An Administration's task

I am sitting here wondering who the next Special Trustee will be for the Office of Special Trustee. I'm already wondering who will replace Ross Swimmer. I'm wondering where Donna Erwin will go. I'm wondering where Doug and Jeff Lords will go. I'm hoping that the Carl Artman replacement will stay longer than it takes to confirm him. I'm hoping Majel Russell continues to do good things for Indian Country in any place but the Bureau of Indian Affairs Offices (which by the way are inside of Wash. D.C.). Who will President Elect Barack Obama appoint to replace all of them?

I'm hoping that somebody will finally hear what we've been saying for so long. Heck way back in 1999 even Senator Larry Craig had a good idea. So some of his time was well spent wherever he thought this quote up as reported in '99 on FCW.com by L. Scott Tillett:

"...Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, questioned whether the management of the funds "really belongs within the government."

"There are no excuses. There should be no excuses," said Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho). Many companies manage trust funds without so much as "a dime" out of place, Craig said.

"Why can't we be smart enough to hire the right people to do the job?"

At issue is nearly $2.4 billion in money that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) cannot accurately account for, although Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said it has not been stolen."

Amen to the words from Larry Craig back then. And then I wonder what Bruce Babbitt meant when he said the 2.4 billion wasn't stolen? That must have meant that he knew where it was. If it wasn't accounted for, then how do you know it wasn't stolen? It must have meant that Bruce Babbitt knew it was being "borrowed." It wasn't stolen so what other excuse is there? Borrowed to pay down government debts, which they now say is not a measurable benefit when Eloise Cobell asks where all the unaccounted for funds are at.

And the management of the [trust] funds: didn't belong within the government? Thanks Frank, but the loss from hundreds of years of mismanagement should have been straightened out before the government decided to get out of the trust fund mis-management.

So who does President Elect Obama appoint to Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2009? Who does he appoint to replace Ross Swimmer and Donna Erwin at the Office of Special Trustee in 2009? Who does he appoint who can accept the resignation of Doug and Jeff Lords? Who can say?

The only thing I would hope for is that it isn't a self serving Coal Chairman (wonder where Ross will go?) or a golf-happy trio (they need a fourth to tee off) that gets left at Office of Special Trustee. My hope is in Barack Obama to do the right thing when it comes to cleaning office at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of the Special Trustee in 2009.

I would hope like Senator Larry Craig said in 1999, that we're now "smart enough to hire the right people to do the job."

“The soul of Indian Country is at stake”
-Sally Willet from the Missoulian,
Administrative Law Judge
and Indian Land Working Group consultant

Good Indians

The origins of the phrase "the only good Indian is a dead Indian" may never correctly be identified. It may have been a General Sheridan or it may have been a U.S. Representative to Montana, a James M. Cavanaugh.

WOUNDED KNEE, SAND CREEK, ETC., ETC.

Who can say who said what? In any case, times have changed. The world is not the same as it was back in 1869. Indian Country times have changed as well. In fact Indians have changed. We have good Indians in 2008 just as the Europeans spoke of in 1869. We have a new creed, they have new motivations. They can't kill us or eat us now because both are illegal. The open season on Indian men, women, and children-is closed. So now what makes a good Indian?

PEABODY COAL, URSA MAJOR/GREAT BEAR CONSULTING, BLACK MESA PROJECT

ROSS SWIMMER?

In the interest of protecting the reputation of several big corporate interests, I will not mention Great Bear Consultants, Ursa Major consulting, Peabody Coal, or any other large organizations whose pockets are filled off the sales of Tribal Resources. But they have for purposes of this conversation, helped us actually. They alone have defined what it means to be a good Indian today. No longer does death standardize the requirements of a good Indian. Now, a good Indian is alive and well.

The good Indians are indeed alive and well....and poor. They are kept poor so that when a corporate interest comes along and wants to make money off our resources, we jump at the chance to earn a dirty percapita working at a higher-than-median-wage level in a job that supports their earnings of billions of dollars.

We have to be alive today so that we alone can broker the deals with them without outside interference, because we're on the rez. (This is where our sovereignty is used against us)

We have to be well, so that we can fill the jobs with pay that is more than we could ever make on the reservation. A good strong body means we can fill the truck loads of resources that leave the rez.

We have to be making-less-than-a-million-dollars a week too. In other words we need to be poor; that will motivate us to take a high wage (compared to what we normally make) to serve the corporation as they take home billions off the rez and leave us with holes in the environment.

So, todays discussion will lead us to the new definition of what good Indians are in 2008.

"The only good Indian is a POOR Indian."

-write that down...

The Sovereign masses

In part of his introduction to the book Sovereign Bones titled Rolling Those Sovereign Bones, Eric Gansworth wrote:

those people from indigenous communities who have chosen the artist's life understand that theirs is a gamble for survival. Their subversive acts, keeping their cultures alive, by necessity, use the tools of the oppressors: the English language, written forms of communication, Western publishing models, digital technology, film, the blog, installation, and myriad other forms of current information transmission. The risk inherent in learning to use the oppressors' tools so fluently and naturally...is that often our own people become suspicious of our motivations.

