Jeff's Current Event

The city of Farmington, New Mexico has a wide history of racism within its
community, specifically toward Native American individuals. Beginning in 1974, with the murder of three Navajo men by white teenagers, hate crimes and other race related incidents have been recurrent. More recent events include the beating of Navajo man Fran Blacky, the shooting of Navajo man Clint Jones, the beating of a 47 year old Navajo man by white teens, and other racially motivated beatings. In the most recent major Farmington hate crime, a 22 year old cognitively impaired Navajo man was branded by a hot swastika shaped wire hanger, had a swastika shaved onto the back of his head, had offensive words and phrases written on his back, and was then persuaded to record a cell phone video giving consent to the branding. The three white teenagers who committed this unthinkable hate crime worked at a local McDonald’s and came in contact with this man as a customer. These offenders could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, and were the first in the country to be charged of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act which was passed in October 2009.

However, in the eyes of different citizens, Farmington is or isn’t as dangerous of a community as these events make it appear. According to Navajo Tim Bates, the first words he is asked when pulled over by a local police officer are “Have you been drinking?" or "How much have you had?" "The color of your skin dictates the question the officer will ask…to them there is no such thing as a sober law-abiding Native American”, Bates told the Navajo Human Rights Commission during a 2008 inspection into racial issues in border towns. Farmington Police Chief Kyle Westall had a complete different view on the issue. "I think we had a total of two racial profiling complaints last year." Westall stated. "That's out of almost 70,000 calls, about 25,000 traffic citations and 7,000 arrests." To be precise, there were four racial profiling complaints to the Farmington Police Department in 2010, and none have yet to come in the year of 2011.

The city of Farmington is taking measures to eliminate this racial tension felt by its citizens. Farmington Mayor Roberts believes that “the city is being aggressive at creating an atmosphere in which people are welcomed and feel valued regardless of their ethnicity or racial background."The city government has worked to provide Farmington with a public library, parks, the Farmington Indian Center, and the Totah Behavioral Health Authority. "I think that the reason Farmington would be seen as having a high quality of life is because of the services provided by the city," Roberts stated. "Take parks for example, if you drive by Brookside on the weekend, it is highly populated and mostly by members of minority groups." I believe that despite its dark and violent past, the city authorities of Farmington are doing all they can to eliminate this racial profiling and hatred.

City authorities seem to think racial issues are now under control, but some citizens such as Navajo Tim Bates believe that is not the case. Do you think that the issue is under control? Or do you think that Farmington needs to work more toward peace in their community? Why?

