of Federal services by appropriate agencies of the Executive branch to the Indians of Maine. In this period of transition and expansion of programs relating to Indian Services, such action has a particular urgency. Respectfully, Edmund S. Muskie United States Senator William D. Hathaway United States Senator Peter N. Kyros United States Congressman William S. Cohen United States Congressman Final Day of AAI Summer Camp July 22. 73 — Indian Dancing — Crafts Display — Cookout — Field Day Competition for Campers — Fun and Carnes ALL MAINE'S INDIANS ARE INVITED! (Mud Lake is in Sinclair, Maine 35 miles above Caribou) Wabanaki Alliance Page 7 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (July 1973) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-07 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-415 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission. https://dawnlandvoices.org/collections/files/original/73822b42cc3368b9c0409ac13d210a2d.pdf 6ed7984d00bf503ef61bac2553198fa4 PDF Text Text WABANAKI vl. No3 '*/» ALLIANCE A N D R E W S 0 C K A LE X IS [1892-1919] was one o f the most remarkable distance runners o f his tune. He won many races in this country and was a member o f the American Olympic Team at the Fifth O lympiad held in Stockholm Sweden in 1912. Andrew Sockalexis lived and grew up on Indian Island; he died o f tuberculosis at the age o f 27 years. In those 27 years he brought considerable fa m e to his tribe, his nation and himself. The story o f this remarkable man has been compiled by M ike Ranco, Indian Island. Anyone interested in receiving a copy o f this story may do so by requesting such fro m the Indian Resource Center, 95 Main St.. Orono, Me. STORIES INSIDE — At top, from left, AJice Francisco, John Stevens, Susan Stevens, Ed Mitchell and Pious Perley participate in alcoholism conference, page 4; Housing progress reported on page 2; Bishop Peter L. Gerety and young friend discuss open house at Indian Resource Center dedication, naoe 1. �n /7 3 W abanaki Alliance Page 1 Indian Resource Center Dedicated The Diocesan Human Relations Services’ Division of Indian Services formerly dedicated its Indian Resource Center, October 13. Nearly 100 Maine Indians toured the recently renovated facilities located at 95 Main Street in Orono to see displays of Indian arts and crafts and to be on hand when Bishop Peter L. Gerety dedicated the Center in the honor of the Venerable Kateri Tekakwitha. The main purpose of the Center is to serve as a statewide communications center for all Maine Indians. The Center is staffed by David Depew and Roger Gabriel. The Center’s staff carries out objectives developed by the Division of Indian Services Board. This Board's membership includes representatives of the state’s Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes and the Association of Aroostook Indians. Board members include Nicholas Dow and Jean Chavarec, Indian Island; Allen Sockabasin, Governor, Indian Township, and, John Bailey, Pleasant Point; Terry Polchies and A1 DeVoe, Aroostook Association of Indians. The main duties of those staffing the Center are to publish the Wabanaki Alliance, provide technical assistance to Indian organizations, improve com­ munications with the non-Indian community and to act as an advocate for Indian causes. Financial resources for the Center are provided through the diocese from a private grant from the DeRanee Foundation in Milwaukee. The DcRance Foundation also funds the DIS Board’s Indian Youth Program. Dedication of this Center by Bishop Gerety was followed by a banquet on Indian Island at which time Ihe Bishop. Maine Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Stevens and former U.S. Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Louis Bruce spoke to those assembled. Bruce, representing the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans, told his audience that he was fired by President Nixon because of “my role as an advocate of all Indians, not just those on BIA reservations in the western part of the country." “As commissioner, I adopted a philosophy of trying to help all native Americans. If a problem arose in Maine. I wanted to be of assistance. However, I was told repeatedly in memos from the Secretary of the Interior and from the White House not to concern myself with the affairs of those Indians not on federal reservations,” Bruce stated. Bruce recalled his experiences as a young man trying to bring change through political action and the many disappointments he suffered from the inability of Indian people to speak out collectively on those issues affecting them. Bruce added that he sympathized with many of the young militant leaders and their efforts to bring about change. Second Year Funding Sought from DeRanee It was these sympathies — at a time when the BIA headquarters in Washington, D.C., were occupied by Indians demanding recognition of problems — that got Bruce fired. Commissioner Stevens told those assembled that he felt it was time that Maine Indians strengthened their efforts toward self-determination so they could better plan their own futures. Stevens noted housing programs, health programs and educational programs The Division of Indian Services has again applied to the DeRanee Foundation Inc. of Milwaukee, for resources to continue operation of its youth program and Indian Resource Center. The second year proposal promised continuation of efforts launched during the first year of activity by the Center. A decision on Ihis proposal has not as yet been made. initiated by Indians for Indians as examples of recent progress in this area. Bishop Gerety explained that the Church wished to maintain its role of assisting the Indian community in its efforts toward self-determination. DIS CHAIRMEN Tom Battiste, left, past chairman of the DIS Board, and Nicholas Dow, current chairman, discuss progress made in making the Indian Resource Center a reality. �Page 2 Wabanaki Alliance EDITORIAL The American Indian has begun — at long last — to attack the government thi'ough its judicial system, where it is vulnerable for its acts of oppression. Maine Indians are among those leading the attack and have prompted considerable attention for their efforts to right old wrongs. This effort was initiated in 1972, but finds its substance in a law passed by Congress in 1790. More specifically, in 1790 Congress passed the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act. This act provided that no State or person could purchase land from an Indian without first receiving federal consent, and that any contract developed without that consent would be void. In 1794 and 1796 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts entered into treaties with the Penob­ scot and Passamaquoddy tribes of Maine. The two tribes gave up literally millions of acres of land for nothing other than land they already owned and a few inconsequential services. Then the tribes involved began action; this was in 1972. They were represented by a team of lawyers headed by Tom Tureen, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Inc., Calais. The doctrine of sovereign immunity makes it impossible for anybody, including Maihe Indians, to bring an action against the State, without the State’s consent. However, this doctrine does not bar action by the federal government against a State. Maine Indians asked the federal government to bring such an action but the government refused, taking the position that Indians in Maine were not entitled to protection under the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act as they had not been officially rec­ ognized by the U.S. government. Maine Indians pressed for action and brought suit against the federal government asking the court for