And I believe it. There is a point where if you argue with Native Americans in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, you're seen as the rabble-rouser. There is a point where if you say a person in a position who just happens to be an Elder did something wrong, you are the person who is wrong. Let me tell you there are Elders who were not doing good things when they were young, so what is the difference if they do that now?

There are always people who will say that people just point their fingers just to be pointing fingers. If you are pointing at a Tribal member in the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is really doing something disastrous to Tribal members' rights, are you really the bad guy?

When realty staff tell tribal members "just sign the lease, stop being so difficult," I have an issue with that. When OST staff misquote 25 CFR (their guiding bible) I have an issue with that. When the Regional Directors of Bureau of Indian Affairs do not budget for a superintendent for every reservation, I have an issue with that. When tribes are submitted to a process with obvious blind spots such as the Cadastral Surveyor process which would put people with political conflicts of interest on our reservation surveying and acquiring sensitive information, I have an issue with that. When the Office of Appraisal Services neglects to protect tribes' appraisal contracts from being sub-contracted to two levels away from the contractor, I have an issue with that. When the same appraisal office neglects to identify how an appraisal firm came to a appraisal decision in a State of non-discolsure I have an issue with that. When tribes everywhere are not included on appraisal contracts as clients, I have an issue with that.

When the Federal Government loses all original surveys for three reservations, a Trust duty, and then require Tribes to pay for re-surveys, I have an issue with that.

When the Federal Government requires the Tribes to gain comments on Fee to Trust from local lower governments (mainly states and counties and towns) I have a problem with that because nobody asked us the impact that moving from Trust to Fee would have on us when they took our land.

When they continually put people into the office of the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs who have never worked at the ground level I have an issue with that.

These are Native Issues. If you are on the government side of the Native Issues, you had better be prepared to actually defend your stance with a proper citation of Title 25 the Code of Federal Regulations. If you are the realty specialist who told a land owner to just sign an agricultural lease without being difficult, the shame should be on you. If you are the person who could change the surveying scheme, and you don't do anything about it, you are the problem.

In the Army Drill sergeants tell new privates, "if you see a piece of garbage on the ground, it is now your garbage." In Native issues if you see something and don't do anything about it, it is your fault.

If you are a land owner who will sign a lease and then later complain because of what is in the lease, you need to start reading your lease. If you are not going to read your lease, then don't point a finger at the people who would warn you when your farmer takes full advantage of you on the lease you signed.

Am I confrontational? You had best bet that I am just as confrontational as the obstacle to change is toward me.

The risk in learning to use the oppresors' tools so fluently and naturally...is that often our own people become suspicious of our motivations.

Well know this, we should all be confrontational to the processes undertaken by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Office of Special Trustee with the right balance of confrontation just to sway the effect to justice.

I would hope that the Native Issues that are problems would be addressed. I would hope that if you are part of the problem in a Native Issue, you would read your bible, 25 CFR whether you're a land owner, or a Federal employee in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or Office of Special Trustee or any of their supposedly beneficial Contractors.

Do you want to know the quickest way to shut up a "finger-pointer?" Give them the responsibility. They'll either take the responsibility with the thought that their name is on it or they will fail miserably and then they won't complain.

Well, it would seem....ready for this?....that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Special Trustee have stopped complaining....because they are failing miserably. Understand, there are a multitude of people who are trying and looking out for their fellow tribal people. But the people who need to admit that many of the tasks carried out by Bureau of Indian Affairs and Office of Special Trustee are not beneficial, are not working, and are failing miserably, have stopped complaining.

Even if it was to complain that there is too much work to be done, those leaders need to be complaining and stop labeling. Quite to the opposite, your whining and labeling come back to you in the way of medicine, self administered. It is good to advocate for Native Issues. It is not good to fail to admit that the Native Issues exist.

The truth just keeps coming back to you no matter how many times you deny it.

If it wasn't true, you should just say so.

Another American Indian Tribal Chairman Arrested by Police?

Another arrest warrant for a sitting American Indian Tribal Chairman?

First Eugene Little Coyote was arrested (December 28, 2007) when he resumed duties as Tribal President of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe after his Tribe's Constitutional Court ruled that he was indeed still President after a failed attempt to oust him from office. It was a contentious issue and the Council appears to have been divided for what some have called jealousy and others may believe that it is over the Natural Resource over which the Tribe's land sits: Coal Bed Methane. The largest untapped CBM reserve in the United States.

Now, in October 2008, we have Ben Nuvamsa of the Hopi Tribe who is under threat of arrest for apparently resuming his daily legal duty as Chairman of the Hopi Tribe. What Tribal Court would arrest the Chairman? I'm of the opinion that they might impeach him, they might rule against his decisions, but arrest him? Eugene Little Coyote and Ben Nuvamsa despite being from opposite north and south ends of the United States of America might share crib notes and come up with the same conclusion. It isn't easy being on top, so whatever your reason, stick to it.