Cassandra's Current Event

My current event was about Native American tribal leaders as well as environmentalists attempting to convince federal judge Larry Hicks to keep the two-year old court rule that prohibited a gold mine expansion. The Western Shoshone Indians enabled the restriction of the gold mine expansion in December 2009. The gold mine expansion would take place on Mount Tenabo which in fact is about 250 miles east of Reno, Nevada. Many tribes consider this mountain sacred and disapprove of mining for gold on it. The Cortez Mountains are located in North Central Nevada and the highest point of the Cortez Mountains is Mount Tenabo. The Western Shoshone consider Mount Tenabo land to be sacred as a site of local creations stories. The Western Shoshone have been using Mount Tenabo for seasonal ceremonies and religious purposes as well as gathering pine nuts, medicinal plants as well as other seeds and plants for nourishment. The Western Shoshone community believes that the mine will create irreplaceable harm as well as prevent them from accessing the land they consider to be sacred. Bryan Cassadore, chairman of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone states that “The spring water and natural resources of rural Nevada has always been important to the Western Shoshone Indians for thousands of years and continues to be.” Throughout history, Native Americans have viewed the land as sacred where as white perceive the land as a source of mineral.
On the other hand, the lawyers for the U.S. Bureau of Land management yearn for Judge Larry Hicks to allow gold mining expansion involving part of the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Cooperation’s Cortez Hills project. The Cortez Joint Venture has been mining around Mount Tenabo since 1967. The Cortez gold mine is a joint venture between Rio Tinto Kennecott Explorations (Australia) and Barrick Cortez, cooperation. The Barrick Gold Cooperation has the largest reserves in the gold industry and contains 26 operating mines as well as having advanced exploration as well as development projects across five continents. The most recent completion of building a mine for the Barrick Gold Cooperation was the Cortez Hills in Nevada which was finished in early 2010. On September 7, 2011 it was announced that the Barrick Gold Cooperation made two gold discoveries on the Company’s Cortez property in Nevada which is under their complete ownership. The two discoveries are identified as Red Hill and Gold Rush. These discoveries are located six kilometers southeast of the Cortez Hills mine as well as 24 kilometers southeast of the Pipeline mine. These two new findings are geographically similar to Barrick’s Cortez Hills and Goldstrike mines.
The mining may pollute the air as well as dry up the limited water resources in northeast Nevada’s high desert and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated that the Bureau of Land Management failed to evaluate the possibilities. In support of the Bureau of Land Management the Justice Department lawyers stated that the bureau created a new and improved analysis that they believe to meet the terms of all state as well as federal environmental laws. With an opposing view, the lawyers for the tribes as well as the Reno-based Great Basin Resource watch believe that there are no precise protections for the environment within the mining plans but rather a monitoring schedule of the groundwater supplies that is suppose to discover any possible pollutants. The appellate judges ruled that the Bureau of Land Management’s review was insufficient under the National Environmental Act which states it’s necessary to carefully examine large-scale projects on federal land. The appellate judges stated that the bureau didn’t take into consideration the impact of air quality from transferring ore from an off site processing facility 70 miles away. They also said that pumping water out of the pit would then cause a decrease in the groundwater level and could possible dry up over twelve streams and springs.

Although the Western Shoshone tribes don't own the land but consider it to be sacred,do you think this is a valid reason to stop the mining for gold on Mount Tenabo? Why do you believe this to be true?

Paige's Current Event

My current event focused on the new Native American Television broadcasting station. On Sunday September 25 the first Native American television channel went live in Los Angeles California. First Nations Experience Television broadcasts all Native American shows twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. FNX is the result of the San Manuel Band of Indians and KVCR an Inland Empire Public Broadcasting Service working together for almost seven years. The new multimedia plans to show entirely Native American authentic shows including news, storytellings, dramas, and childrens shows, according to their website fnx.org. According to one FNX spokesman the station will be "featuring authentic voices and stories reflecting the reality of the Native American experience and that of indigenous peoples worldwide" Within a year the station plans to expand to a producer of many genres which may include sports, feature films, and comedy. San Manuel Chairman James Ramos said in a statement. "Becoming a partner with KVCR supports the tribe's mission of eradicating stereotypes that often stem from inaccurate depictions of American Indians in commercial television.

Question: Other than eradicating many stereotypes that whites have against Native Americans, what do you think is the biggest change that this broadcasting station will bring to the San Manuel Band of Indians.

Maddie Current Event

My article was about a lawsuit against the Cherokee Indians that was turned down.
-In 2004, lawsuit from a Freedmen descendent filed against Cherokee Indians saying acts ignoring freedmen decedents from Tribal membership were unconstitutional to the Cherokee constitution.
-Freedmen: descendents from the black slaves the Cherokee owned before slavery was abolished in 1865.
-After slavery was abolished, a treaty called the Treaty of 1866 was made between the Cherokees and their former slaves saying that the Cherokee will grant citizenship into the Cherokee tribe to all now free black slaves and their descendents and they will be set aside Cherokee land and voting rights, among other things as well
-In 2004 this lawsuit was filed to the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court by a Freedmen descendent saying the Cherokee weren’t upholding their end and that they weren’t being given their citizenship
-The court ruled in favor of this then and said the Freedmen should not be denied citizenship.
-Chief of the Cherokee tribe at the time, Chief Chad Smith opposed this ruling, and proposed that the Cherokee constitution should be amended to restrict tribal membership
-In 2006 the Cherokee Tribal Council voted to make the amendment saying that only direct Cherokee descendents could be considered Cherokee citizens
-Protest was filed against this to the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court, but Judge Henry Kennedy, a district judge in Washington said that the Cherokees had a right to vote on whether or not to make the amendment.
-The final vote said that Freedmen descendents could not be considered citizens.
-This was upheld this past August, and 2,800 Freedmen descendents lost their status as Cherokee citizens, including right to food aid and medical services provided for being Cherokee.