a preliminary injunction against the federal government directing it to file a suit against the State of Maine because a statute of limitations, which was about to be realized, would have barred future action by Maine Indians on certain dollar claims. The suit also sought a declaratory judgment providing that Maine Indians be entitled to protection under the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act. The court ordered the preliminary injunction. The government then appealed the preliminary injunction but was unsuccessful in its attempt to have the order dismissed on technical grounds. The federal government has now filed suit against the State pursuant to court order. It is anticipated that in February the court will hold a hearing on whether or not Maine 'Indians are entitled to protection under the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act. A decision from the court is expected this spring on the declaratory judgment issue. This is the most critical point in the entire claim. If Maine Indians win this round, as they have all earlier rounds, the question of entitlement to protection under the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act will be resolved in their favor, and attorneys representing Maine Indians will be able to go to the federal government, tell its representatives they were wrong, and that they should proceed with the cases against the State of Maine. Possibly the most important aspect of this case is that it signifies the entry of the eastern Indian into the mainstream of American activity — into those areas where decisions are made. The eastern Indian is not going to be messed with; if you hit him, he’s going to hit you back — in court — where you’re vulnerable. "________________________________ — DRD Vol. 1, No. 3 December 1973 Editor: David R. Depew Co-Editor: Roger Gabriel Editorial Board: DIS Board of Directors: Nicholas Dow, Chairman; Jean Chavaree, Allen Sockabasin, Alfred DeVoe, Terry Polchies, John Bailey Published by Indian Resource Center 95 M ain St., Orono, Me. Progress In Housing Realized By ROGER GABRIEL Results of the most ambitous housing program thus far for Maine Indians arc now being realized. Looking back to Indian housing conditions as they existed prior to the Federal Government’s Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Program now in effect on the three reservations may suggest why these Indian communities sought to initiate and develop ways of coping with the housing problem. In the past years, it was rather commonplace that large Indian families occupy the cramped quarters of their small dwelling which was quite often poorly insulated, and without a central heating system. Until recent years, many homes were without cither electricity or indoor plumbing and thus required outdoor toilet facilities. These conditions prevailed, in varying degrees, depending on the particular community, as late as the early 1950’s. At Peter Dana Point, for example, sources say electricity was not made available until around 1947. It may or may not be surprising, however, that such conditions can still be found even today in isolated circumstances. Tribal governments have taken steps to discourage this and are engaged in long-term tribal community development programs designed to improve the general living conditions of Maine Indian people. The most obvious of these programs has been in the area of housing. The first attempt by Indian people to secure better housing was made in 1958 at Peter Dana Point in a program administered through the Maine State Department of Health & Welfare. Seventeen units of housing were built and were paid for through the Passamaquoddy Indian Trust Fund which obtains money through logging operations on Indian Township. Eleven additional units were later built at Pleasant Point (Sebayik) and both projects were part of the same program. Its limitations were such that while some housing problems were solved, other problems were created largely due to the general, poor quality of the new housing. Oddly enough the contractor responsible for the building of these units later went bankrupt. In 1967, the tribal governments of the three reservations each established a housing authority, thus making Maine Indians eligible to benefit from new federal housing programs. Misinformation perhaps, and a general break-down in communica­ tions at Indian Island ultimately led that Indian community to deactivate its housing authority in the fall of 1969. The two remaining reservations, mean­ while. continued on their slow, often complicated, journey toward better housing. And, in keeping with a HUD policy, the housing authorities of Pleasant Point and Peter Dana Point moved ahead to obtain a grant to install water distribution and sewage sanitation systems through the Economic Development Act (EDA). By the end of 1969, water and sewage facilities were nearing completion at the Passamaquod Reservation, at which time real progress began develop. In the summer of 1971 the growing potential of t Federal Housing Program became clearer to t Penobscot Indian community and its local housi authority was then reactivated. Since that time, the Penobscot Tribal Reservati Housing Authority has been making steady progre despite some problems related to water and sewa installation. These problems involve certain house 1 < on Indian Island on which there may be questional ownership. HUD has approved 35 units of housing for t Penobscot Reservation at Indian Island. The Aroostook Indian community faces problei of a scattered Indian population. Making a housii program available on any large scale is only one many difficulties associated with this problem. T Association of Aroostook Indians (A.A.I.), howevt through the Maine State Housing Authority, was at to secure the approval of seven units of low-incor housing for Indian families in that area. These we included in a plan involving 25 units to be ma< available to the general community. The housing authority at Peter Dana Point h secured 25 units of housing, 16 of which are present under construction on the Indian Township ‘‘Strip Nine are scheduled to be constructed later at Dai Point. The Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Housii Authority has 45 units approved and under constru tion. Much of the housing construction at Peter Dai Point and Pleasant Point was started in the summer 1973 and is nearing completion. Several families w have moved into their new homes by late November. The new units are spacious, modern and attractiwithin and without. Each has a central heating syste and is fully insulated. The three-bedroom homes ha’ l'/z baths, with two full baths in the larger 5-bedroo units. Interior features include tile floors, kitche cabinets, a stove and refrigerator. A full basement ar brick veneer are features which greatly contrast wit any previous concept of what a low-income India family could hope for. Each Indian family obtaining a new home throug the HUD program is both physically and financial responsible. In keeping with HUD policies, 500 hou of time must be spent by the individual family in tf actual construction of their home to serve as a “dowi payment.” Monthly cash payments based on farni net income also must be made on a regular basis. Th will be supervised by the housing authorities at each ( the reservations for a period of 25 years, at which tin a deed will be transferred to family ownership. In addition to housing and water and sewage gran from HUD and EDA, each reservation has secure approval of a ‘‘neighborhood facilities” communii building. The structure will be designed according t the needs of the individual Indian community and wi include such features as a gymnasium, tribal office