It is unfortunate though--unfortunate that the environment is what is most likely to take the hit for all the misgivings of our activities.

It's unfortunate that the Dirty Percaps have raised their head again as well. You know my concept of dirty percaps is where you keep the Native American populations poor enough so that they'll jump at the opportunity to make relatively little money off of what you want to mine, to exploit, to become rich over.

Mining jobs. Yes they make money. The economic multiplier from every dollar spent from those paychecks is a boost for the entire regional economy.

You will do well to note the previous statements and consider their implications. I said that Natives could make "relatively little money" and "every dollar spent from those paychecks is a boost for the entire regional economy." The money made is relatively little COMPARED to the money that Peabody Coal is making by feeding a really minor fraction of what is made toward the paychecks. "Every Dollar spent from those paychecks" means that the rest of the money, the big money, the money paid by foreign companies ends up in the corporate accounts and is spent wherever the corporate leaders happen to live. How much money? Well on their own site they quote a figure of $4.6 billion in revenues, and that their coal products fuel approximately 10 percent of all U.S. electricity generation and 2 percent of worldwide electricity. Wow! Say, uh, where did they get that much coal?

They don't get rich by making others rich, who does? But they'll get by on the Hopi Reservation by providing a decent paying job to a few people. Is that really all they should give? Understandably, they provide the means to the market, but I tend to agree with Carl Venne of the Crow Tribe and Ben Nuvamsa, that the days of leasing are over. Carl Venne is making headway toward owning the mining process up north. "Equity Ownership is what we want," said Ben Nuvamsa in the October 29 issue of Indian Country today article 'Black Mesa Project Controversey Rises.' I hope that the eyes of all Indian Country see what that means.

I am not a big fan of destroying the water table anywhere, with polluting the entire railway (it does happen and then later has to be capped to be used and to prevent further pollution from whatever was on the trains), with coal and what it does to the environment. I guess it has to happen, but at what cost? If the case is to be made that it should be utilized then don't take what amounts to pennies on the dollar. It isn't that I encourage people to get rich off coal, but in the absence of any alternative efforts at providing subsistence to your people, own the process. Do not lease it because the longer you lease the resource right, the more the leasee makes, and like a well-fed stray dog, they do get more comfortable with coming back for more helpings year after year after year.

Do companies need to mine resources? Of course. Do they need to do it on a reservation? Of course they do--if you ask them. Do Natives need to LEASE the resource right off the rez? No.

If this is going to cost the health of the land, make all the money you can so you can repair it. Now this Peabody coal is making enough to apparently "restore" mining sites in Indiana, so they obviously have a lot of money. Where are they getting it? I'll bet from all the mines they extract from. How much is really going back into the reservations where they operate? When the mine is gone, what is left? What is really sustainable that the mine is leaving behind? And how much are they making off the resource extracted from Indian Land?

I would hope that in the interest of the environment, the greatest thinkers in Indian Country would come up with alternatives to these people who tear up the earth and leave it like an open scab and then walk away.

Then again, Eugene Little Coyote and Ben Nuvamsa and Carl Venne may be those great thinkers each with a different solution. Ultimately, the solution should come from their tribes. So for now we'll hope that Ben Nuvamsa doesn't fall victim to the same hand cuffs that bound Eugene Little Coyote. None of us can say what the best solution for them is. Only their respective tribes can.

Just keep your eyes open on your reservation when the corporate interests come knocking on your door. Don't let the $20 dollar-an-hour paycheck (dirty percaps) sway your opinion from what you and your heritage originally stood for before somebody put a dollar sign on your environment.

Majel Russell Part Deux?

I am wondering if there is any chance Majel Russell might be seeking to get back into Carl Artman's office? Does she still have the keys?

I am in the earnest corner of "I hope she doesn't" because my opinion is that her stance on sovereignty thus far has not been within even the lightest shade of what True Sovereignty should be.

And because so many are oblivious to the facts surrounding her recent stint as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Bureau of Indian Affairs means that not all Native Americans are the best judges or the best references for Majel. Instead ask Eugene Little Coyote of the Northern Cheyenne Nation what his opinion on Majel Russell may be. (she signed an order recognizing a new Northern Cheyenne President in opposition to a Northern Cheyenne Constitutional Court Opinion). Ask members from California's Table Mountain Rancheria whose sovereignty was wiped clean by the efforts of an enthusiastic lawyer (Majel Russell) as their leadership was being turned upside-down what their opinion is on her view of Sovereignty. All this happened as she and her clients sought to "peacefully take over leadership." (Again she was party to a leadership dispute under circumstances which at least in part appears to have been undermining tribal sovereignty, as she tried to figure out who had jurisdiction on the reservation? duh! Tribal police: think "Sovereignty") At the heart of the matter is that both the incumbent and the "dissident" faction on the Table Mountain Rancheria had the reigns put on them by the Tribe. They wanted to decide who would lead them together, AS A WHOLE TRIBE. They did not need the outside "expertise" of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or some fancy lawyer who was not mediating, but instead intimidating by throwing the "Casino Percapita Bone" out in front of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In an unexplainable move, Kevin Gover, the BIA Secretary at the time, issued recognition for the dissident faction, because of violations of a gaming allocation plan by the incumbent Tribal Chairman. Funny, I never knew the GAMING ALLOCATION PLAN would trump a LEGAL ELECTION by the people. (funny, just like the Northern Cheyenne's overturning, the Tribal Constitution is what should have prevailed, not the opinion of an outsider like a lawyer from another tribe, or an Assistant Secretary who didn't set up the Tribes' Constitutions)