About Cherokee:
-A part of the five civilized tribes considered to have adapted to European ways, explaining why they took up black slaves in the first place
-Seminole, Choctaw, Creek also signed treaty after slavery was abolished to make them citizens
-They faced much persecution….
-Trail of Tears, 1838, part of removal, moved from homes in southeast to what is now Oklahoma, ¼ of their population died
-put in boarding school trying to get rid of the Indian in them and have their culture stamped out.
-Put through persecution like other Indians, put on reservations, living in poverty, etc.
-Now are supposed to be their own self-determined nation, but U.S. government still shadowing over them.

What determines Cherokee:
To be Cherokee you have to have at least a certain percentage of Cherokee blood in you. They have members who are as little as 1/2048 Cherokee, but the freedmen descendents have no Cherokee blood.

Reaction to court ruling:
-Cherokee getting “bullied” for this denying Freedmen descendents Cherokee citizenship by U.S. federal government
-Freedmen requesting withdrawal of funds given to Cherokee by federal govt. that helps pay for the food distribution to more than 35,000 Cherokee households
-Causing problems for Cherokee as defining themselves as a self-determined nation that should be able to make its own decisions. They make a decision but then US govt. interferes and comments on their decisions.
-Tough spot b/c freedmen descendents are fighting for their right to be considered Cherokee and Cherokee are denying it, and Cherokee are trying to make its own decisions and independently run their people, but US govt. is butting in trying to take control of their decisions

Question: What do you think should determine whether or not you can be allowed membership to the Cherokee tribe? Do you think the freedmen descendents should be allowed to be members? Why/ why not?

READING ASSIGNMENT DUE TUESDAY 10/11/11: TRUE DIARY!

Hey Y'All!
I would like to ask you to read up to PAGE 215 in True Diary over this gorgeous long weekend.
Then, on Tuesday, I am going to take some time to finish the novel with you. I will try not to cry, but I just LOVE the end of this book. I think you will too.
Enjoy!

The End of Indian Removal

Watch the following videos before you write your one-pager and be prepared to discuss the end of this era of US policy-making in class on Friday.

Racism at the University of Montana

My current event was about a pro-white bumper sticker that was found affixed to the Payne Family Native American Center at the University of Montana. Historically, Lakota (or Sioux) and Northern Cheyenne Native Americans have been persecuted in Montana. The Lakota and Northern Cheyenne tribes fought against the United States and defeated General Custer at Little Big Horn. The U.S. reaction was to massacre them. The United States then enacted it's policies of removal, attempting to move the Norther Cheyenne to Oklahoma. Many of those who made it tried to return and were decimated. Montana Indians were eventually put on reservations. Montana has long been a location were Native Americans were persecuted, harassed, and confined.
So when a bumper sticker displaying a racist slogan was found on September 19th at the Native American Center at the University, historically tense relations between the local tribes and white people suffered a blow. The bumper sticker declared: "Save the White Race, Earth's most endangered species". It asserts that we, the invading "species", deserve to be here, or alive even, more than the people who inhabited this land long before we arrived.
The center was built in April of 2010 and has become a cultural symbol. Local tribal leaders appeared at the grand opening which shows that the relationship has come a long way between the people of the State of Montana and Montana's Native tribes. This racism puts a strain on that relationship, and this wasnt the first time. Soon after the center was built, a rock was thrown through the window. The Director of American Indian Student Services, Fredricka Hunter said in the article "We will not tolerate racism." But do they have a choice? Investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Question to classmates: How do you think racism affects Indian and white relationships, and do you think that racism will continue?