classrooms, kitchen, day-care center and outdoc swimming pool. �n /7j Wabanaki Alliance Page 3 Community Action Increases Involvement The inability, to handle one’s own environment creates many human problems — physical and emotional. In the mid-60’s a great many programs were developed to help people cope. The Office of Economic Opportunity was created to respond in the community to the organizational needs of people who had no experience in the politics of change. This community-based operation was to be run by those it served. Housing, education, health, welfare, employment and legal assistance programs followed. Professional staffs were there to organize and provide access to the millions of dollars in programs. Programs were helping many people develop the confidence to face personal problems and address larger social problems. These programs also created a noisy, powerful and sometimes belligerent political constituency. Old politicians had to make new and expensive promises. Many oppressed people were pressing for change. Many of the old wrongs could not be changed by money alone. Basic changes in the way health care was delivered were sought; education had new responsi­ bilities; the ethnic and socio-economic minorities which had never had access to good lawyers now did, and actions as a class began emerging. At the heart of all this was the local community action program with the status of a private non­ profit corporation. President Nixon did not like the set-up. He commissioned a study of OEO programs and agencies. The study concluded that the program was ofgreat value. . . The OEO program was to be taken apart anyway. Monies would be stopped to OEO — at some point in the future — and programs formerly administered through OEO would be administered through other federal agencies. This would hurt local community action programs by removing a national thrust, but it couldn’t and won’t destroy the source of agitation, which remains local people organized to be involved in change. Indian Community Action Programs (ICAPS) were a component of the OEO program. It was announced this year that the administration of ICAPS would be through the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, effective July 6, 1973. This new HEW component would be known as the Office of Native American Programs (ONAP). In addition to handling all ICAP programs the Office of Native American Programs was designed to handle all regional Indian programs — at least in the New England states — administered by the federal government; ONAP is currently operating on a continuing resolution. In addition ONAP has requested $32.1 million for program operations; this represents an increase of $9.7 million of new money. Robert Howard, director of the program, set up a meeting in Washington, D.C., for getting, “input from ICAP directors, tribal governors and other Indian leaders, regarding a new way of operating, which will be more responsive to ALL native Americans." The meeting was held November 13 and 14. The reference here to ALL is important because of Pious Perley Elected As A.A.I. President Members of the Association of Aroostook Indians (AAI), at a general election meeting in Presque Isle, October 21. chose Pious Perley of Presque Isle, AAI president. Shirley Lcvassucr of Houlton was elected vicepresident. Helen Ciganik, Caribou, and Stella Daigle, Fort Kent, will serve the Association as treasurer and secretary, respectively. AAI members elected to the Board of Directors include: John Joseph—Houlton; Tom Battiste—Houlton; Helen Ciganik—Caribou; Shirley Lcvassuer—Houl­ ton; A1 DeVoe—Mars Hill; Brenda Polchics—Houl­ ton; Gloria Tomah—Houlton; Aubrey Tomah— Houlton; Ron Gidion—Caribou; Stella Daigle—Fort Kent; Winnifred Everett—Fort Fairfield; Joyce Tompkins—Houlton;Yvonne Jewell—Presque Isle; Pious Perley—Presque Isle; Harriet Perley—Presque Isle; Fred Perley—Houlton. New Positions of Indian Service Filled By Terry Polchies and Jim Sappier Terry Polchics, a member of the Division of Indian Services Board, has been hired by the State to assist the Department of Indian Affairs to meet the needs of Maine’s off-reservation Indian. Polchies is a past president of the Association of Aroostook Indians and one of the prime movers in the development of that organization. Polchies is also one of 13 New England Indians serving on the Indian Task Force of the Federal Regional Council. The task force is responsible for reviewing programs and applications for programs which use federal monies for Indians in New England states. As a grass roots organizer of off-reservation Indians, an employee of the State Department of Indian Affairs and member of the task force which deals with federal programs for New England Indians, Polchies is in the unique position of having dealt with local Indian problems and having direct input into the federal entity which provides resources to solve problems. Polchies’ new position will provide him the time to put his experience and contacts to work for Maine’s off-reservation Indians. New Youth Coordinator Announced by A.A.I. Gayla Atm DeMerchant of Fort Fairfield will replace Phil Fraser, who resigned, as youth coordinator at A.A.I. The announcement was made at the November 20th DIS Board meeting. Jim Sappier, Indian Island, is one of the keys to getting action out of the federal government on problems concerning Maine Indians. Sappier is Indian Coordinator for Federal Programs in Region I, Boston. In addition to the long title, it’s an important position. Sappier relates directly to an Indian task force. Membership on this task force consists of 10 feds, 13 Indians from the New England states, and the Governor of Maine, represented by John Stevens, State Commissioner of the Department of Indian Affairs. This task force relates to the Federal Regional Council. This Council is made up of Regional directors from agencies such as agriculture; environ­ mental protection; health, education and welfare; housing and urban development; labor; law enforce­ ment; transportation and economic opportunity. It’s Sappier’s job to relate to these upper-echelon bureaucrats the impact — or lack of it — their programs are having on Indians in New England. This is essentially accomplished by reviewing all grants going out of the New England region which are allegedly to help Indians. Sappier, working with his task force, can more easily spot the “rip-off’ grant or the well-intentioned program which duplicates. In addition, Sappier acts as an advocate for all New England Indians. He is there in Boston when a Maine Indian leader needs to have a program nudged along or needs to know where to turn. the concern of eastern Indian people that western Indians on BlA-recognized reservations would get preferential treatment. One of the largest blocks of Indian people attending the meeting was that from Maine. The Penobscot people were represented by Mai Sappier, Indian Island governor, and Mike Ranco. director of the Island’s community action program. Other Penobscots attending the meeting included Jim Sappier, who coordinates regional programs foi Indians out of the Boston federal complex, and Andy Aikens. executive director of the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy Inter-Tribal Planning Council. The Association of Aroostook Indians was represented by Pious Perley, AAI president, and Helen Ciganik, AAI treasurer. Terry Polchies, representing the interests of all off-reservation Indians, also was present. The Passamaquoddy people were represented by Allen Sockabasin, Indian Township governor, Ralph Dana, director of the Pleasant Point community action program and Wayne Newell, also of Pleasant Point. Tom Tureen, the attorney heading the teams ol lawyers involved in Passamaquoddy vs. Morton (covered in an editorial in this edition), was present. John Stevens, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, rounded out the Maine Indian representation. Tom Battiste, former AAI president and former member ot the Division of Indian Services Board, represented the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans. The two days were spent discussing not only a proposed organizational structure, but in receiving the complaints and concerns of Maine Indians. State Indian commissioners from Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Louisiana told those representing the newly-created Native American Programs office that they should: 1) Have distinctions between so-called federal and non-fedcral Indians, and distinctions between urban and rural Indians, officially repudiated. Program funds should be made available to all eligible appli­ cants on a non-discriminatory basis. 