Remember one of the glaring points of this blog is that "right does not necessarily mean it's good." Follow the rules until following them defeats the entire purpose (in relation to the trust responsibility and the benefit to the tribal member). The American Indians have a long trail of Federal Court rulings that we will all tell you are not ethical or beneficial to us as Nations. Just because you followed a case in a court of law does not mean it is necessarily beneficial or ethical. I tend to believe Aristotle's and Socrates' view that True Politics meant the pursuit of the "Common Good."

"Common Good" for Native Americans should mean equal treatment across the board, and the best and most economical treatment should be to let tribes decide for themselves to exercise their own sovereignty. And in the absence of them exercising sovereignty-in-action, let that remain as one of their options. Everything comes to an end eventually. It doesn't take a lawyer from outside a tribe to end a dispute. I believe talented people like Majel Russell may have a place in some courts for the Tribes. Her accumen has been sharp thus far, but like Saul, maybe she needs to take the talent she's been given and pour it into a new direction, a better direction, in support of True Sovereignty. Maybe. Maybe like life, the tribal disputes across the nation will run their course and lessons will be learned from the snail's-pace flow of action. At any rate, tribes do not need a court to define sovereignty. In fact, if you start to define sovereignty, you begin to limit it.

The day you tell someone what sovereignty is you should not stop talking...forever, (the definition is infinite) or you should just hand over the keys to your leadership office. Well in light of the fact that, in a small part of the Native American Public Opinion, Majel Russell stepped all over sovereignty in the Northern Cheyenne Nation just recently, I would hope that the whoever gains the Presidency would ask a very short list of people for references if she ever seeks another leadership position at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or Office of Special Trustee, or the Department of the Interior. I'm hoping we don't hand the keys to our BIA leadership offices over to her if she ever pursues a leadership position under the next Administration.

The N8tive Prayer..

A little levity never hurt anyone

The Ndnz Prayer

Our Interior which art in DC, hallowed be thy name

Thy secretaries come, to make sure Great Father’s will be done in Idaho as it is in Washington D.C.

Give us this day our daily bread which might be moldy by now because you’ve been withholding it so long

And forgive our overdue loans as we borrow on our car titles to get by with outdated groceries from the thrift store

And lead us not into poverty, (although you shouldn’t push us either!)

But deliver us from lawsuits regarding the Cobell suit

For thine policies and regulations have to be translated into 562 languages which will take forever and ever, amen….

Two cheers for Dirk Kempthorne!

The United States Department of the Interior released a report today, "Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne Initiates Action Following Receipt of Inspector General Reports."

Dirk Kempthorne will get two cheers for now and the third? Well, I think he deserves a third cheer when he e x p a n d s his display of leadership ethics and exercises justice over the fiasco over unethical behavior at the Office of Special Trustee.

What makes it different? Is it that they wasted resources, time, and the reputation of an otherwise sound agency belonging to the United States instead of from Native Americans? I am not saying it is, I'm just asking, why now, why this agency and why not before when equally damaging behavior happened at the Office of Special Trustee?

Was it equally damaging? Well I would think that to the people who filed reports with the Inspector General, Earl Devaney, putting their jobs at risk, it would be equally damaging to their quality of life. To the people who were waiting for objective management of their resources, it would be equally damaging. To people who were expecting just treatment of disciplinary problems, when Ross Swimmer assigned "corrective training," for Donna Erwin and Doug and Jeff Lords instead of real disciplinary action, yes it is my opinion that it was equally damaging. And when one of the three Ringling Trustees recently got promoted, well that was too much.

So, while Mines and Minerals Management Service gets scrutiny, Native Americans everywhere wait for a little bit of attention on our fire. We wait for justice, we wait for the Trust to be put into the Office of Special TRUSTee.

Excuse me while I interrupt myself...

IndianTrust.com is reporting just now that a number of news accounts – particularly The Associated Press - are incorrectly saying that the plaintiffs have rejected a $7 billion offer from the government to settle the Indian Trust lawsuit. They say it simply isn’t true.

Imagine that? A news report saying things that aren't true? The nerve!