2) Insure non-discrimination, and earmark funds on a per capita basis in accordance with the Indian population of each state. Once earmarked, however, funds should be available on a block grant basis, and should not be budgeted on a categorical basis. 3) Consider all Indian communities which are identified on the present Department of the Interior map of Indian lands in the United States, and all communities not listed on the Interior map which can demonstrate their Indian ancestry, eligible for ONAP grants. The eligibility of Indian communities not listed on the Interior map should be determined by an independent committee on the basis of factual evidence. Organizations serving Indians from eligible communities who have moved to urban areas or who are geographically dispersed in non-urban areas should also be eligible for ONAP grants. 4) See to it if additional funds are not appropriated, that five percent of the existing budget be allocated to fund research and development programs for Indian communities which arc presently not served by ONAP. The Coalition of Eastern Native Americans, represented by W. J. Strickland, Louis Bruce and its entire executive board, made a powerful and demanding presentation. CENA’s main thrust was to demand that the 165,000 Indians — many of them land-based — cast of the Mississippi be recognized by the federal government, and to make it clear that they won’t be ignored. The National Congress of American Indians had a similar thrust as did the Coalition of Indian Controlled School Boards. The major impact, according to one source, was made by CENA — an organization whose roots can be found in Maine. What happened at this two-day meeting in Washington. D.C., was that people were making themselves felt and that’s what community action programs are all about. �Page 4 Wabanaki Alliance »V7/ the Maine Medical Association. I worry about the houses we are building; the problem of alcoholisi going to be moving into that house also,” Stevens s Fr. Harry Vickerson told the group. “ In the years 1 have been on the reservation 1 have hac funerals. All these individuals, directly or not indirectly have died of alcohol.” Harriet Price, a member of the Maine S Advisory Committee for the U.S. Civil- Ri Commission, followed Fr. Vickerson's on-lhe-: experience with Commission findings in a study yet published. The Commission has found substantial data in many government reports that already have 1 : prepared to overwhelmingly substantiate the prob of alcohol abuse among Indian people. “ Mai Indian people should be leading a more vigor attack on the country’s Indian Health Service to those services which are rightly theirs." Mrs. P stated. A lcohol and the Maine Indian KEYNOTE SPEAKER — Robert Moore, above, discusses the epidemic proportions of alcoholism among American Indians. Mike Ranco, above right, takes notes. Few stones were left unturned by the State Department of Indian Affairs in its examination of alcoholism among Maine Indians. This examination took place recently at a two-day conference in Brewer for Maine Indian leaders and those working to correct problems created by alcoholism. Speakers who used figures comparing Indians to whites and blacks, and Maine Indians to other Indians left little doubt in the minds of those present that there was not only a problem, but that M aine’s Indian alcoholism was of an epidemic nature. Speakers who discussed why the epidemic existed cited not only historical and social problems, but medical and genetic reasons as well. Each speaker had an idea or ideas on what to do. There may have been disagreement about why alcoholism is so acute a problem and about how to solve the problem, but all agreed that alcoholism was the number one problem facing Maine Indians. Susan Stevens, co-director of the Maine Alcoholism Research Program, began her discussion of the history of Indian alcoholism by citing national figures on alcoholism and some accepted definitions of what an alcoholic was or is. HEW Secretary Details Grants fo r Education Students who need money for their education after high school may now apply for Basic Educational Opportunity Grants, according to a news release from U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger. More than $122 million is available under this new program administered by HEW’s Office of Education. To apply for a Basic Grant, an “ Application for Determination of Expected Family Contribution” must be obtained, filled out, and mailed to P.O. Box B, Iowa City, Iowa 52240. Application forms are now available at student financial aid offices at postsccondary institutions* high school guidance offices, post offices, State employment offices, county agricultural extension agents, and Talent Search, Upward Bound, and Student Special Services projects. If unavailable in your area, write to Box G, Iowa City, Iowa 52240. For further information on Basic Grants and other student financial aid programs, students should contact their high school counselor or the financial aid officer at the school in which they expect to enroll. According to Mrs. Stevens: there are more than nine million alcoholics in America; the skid row variety often visualized constitutes only three percent of the number of alcoholics; over half the car wrecks in the country can be traced to alcohol; beer is the most commonly consumed beverage by the alcoholic. Alcoholism, according to Mrs. Stevens, is a disease which interfers with the health and welfare of the individual and with that individual’s interpersonal relationships. Mrs. Stevens then focused in on the Maine Indian. “The Indians’ problem with alcohol came with the arrival of Europeans to this country — more specifically, the fur traders of the 1500’s. The relation­ ship developed by the fur trader with the Indian altered not only the Indian’s previously excellent diet but the guts of his social system,” she said. “ Flour and sugar replaced meat, fruit and vegetables; the sharing o f the life-giving substance of the hunt and the harvest were replaced by the sharing of booze received for the harvest pelts,” she stated. When the pilgrims arrived in the 1600’s, according to Mrs. Stevens, they moved into a village previously established by Indians who died of diseases brought by Europeans. By the time of the Revolution, the Maine Indian’s problem with alcohol was already 200 years old. An Indian leader. Chief Little Turtle, recognizing this problem approached President Jefferson, according to Mrs. Stevens, and requested that a law be passed making it illegal to sell liquor to Indians. Congress subsequently acted. It wasn’t until recently that this law was rescinded. Mrs. Stevens’ co-director, Ed Mitchell, brought the group up to date with figures germane to Maine’s Indian population. “ A significant percent of Maine’s Indians are alcoholics. Between 1950 and the present, 56 percent ot the deaths at one Passamaquoddy reservation was due directly or indirectly to alcohol. By the time many youths reach the age of 15 they are drinking regularly. Patterns of drinking in groups and the sharing of one’s liquor contribute greatly to the problem of unemployment,” Mitchell stated. John Stevens, Commissioner, Department of Indian Affairs, then informed the group that although funds have been budgeted for payment to physicians for assisting in the treatment of alcoholism, many problems remain. “ I have dealt with the Maine Medical Association. They arc the biggest stumbling block to getting services. There are federal programs and foundations, but it is difficult to get anything without the okay of It was Mrs. Price’s contention that half a mill dollars would be provided annually for health servi through IHS if that resource could be captured. Mrs. Price revealed that meetings with B Patterson, a member of the White House staff, recognition of Indians east of the Mississi produced nothing but “ hot air.” Earlier this yt Patterson had told Maine Indian people that White House expected to provide a decision on subject o f recognition in the immediate future. Commissioner Stevens then called upon Max Go> who administers a federally funded alcoholi program. Good discussed the legislation enabling t program, P.L. 91-616. He read from the st; alcoholism plan and described the service dclivt structure being sought. Good pointed out tl regional organizations had just been created. It v \ also pointed out that the federal enabling legislati m andates the involvement of ethnic groups (Indiai on these councils. This was followed by a discussion of the possible u of Title IV A monies by Bob Foster of the State Heal and Welfare office in Augusta. Title IVA refers to section of recently passed federal legislation — me specifically, the Social Security Amendments. In both instances it was not made entirely cle what would be made available and when. This was n the fault of the speakers but the uncertainty of the u of the resources they discussed. The state bureaucrats were followed by one fro W ashington, D.C., — Harold Dance, who hea. special programs for the U.S. Department of Labe Dance expressed some anxiety about the Indian working directly with the federal government W ashington, D.C., during a period of decentralizatie and recommended that Maine Indian leaders becon more knowledgeable with Boston federal employee He expressed several times the necessity for “gettir to know” those with resources, such as the region and D.C. bureaucrats. [Continued on Page 5] C ivil Rights Commissior Responds to M uskie Recently, Senator Edmund Muskie queried tl U.S. Commission on Civil Rights with regard to tl availability of the services of the Bureau of Indie Affairs to non-Federal, non-reservation Indians undi the Snyder Act. The detailed memorandum which was returned t the Commission to Senator Muskie concludes that, c its face, the Snyder Act is sufficiently broad to justi Federal services to all Indians, regardless of their leg; status or residence. A decision recently by the Ninth Circuit Court ( Appeals in Ruiz vs. Morton affirms this conclusion : to non-reservation Indians. The Ruiz case which wr appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and argue November 7, does not, however, treat the issue c no n -F ed erally recognized In d ia n s , and thei entitlement to Federal services remain unclear. It is anticipated that within two months the Com will have made a decision on this case. Reversal of th court ot Appeals could be very detrimental in that i would remove strong case support for extend in coverage of the Act to non-Federal Indians. �W abanaki Alliance Page 5 A lcohol Problem DIS Adopts W ork Program [Continued from Page 4| HAROLD DANCE ‘Get to know those with resources’ “ If these people are to be made aware of your problems you have to be able to communicate with them,” Dance said. Following these nebulous discussions of resources and how they may be of use, John Shea, director of the Diocesan Human Relations Services' Community Alcoholism Service, got back down into the nitty-gritty of how to get resources and what resources should be used for. It was Shea’s contention that there is no way to treat the alcoholic without first providing a means within the social system to stop drinking. Providing that means is often complicated, involving everything from housing and employment to initial medical care and follow-up, Shea stated. Mike Ranco, Community Action Program director from Indian Island, began the second day’s activities. Ranco discussed the educational problems and how some educational programs offering decent breakfasts were being initiated on Indian Island to make the child want to attend school. Robert Moore, executive director of the American Indian Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, followed with an overview of the “ Indian Alcohol problem" and the need to include a spiritual approach. In many ways, Moore was the highlight of the two-day conference. The Seneca Indian was able to synthesize all that had been said, to discuss the means for attacking the problem and to leave the audience with the feeling that something can be done which will change this situation. Moore believes that there isn’t a man, woman or child who is Indian who is not affected directly by alcohol. It’s his contention that alcoholism is a national problem and that the Indian is in the middle of an epidemic. Moore summarized the Indians’ relation to the “white race” by saying that: “ They have killed our initiative, they have killed our culture, they have killed our ability to do things; they have helped us to death.” This came about, as he sees it, through the “ tyranny of should.” “They knew what we should do and how we should do it and then they did it.” “The Indian has to begin to experience running his own affairs if he is to successfully participate,” Moore said. It is his opinion that standard treatm ent methods will not work to correct alcoholism among Indians unless an element of spirituality can be incorporated into what is being done. Moore stated that it was the responsibility of Indian leaders in Maine, and throughout the U.S., to confront those with the resources needed by Indians to attack this problem. In completing his talk, Moore told those present, “ If you don’t believe we have been completely controlled by booze since the coming of Europeans to this continent, just go to the Smithsonian and discover how many disputes were settled with whiskey. “ Don’t allow others to take away the dignity of solving your own problems,” he concluded. Mrs. Marilyn Light, executive director of the A drenal M etabolic R esearch Society o f the Hypoglycemia Foundation, moved the discussion to the specifics of nutrition. The main thrust of Mrs. Light’s discussion was that poor nutrition not only compounded the problems of The Division of Indian Services (DIS) Board recently adopted its 1974 work program based on six objectives developed earlier by the Board. These objectives include: (1) promoting better communica­ tion between Indian communities; (2) providing leadership development services to the Indian community; (3) mobilization of resources nowavailable to Maine Indians; (4) acting as a liaison between the Indian and non-Indian community; (5) providing advocacy services; and (6) promoting religious education. Following is a better description of what is to be done in each of these areas: INTER-INDIAN COMMUNICATION: Additional news sources within the Indian community will be created to encourage more active Indian participation in creating articles for the W abanaki Alliance. This