Indian Trust reports the facts to be that:

The government has never offered to settle the Cobell vs. Kempthorne lawsuit at any price.

Instead it is pointed out that the Bush administration in March 2007 suggested it was willing to spend $7 billion over 10 years to resolve a wide range of major Indian issues, including land fractional land claims, the Cobell suit, all individual land mismanagement claims, the 100 plus trust lawsuits filed by tribes and pay for all of trust reform as well.

Oh yes, and it also included provisions to deny Indians any right to bring any future lawsuits for future mismanagement no matter how egregious. That final provision was essentially a license to steal. This proposal was universally condemned by everyone not associated with the government, including a wide range of Native leaders.

Ms. Cobell did note that a mediator had suggested recoveries could run between $7 billion to $9 billion in the case. She said she "would want to talk about that more." Hardly a rejection.

But the Bush administration never followed up on her overture. In fact, federal officials have never made any offer to the Cobell legal team to settle the class action lawsuit for any specific amount.

In 2006, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee did introduce legislation to settle the lawsuit without a specific dollar amount. The Committee later amended that bill to include an $8 billion figure but the bill never moved out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee because of objections raised by the (Sudanese? South Korean, Spanish, noooooo...the United Snakes!) government.

The position of the Cobell plaintiffs has long been that we will consider reasonable offers from the United States to resolve this case. Unfortunately, none has been put forth.

Well, well, well...very well put if you ask me. But then who did the AP go ask to get these "facts of mythic porportion?

To view the latest information concerning this case, go to www.indiantrust.com

The Dismal Cobell Dismissal

MARY CLARE JALONICK has a report just out: Judge says Indians owed $455m in trust case

U.S. District Judge James Robertson has summarily dismissed any billion dollar claim the Cobell plaintiff's had against the government. He has issued an opinion saying that Indians are entitled to 455 million dollars as part of the broken Trust duties of the United States. That's not even 1 million to each of the 562 tribes across the nation. Really? Really enit? They (the U.S. Government) were that accurate from 1887? Wow! Somebody nominate this government for a Quality Management Award!

Judge James Robertson says that Eloise Cobell et al. didn't prove that damages included benefits to the United States that the U.S. received as part of mis-use of the Trust Funds, despite the fact that it was argued that the trust funds were used to down-size some government debts.

Funny part is that he says in his ending statement, "The Cobell case will no doubt stand, in some respects, as a cautionary tale about the limited ability of a court to right historical wrongs that could have been — and should have been — settled by the same political branches in recognition of their own failure to preserve the trust."

Aint it the truth?

According to the story BISON ROUNDUP LEADS TO LAWSUIT reported in the Billings Gazette by Laura Tode, George and Nelvette Siemion have a lawsuit pending against the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

It may come as somewhat of a surprise that the notices that were sent to them from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) were not picked up; well if you live off the rez it may come as a surprise. I personally have had several mail items returned to the sender because I didn't pick up the mail in time. It's a fact of life for some people and post office boxes.

But that is a minor point in this scenario. So don't take the red herring! Stick to the point!

The point is that there was a sovereign governmental process for processing bids. The TRIBAL members (PEOPLE LIKE YOU) who already had a lease in years past on the Crow Reservation had the chance to match the bid put out by the new (shadow) tribal member bids.

What is a shadow member? Much like many small TIMBER-BUSINESSES, it's a false front that a tribal member is an owner of a small business. If they are a timber company, then it means that they get preference in timber bids. If it's a Cattle company, they get preference in Grazing bids.

How does it work?

"Well Zeke, ya see that Tribal Member over there chewing on bubble gum doing, nothing in particular?"

"Do I see him, heck I can hear him popping bubbles!"

"Well Zeke, ya go make him an offer to make money for nothing"

"OK I get it. I make him a majority interest holder in 'our lil ol cattle company' and promise to give him 1 dollar an acre ($4,000 dollars) for getting me a preferential-like bid on them there 4,000 acres right?"

"There's a smart boy Zeke..."

Aha! Timber, Grazing, Tree planting, any number of businesses can make the world seem much different if they have a tribla member partner with a majority interest in their enterprise. Which is ok, as long as it's above board. If anybody else is a fan of 8-A Status stand up and burp loudly! That isn't the part that's wrong.

The part that's wrong is when BIA steps all over sovereignty. The part that's wrong is if this couple George and Nelvette Siemion don't get to pursue the appeal process to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals if they need to.

When you appeal to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, there are a multitude of areas where your appeal can be thrown out for seemingly small details. The death is in the details. Read your CFR very well if you're gonna sit down for a bout with the BIA. If you put the wrong words on the envelope or no words, THROWN OUT! If you fail to certify that you sent the appeal to all "parties of interest" THROWN OUT! If you fail to send to everybody in the world and their cousin, THROWN OUT!

Let's hope George Skibine will allow this appeal to follow it's natural route and if need be all the way to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals. Let's hope that this appeal gets taken care of before it reaches the Interior Board of Indian Appeals. If this appeal gets to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals then it means that somebody lower than them in the Bureau, the Region, the Area, the Agency, probably isn't doing their job. The Interior Board of Indian Appeals should be the last resort of George and Nelvette Siemion. But George and Nelvette Siemion should have every right to pursue this case all the way to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals, and George Skibine seems like just the objective person to let it run its natural course. There should be none of this stepping in and pre-empting a case instead of letting the Interior Board of Indian Appeals do just what they're supposed to do.

George should, in his non-acting position, not get involved, but make sure that every step, every superintendent, director, manager, specialist, is involved and pursuing justice, whatever that decision may be. Justice is what every tribal member is looking for. Let's hope that in this case, the tribal members get their say. Let's not go for a repeat of past Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary's woeful decisions against tribal sovereignty and objective judicial inquiries. George Skibine, may we introduce you to George and Nelvette Siemion? They have a Native Land Issue to discuss with the appropriate levels of the Bureau of Indian Affairs? Could you see to it that, without influencing anybody in either direction, everybody knows that an objective, judicial decision with respect to Tribal Sovereignty is reached--and if it isn't that as a last resort the Interior Board of Indian Appeals can look this case over?

Thanks George.

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Did MAJEL RUSSELL resign as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Bureau of Indian Affairs?

It would seem that Majel Russell is no longer with us as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Indian Affairs. Did Majel Russell resign? The Puzzle Palace (federal government) seems to do a fine job of shredding either the principles of the people we keep sending there, or their morals, or just their sense of duty or their morale. I know of good people who have gone there with hopes of "changing things." They quickly find out that isn't what's going to happen. I know of some people who go there with self-driven motivations. I would hope that they don't last long there, but some of them are still there, and flourishing.

So it would seem that Majel Russell's former position is once again open, as well as Carl Artman's position. Round and round we go, and where we stop, nobody really does know. Majel Russell will do well with her background. I would hope that the experience she had in the Bureau of Indian Affairs would be beneficial in some way for all of us, including her. George Skibine recently in Reno gave words about Majel to the effect that she wasn't a "bad person". I agree. It was Majel Russell's actions that gave us reason to pause. Majel Russell is a tribal member, a land owner, and on some issues, the best advocate. Maybe not the best advocate for all, but an advocate indeed. If it was "Benny Two-Hops" who did the same thing, I feel that the same reaction would have come to mind.

I hope that the Department of the Interior chooses someone of high caliber to replace Carl Artman and Majel Russell. They were brave for having stepped up to the plate. We owe them that. Maybe this time around they pick two leaders from large land-based tribes out West, where the issues are still live for us, just as they were back in the day.

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD NEWS!

I think Ted Baxter said it best when he said those kind words. It was a rather simplistic mantra. Sometimes it comes true. Indianz.com reports that George Skibine will take the helm, although it will a quasi-super-secret-squirrel event. George Skibine will fill the top post as Bureau of Indian Affairs Secretary but not in an "acting" position.

"He is not acting," said Nedra Darling. Well, I should hope he is taking it seriously! But seriously, I don't want to take just one sentence out of context, so I should not make light of it.

But, ("but" cancels everything out you just said you know) I have to wonder why others weren't chosen to take the helm. I do not question George, I question the fact that we have many people in the top seats (echelons above god) who can't seem to assume the leadership according to the chain of command. Isn't that why there is a chain of command?

I am happy that in this case the chain of command wasn't followed. What continues to be my problem is that we have a bunch of weak links in the chain.

It should be self-evident that if they're not man (or woman) enough to step up when the next level up leaves, they shouldn't be there in the first place. Right? Right?

I kind of think of Bureau of Indian Affairs much like I used to remember the antics of the Mary Tyler Moore Show right now. And that is why the Ted Baxter quotes appear today.

Mary Richards: Ted, do you trust me?
Ted Baxter: Well, sure I do.
Mary Richards: Okay, take off your left shoe.
[Ted does so]
Mary Richards: Now take off your left sock.
Ted Baxter: Mary...
Mary Richards: Do you trust me, Ted?
Ted Baxter: Sure.
Mary Richards: Take off your left sock.
[Ted does so]
Mary Richards: Now, the next time I'm talking to someone and you think of a comment you just have to add to the conversation, I want you to take that sock, and stuff it down your throat.
Ted Baxter: What about the shoe?

"don't tempt me"

So who is Ted Baxter this week at the Bureau of Indian Affairs? Or how many people get to play Ted Baxter this week at the Bureau of Indian Affairs?

Good night and good news to you too George Skibine. May the good news be all of ours.

Majel Russell's Background Check

Majel,
our little darling. She certainly had our eye when she was among us. She had us all fooled I think. She earned the trust of so many Natives.
Advocate.
Fighter.
Leader.

On March 28, 2006, there she was testifying before the Senate on the Probate Reform Act of 2005.