involvement will assist both the Indian community and those reporting in becoming more knowledgeable about events and developments affecting them. L E A D E R SH IP D EV E LO PM EN T: L eadership training, as seen by the DIS Board, is Indian involve­ ment in resolving community problems and dealing with State and national issues. An effort will be made by the Indian Resource Center to encourage a greater number of persons from each Indian community to actively participate in matters associated with their own self-determination and development. MOBILIZATION OF RESOURCES: Staff will compile, in 1974, a list of federal, state, regional and local governmental resources applicable for use by those served by the DIS Board. A data bank on Indian programs will be created which will include names of those involved in such programs so that technical workshops may be offered. It is anticipated that these resources, including some that are foundation and church related, may be taken to individual Indian communities and will be used in the development of local resource directories whenever applicable. TO ACT AS A LIAISON: Liaison efforts by the Indian Resource Center shall be directed at the concept that “ Indian people address Indian prob­ lems.” During 1974, the Indian Resource Center shall assist Indian leaders in improving communications with the non-Indian community by providing infor­ mation on subjects of mutual concern. Workshops and seminars between the two groups will be promoted on matters of mutual interest. ADVOCACY: The DIS Board will assist Resource Center staff in identifying areas of special concern. These areas are those most deeply affected by a different cultural heritage in which a liaison with certain interests among “white” decision-makers may prove most productive. Orientation regarding the legislative processes will be made available to Indian communities which may then promote a more active role in legislative activity benefiting Maine Indians. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Resource Center staff will assist the Task Force on Religious Education by reporting on its activities in the W abanaki Alliance. and detoxification, etc. We need groups like the AA for the spiritual component that they can provide, and we need the health and welfare professionals to provide the kind of counseling that deals with the psychological problems created by alcoholism,” Dr. Brody said. Dr. Brody then called upon those present to urge all those with whom they work to return to natural foods, he then explained why. Only three percent of the alcoholics treated by Dr. Brody had a normal blood sugar level. The abnormal blood sugar level in the others made it impossible for these people to cope in many instances with rehabilitation. Thirty-five percent of the alcoholics treated by Dr. Brody had a zinc deficiency. Dr. Brody maintains that this deficiency made their bodies less receptive (o healing. These specifics from a medical doctor providing health care to alcoholics, were then localized by the reflections of an M.D., James Bates, who as a general practioner has provided medical care to Indians for the past 35 years. MARILYN LIGHT ‘Nutrition a factor in alcoholism’ alcoholism but indeed may be one of the factors which causes it. Ignorance of a proper diet, results in many instances in hypoglycemia — low blood sugar — a condition which often results in depression and a general lack of energy. Mrs. Light concluded her speech by calling upon Maine Indians to develop the means to provide good food such as meats, grains, fish, fruit and vegetables — the kind of diet the Indian had prior to the fur traders. Nathan Brody, M.D., followed these recommenda­ tions with some of the specific ways in which he is using nutrition as a tool to treat alcoholism. Dr. Brody stated that he has been in the field of alcoholism treatment for 18 years. “ For the first 13 years I used a multi-disciplinary approach with the detoxification, counseling and follow-up type routine. 1 had repeaters so often that I began to ask myself what was wrong with the program. “ Then I began to notice that the alcoholic when he gives up booze develops a definite pattern of eating. W hat the man was eating was cookies, soda pop or some other junk. “ 1 began to wonder if vitamin deficiency could play any role in the number of repeaters. “ I now believe,” Dr. Brody stated, “that vitamin deficiency is significant. We need to use a whole team approach. The physician must be there to provide the medical services, which will include vitamin therapy Dr. Bates’ speech was one of reflection. Dr. Bates discussed the frustration he had seen in the lives of his Indian patients, the unavailability of opportunity. He then asked: “Is the drinking of the white society more controlled by the reality of knowing that tomorrow is another day of work and responsibility? Has AA been less successful because it requires a commitment to abstinence?” Alice Francisco, a public health fellow from Harvard, then asked the audience, if a drinking problem can’t be solved on the reservation, can it be solved off? The data she brought, indicated it can’t. During the two-day conference nearly every speaker stated that before an alcoholic can be cured he must admit-the problem exists. Possibly the best summarization of the conference can be found in the words of Indian educator, Wayne Newell, who called the conference “the first public confession of our problem.” j WAYNE NEWELL ‘A public confession of our problem’ �Page 6 Wabanaki Alliance gypsy leaves a budding there are seeker streams as he passed blending oblong shedding visceral plankton a souls eye to eye seeker stream's abradant accretion acrebic & egoless anthropomorphia blender * oxidize enviable ability acarpous solipsistic mythless minds seeker streams vision seeker's 1st conquistador his a Spanish soul peons & viceroy victors banished & as he aligns & recalled genetic adynamics the synchro o f your your\ insipid massacres green acervate at the brows & chronic breathing clonic gradients emote to emulate their vintage labeled pedigree he remembers dark rasping hounds your wishes clinging sound "vagrant disease: the curse o f venture, the anorexia to annointedpioneers . . . abulia's inservitude" from inquisitions passing parade tirade, dialectric & abstruse clamour, confirmed abatis your contoured in harmonic rectitude o f 153 blissed paranoids 1-5-3 there are clear moments, only wait dreams o f vision he shelters your quintessence graying hurtling & impregnated fo r the mundane “where is conformity in-these-troubled chim es. . . encircled encampments o f means & banks & us or perhaps dripping pools Editor's n o te : G e o rg e Tom er, O ld Tow n, c re a te d th e s e co n trib u tio n s in ‘so u n d a n d h a rm o n y ' fo r th e W a b an ak i A lliance. red gathered enjambments & gambits o f poltroons The Empty Sack o f Troy By PAUL A. FRANCIS, JR. Everyone is familiar with the story of how the Greeks surreptitiously employed a monstrous wooden horse to gain admission into the citadel of Troy; and once gaining admission, reduced the Trojan city to rubble and ashes, ending 10 long years of siege and avenging the abduction of the fair Helen by the not-so-fair Trojan prince, Paris. But very few, I suspect, ate familiar with’th e story of how the Greeks had initially intended to breach the impregnable Scaean gates. For those skeptics who wish to confirm the authenticity of this obscure account, the story is related in the 25th book of Homer’s Iliad, and also in the prologue to his Odyssey. Unfortunately, these chapters are not extant, having been deleted from the original text for lack of literary V value, so you’ll have to accept my word. Achilles and Ajax of the Greeks were dead, the Trojan Hector had been mercilessly slain by a vindictive, mindless Achilles. Battle raged furiously in the Plain of Ilion, and large numbers of warriors from both sides were sent to their gloomy fate in Hades; but the contest was an impasse. One side and then the other won a battle, but neither side could win a decisive victory. The Greeks could not introduce battle within the formidable Trojan walls, and the Trojans could not push the Greeks back to their ships and out to sea. Zeus had prohibited the intervention of the Olympians, so the outcome could only be decided by human elements. What took the Trojan W ar so long to conclude was the obsession of the Greeks to devise chimerical schemes to quickly bring the war to a close. And so the war dragged on, and it was becoming monotonous. More and more, members of both armies were dozing off even in the din of battle. Even the gods, who had actively participated in the war before Zeus’ decree, became indifferent; and to such a degree that they implored Father Zeus to smite both contingents to oblivion with one of his patented, far-reaching, guaranteed-to-fry thunderbolts. But Zeus would not yield, for he knew that victory for the Greeks was to be realized in this 10th year. Thus it was that Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the combined Greek forces, summoned a meeting for the purpose of devising a plan to introduce battle withing the walls of the citadel. “ In 10 years of siege,” began Agamemnon, shouting to be heard above the cacophony of comrades who immediately fell asleep, “not one Greek has set foot inside the Trojan city. If we are to gain victory, then we must transcend the formidable walls.” Agamemnon’s speech merely inspired his comrades into deeper somnolent bliss, and in anger he began to strum his lyre. Being a novice to the instrument, the chords he struck were so disharmonious that all the strings broke (or rather, Apollo, out of compassion for the ethereal instrument, broke them) and the plangent twang managed to arouse the Greeks. Odysseus stretched and yawned, and his eyes fluttered open. “ W hat the Hades was that? Perhaps an earthquake has rumbled across the plain, destroying the citadel.” “ No such luck,” answered Agamemnon. “ You, Odysseus, are described by Homer as being crafty and sly. Haven’t you a crafty and sly plan to get us inside the walls?” Odysseus sententiously remarked, “ Blind labor of m an’s hands erects walls, divine inspiration destroys them; and I am so inspired. Remember that a wall is like a chasm with nothing there. Remember also th a t . . . ” “ Odysseus! Have you a plan or don’t you?” “ Oh yes, the plan. Perhaps we could make the Trojans believe that it is they who are outside the walls; thus would they strive to knock down the adam antine walls.” Agamemnon winced in disbelief. “ Odysseus, though you may be sly and crafty to the equal of Zeus, you are also abysmally stupid. To persuade the Trojans into believing that they are outside the walls, you would also have to persuade us that we are inside the walls.” “ Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I could never believe that we are inside the walls; we aren’t, are we?” The crash of Agamemnon’s shield over Odysseus’ head rumbled across the plain. Odysseus rose to his feet and in his eyes was a twinkle of divine inspiration. “ If we can’t go through the walls, how about going under or over?” “ And how would either of these be accomplished?” “To go under would require a tunneling device, which we don’t have, and haven’t the precedent to be so inspired; so that leaves us with excogitating means of going over, and here we find a precedent. Are you, my fellow warriors, familiar with the story of Daedalus and his son, Icarus?” “ You mean for us to fly over!” exclaimed Menelaus, his sleepy eyes struggling vainly to emphasize his exclamation. “ Why not,” returned Odysseus. “ All of us could construct our own set of wings, take to the air, and descend upon an unsuspecting Trojan city, descend like flies onto a putrid carcass.” “ O r,” suggested Diomedes, “ Or, instead of individual wings, we could construct one larg machine that could carry one entire legion. Thei several of the men could open the gates for the rest o us.” They decided to adopt Odysseus’ plan because i was crafty and sly. And so every Greek warrior bcgai to wax feathers on long, light boards. For two day they thus employed themselves. And the Trojans, whi faithfully took to the plain for their daily confronta tion, were nonplussed to discover that their presen adversaries were plucked chickens. Here did Zeu. wield his mighty thunderbolt, and unto the Trojan was given a barbecue. Finally, on the morn of the third day the Greek: were ready. They grouped themselves into fou squadrons, and an aeronautical terminology wa invented. Instead of attacking en masse, it wa: decided that first one squadron and then anothe would be dispatched until all squadrons were insidi the impregnable Trojan walls. The first squadron, under the command o: Odysseus, began to flap their wings; first gently to ge the feel of it, then furiously in preparation fo take-off. Heaven and earth alike trembled with the beating of 10,000 pair of wings; and much to tin dismay of the Greeks, the wind thus created filled th< air with dust so dense that no one could see more thai an inch in front of him. Nevertheless, Odysseus gav( the command to take to the air, and 10,000 Greek: were airborne. W hat confusion! There was so much dust tha collisions were frequent, and many fell to their death As for the rest, their fate was obscured by the almossolid body of dust that hung over the plain like ar opaque curtain. The remaining squadrons could no7 know what had happened to Odysseus and hi: squadron until the dust had settled. So Agamemnot decided to await knowledge of Odysseus’ fate before dispatching his own squadron of 10,000. But the wait was not long, for within five minute: could be heard the shouts of the Greeks: “ Hellllp!’ Blinded by the dust, and misguided by frequeni collisions, Odysseus and his hapless squadron hac flown in the wrong direction, and were now floundering in the sea. Needless to say, this crafty and sly plan of Odysseu: was abandoned, but he sparked the idea tha; eventually worked. As he was dragging himself up tlu beach, the feathers of his wings drooping as his spirii was drooping, Agamemnon asked him if there were some other way an aerial invasion could be effected and Odysseus gurgled, “ I wouldn’t horse around with that idea.” �>1 / 7 3 W abanaki Alliance Page 7 Maine Indians Involved In CENA Development A year ago this December Maine Indian leaders participated in a meeting of eastern Indians in Washington, D.C. This meeting came about largely as a result of the activity of Maine people! First came a visit by John and Susan Stevens to numerous Indian tribes east of the Mississippi. This was made possible by foundation funds located by Tom Tureen, a Calais attorney. Then, prompted by contacts made on the trip, resources were garnered from the McConnell Clark Foundation of New York City to bring eastern Indian people together. Over 125 people from some 65 eastern Indian tribes, communities and organizations came together for the first time in this century. Foundation officials and federal bureaucrats were on hand to discuss needs and aspirations. Several things evolved from this meeting including: a realization of the wide diversity of knowledge about the availability of resources to improve the lives of Indian people and how one organizes to use these resources; consid erab le e n th u siasm ; an d , the development of the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans (CENA). CENA will hold its second annual meeting in Washington, D.C., January 17. 