1. She argued for the protection of Tribal sovereignty.
2. She said, "I believe strong, effective Tribal governments will insure that Indian people remain distinct political groups"
3. "I remain interested in the “one-stop shopping” concept,"she said.
4. She told the public that, "the Crow Tribe has been surveyed three times about the willingness of individuals to sell their fractional interests in land. All three surveys overwhelmingly indicated that Crow Indians who owned small fractional interests of lands preferred to sell the lands and in some cases to even donate the interests to the Tribe."
5. She further said she would, "propose expanding land consolidation efforts to include financing for individuals to purchase fractionated interests. Developing mechanisms for individuals to consolidate lands, invest capital and practice good stewardship of land would most effectively protect trust land while also benefiting Tribes through stabilizing and protecting the reservation land base."

• Contrasting Point 1: In RECALLED TABLE MOUNTAIN LEADERS WANT NEW VOTE POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES AFTER THE SECOND REJECTION OF A RECALL APPEAL reported by DOUG HOAGLAND & STEVAN ROSENLIND in the FRESNO BEE (Originally published 1998-10-06) The dissident faction says the law is on its side and that it is time for the incumbents to relinquish control of the 150-acre rancheria. "We are now working to negotiate ways to peacefully take over the tribal leadership," said Majel Russell, a Montana lawyer representing the dissidents. Those efforts have, to date, been unsuccessful, Russell said. Yet in December 28, 2007, Elected Tribal President, Eugene Little Coyote was forcibly removed from his office by a team of BIA SWAT officers. Since then a series of Appeals have come to a dead end when Majel Russell, Principal Deputy Secretary, Bureau of Indian Affairs, preempted the Interior Board of Indian Appeals process (taken from The New Front Line) and denied an appeal by Eugene Little Coyote. One may argue that it is merely a personal matter, but with the world's largest undeveloped Coal Bed Methane Gas Field underfoot, the Northern Cheyenne may have more than a personal matter to look for. So in 2006 she is on the side of the dissidents and requests that the BIA step all over Tribal Sovereignty and recognize the new government? And then in Dec 2007, she again, now as the boot-heeled oppressor, steps all over Northern Cheyenne Sovereignty and declares the people-elected Presidency null and void? And then denies them the basic procedure of having their issue addressed by an objective institution (the Interior Board of Indian Appeals)? It may be some weird stretch of somebody's imagination to say she is really protecting Tribal Sovereignty when she, as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs ignores the Northern Cheyenne Tribe's Constitutional Court Decision to uphold the People-Elected President, Eugene Little Coyote.
  
• Contrasting Point 2: I would say she is 0-2 in this pursuit based on the above bullet. Rather to the contrary, she seems quite adept at disrupting Tribal Governments in a come one, come all paternalistic attitude.
  
• Contrasting Point 3: I have to admit, there is no contrast here. We will see that she does believe in One-Stop-Shopping, as long as she is allowed to cruise aisles haphazardly with carte blanc privilege.
  
• Contrasting Point 4&5: No argument here. She does believe that many fellow tribal members, family members and the like, would love to sell land back to the tribe; she just does not seem to think that the Tribe should shoulder the bill. She has also proposed to make land acquisitions by providing financing for individuals to buy fractionated interests. Unfortunately, instead of acting like a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, she is really acting like a lobbyist for only the Crow Tribe by proposing that the U.S. Government set aside 380 million dollars for land acquisition and consolidation of fractionated interests on the Crow Indian Reservation (as reported by the Billings Gazette). I'm Crow and I have land to sell but I can't find a buyer. I'm Crow and I have an urge to buy land, but I don't have money. Can anyone help us? Enter Stage Right, Majel Russell. Despite the limits of funding opportunities available she would seek to lobby for 380 million dollars for Just One tribe (hers) to consolidate and acquire land interests. One Stop Shopping made simple when you hold the keys to the store.
  

And now they think she might be a good interim leader for Bureau of Indian Affairs? A little bit of homework would fix that thought...

Background Check for Ross Swimmer

This article on Indianz.com titled, Swimmer can't recall Navajo involvement
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003 is what should have come up to the Public and Administration's minds before Ross Swimmer came to acquire his position as Special Trustee, Office of Special Trustee (OST). Well, it should have come up and then he should have been rejected for any position of advocacy for Indians. It probably did come up. Everyone from the President on down probably knew about it, but still welcomed him into the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and eventually the OST. They probably gave him a pat on the back as he was welcomed and said, "you're doing a heckuva job there Swimmer!"