18 and 19. A group, which a year ago was not even a group, has in one year’s time: incorporated, created an 11-member steering committee, sought and received funds for staff, established an office in Washington, D.C., agreed upon a goal (to work toward a single Federal Government Indian policy whereby all Indians arc treated alike for delivery of services and protection of resources, whether they be eastern, western, urban or rural) and has pledged to “help all Indian people in the east to move toward self-deter­ mination both community by community and state by state.” CENA staff person Linda Oxendine stated that this year’s conference will be geared toward participation in workshops. It is expected that those who have experienced what is to be dealt with in the workshops will be used to assist in the training of those who have not. The first of the workshops is to deal with community organization: how to organize your com­ munity, how to conduct a meeting, how to get things done, how to set goals and write priorties. The second workshop will be geared toward com­ munity participation. Getting people into school boards and taking advantage of the recently passed Indian Education Act. The third workshop will deal with the publishing of newspapers and newsletters: how to do it, what to start with, etc. The fourth workshop will deal with resource identi­ fication, the fifth with arts and crafts and marketing such, and the sixth with historical research and cultural awareness. Senate Hearings Held on BIA Commissioner Nomination WASHINGTON, D.C.—<AIPA>—People flocked to the Senate hearings here Nov. 14 on the nomination of the Indian Commissioner-designate, Morris Thompson, attesting to the troubled state of Indian affairs and a widespread concern for the decline of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the collapse of morale among its 16,000 employees over the past year. Although the post of the Indian Commissioner has been vacant since the firing of Louis R. Bruce last Dec. 6, the national energy crisis prevailed over the BIA vacancy as a total of seven senators came and went from the hearing room as they were required to voteNi a bill requiring mandatory fuel allocations for the nation on the Senate floor. Testifying on the abilities and character of Thompson were Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Rep. Donald Young (D-Alaska), State Sen. John Sackett (D-Alaska), and Interior Secretary Rogers C. B. Morton. Sen. James Abourezk (D-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Subcommittee, chaired the overall session of the full Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. Dave Depew and Roger Gabriel To Staff Resource Center NEW STAFF — Roger Gabriel, above left, recently hired as Assistant Director of the Resource Center, is seen here with Louis Bruce, of CENA. Dave Depew, below', will serve the DIS Board as Center Director. Dave Dcpcw and Roger Gabriel have been hired by the Division of Indian Services (D1S) Board to provide staff assistance for board activities during the coming year. Dcpcw came to Maine from Montana where he had been involved in the newspaper business and, more recently, the organization of socio-economic and ethnic groups to promote changes benefiting minorities. Depew was editor of the Wolf Point Herald, a weekly on the Assiniboine-Sioux reservation in eastern Montana. Gabriel, originally from the Indian Township Reservation, was hired tq train under Depew. Gabriel is a graduate of Bangor High School and the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, N.M. Gabriel returned to the Bangor area in 1971. The activities in which Depew and Gabriel are going to be assisting are covered on page 5 in a story dealing with the DIS work program. Programs fo r A roostook Youth O u tline d By JUDY LITZ, AAI Teenagers in Aroostook County will have the opportunity to get involved with their community this year. The staff and the youth coordinators of the Association of Aroostook Indian have set up a tentative plan designed to encourage the teenagers to take part in a number of different programs in hopes that it will inspire them to pursue careers within the Indian community in th e future. Each staff member will conduct an introductory workshop to groups of teenagers during which time he will discuss his program and describe the training and education requirements which were necessary to assume the responsibilities of this job. After the initial workshop he will request volunteers to serve on a committee whose tasks have been decided upon well in advance. Participation on the committee is voluntary and teenagers may serve on as many committees as they wish. At the present time .there are six committees to choose from: Newsletter, Dental, Alcoholism, Legal, Homcstart, Consumer. Newsletter: This committee will assist the secretary in gathering stories, interviewing people for the Aroostook Indian Newsletter and will assist her in editing, printing and circulating the publication. Teenagers interested in secretarial work or newspaper work will be encouraged to work on this committee. Dental: This committee will be acting out plays for younger children on ‘‘Tommy Toothache and Peter Plaque.” It is hoped that these plays will impress upon younger children the importance of dental care. Teenagers who may be interested in a career in dental work will be encouraged to serve on this committee as they will also learn a great deal about dental assisting. Alcoholism: This committee will be involved in peer counseling and the establishing of an Ala-teen group. Teenagers whose lives have been directly or indirectly affected by alcoholism will be encouraged to act on this committee. They will also learn a great deal on the causes and effects of alcoholism. Homesfiart: This committee will be acting out MicMac and Malecite legends for pre-schoolers as well as conducting creative story telling sessions for them. Any teenager with an interest in pursuing a career in education will be encouraged to serve on this committee. Legal: This committee will be involved in court­ watching and other projects designed to familiarize themselves with the local police and judicial system. It is hoped that this committee will pave the way for a better relationship between the police and Indian community. Consumer: This committee will be circulating shopping lists with prices of food in each grocery store on a weekly basis. This will be of great value to the person who would otherwise be running to every store to find the best bargain. This committee will also be doing some preliminary investigating into the possi­ bilities of setting up a co-op. Teenagers will also have the opportunity to meet people from different careers throughout the winter months. Career people ranging from stewardesses to craftsmen have volunteered their time in the upcoming months to come and spend a two hour "ra p ” session with anyone who might be interested in their career. These career motivation workshops have been established in order that teenagers may fully realize the numerous alternatives that are available to them upon completing their secondary education. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Wabanaki Alliance</em> (December 1973) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Indian Resource Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-12 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Donald Soctomah Julia Brush Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DV-416 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Passamaquoddy Cultural Museum Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Steve Cartwright. Used with permission.