It should be of note that at a recent Intertribal Trust Monitoring Association (ITMA) (of Trust Funds) meeting in April, 2008 in Albuquerque, NM, Ross Swimmer actually said that appraisal values should not be what people negotiate for on their agricultural leases. He said appraisal values should be the low end you receive for leases. This despite the fact that he may as well have worn the shoes of the LOBBYIST for PEABODY COAL when he screwed the Navajo Tribe, out of the royalty rate for coal. The LOBBYIST convinced an Indian Advocate, who went down swinging for our cause (feigning a twisted arm--anybody recognize Ross Swimmer?) may rest well only for a lack of conscience:

"In this case, the Court of Federal Claims found that the government met “secretly with parties having interests adverse to those of the [Nation], adopt[ed] the third parties’ desired course of action in lieu of action favorable to the [Nation], and then misle[d] the [Nation] concerning these events.

the [Navajo] Nation asked that the royalty rate be adjusted to a reasonable level, and Peabody had consented to such a reasonable adjustment explicitly in Lease 8580

Prior to the ex parte interference, (and the in-office interference) the Bureau of Indian Affairs had deemed proper and approved an increase in the royalty rate to 20%. Despite the mandate of § 1300(e) and the Nation’s request for an adjustment to a reasonable royalty rate, however, it is undisputed that Secretary Hodel refused to make this royalty adjustment permanent after meeting with Peabody’s representative, (There were probalby two Peabody Representatives when you think even for a second about it) whom the government conceded was “a former aide and friend of Secretary Hodel.

...the Secretary approved lease amendments with royalty rates well below the rate that had previously been determined appropriate by those agencies responsible for monitoring the federal government’s relations with Native Americans"

No Way? Really? He did that? All by himself? And then through a sudden change of heart over the course of time, he comes out telling Indians at the ITMA conference that they should negotiate leases advantageously, above the appraised value? In the words of Borat, wowie wow wow wow! Did he learn his lesson or is he merely attempting to put lipstick on a pig? Because no matter how well you dress up a pig, it's still a pig.

Your'e doing a heckuva job there Ross, heckuva job.......

details at 11 on indianz.com.

Majel Russell? Far better choices exist to lead Bureau of Indian Affairs!

I'm sorry, this isn't personal. Even though I name Majel Russell by name as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it isn't personal Majel Russell. I just think, (ooppss I hope the rest of the HEADS of Bureau of Indian Affairs don't get wind that one of us thinks) that it would be a horrible placement of trust to put Majel Russell in as Deputy Secretary of Bureau of Indian Affairs, especially in light of the fact that her tribe has a $380 million dollar request on the table for land acquisition and consolidation. I am speaking about the article NCAI discusses BIA nominee with Kempthorne listed on Indianz.com from Indian Country Today (Clock ticking to replace BIA Chief) . Majel, make the phone call to Donna Erwin in Albuquerque (of Office of Special Trusteee Fame under Inspector General's Radar) and ask her what a CONFLICT OF INTEREST is...please?

Congratulations to Jerold (Jerry) Gidner for opposing this "great" plan by the Crow Tribe to walk away with $380 million dollars. I say "great" because it is great! What a great plan. Buy back land and put it into trust for the Crow Tribe! Why didn't we all think of that? Wait, we did; we did think of that, and we're all patiently waiting for the government to get that point--together. We're waiting together. We're all in the same boat. We're all trying to get land back. We're all waiting for pennies from Heaven (not the casino) to start falling. All 561 of us "other tribes" are waiting together. All this information just "came to me" from the Billings Gazette article BIA objects to Crow land plan. Jerry Gidner should be thanked for, for, for opposing this crazy ignorance of all 561 other tribes trying to get land back:

"It's not an objection to the purpose. It's not an objection to the mechanism. It's an objection to the details," said a probably beaming Jerry Gidner. Well, well, well! And to what do we owe this auspicious statement of fact? Is it the fact that they are merely asking for what every other tribe wants too? Or is it something else?

In testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Jerry, my man, said, "It may be better to break (the loan) into phases so the liability of the government is not so large at one time."

Oh.

Oh, I see.

Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. Yes, well I'll be sure and pass that along. Ok. Yes, I'll see you at the D.C. Powwow.

click........

Hello! Anybody home there in the Bureau of Indian Affairs? Is this $380 million dollar packet the reason why Majel Russell chooses (because Carl Artman lets her) to stay in Montana and not serve at her desk in D.C. where everybody else is supposed to work from in the Bureau of Indian Affairs Leadership? Is this what our tax dollars have been paying for....wait a minute, our tax dollars?

hmmm, trust land, fee land, subtract the f, add the treaty, divide by enrollment, to the power of 1855, equals, no taxes.....

I stand corrected (thank you Carl for pointing that out, you're always so quiet over there until tribal elders ask you something legitimate and then *poof* out comes a lion!)

I retract the statement and declare it "moot." I will begin my statement again: Is this what the American Public's tax dollars have been paying for? (wink, wink, that's you guys!)

Like I said, the "idea is great." (Jerry Gidner and I did not consult prior to this article) It's just that one tribe should not get special consideration when there are literally tribes everywhere trying to do the same thing that the Crow are doing.

In a real stretch of an Indian Disney Dream, I hope the Crow Tribe gets their request fulfilled; I hope the Snoqualmie Tribe gets this; I hope the Shoshone Bannock Tribe gets this; I hope the Pomo tribe gets this; I hope we all get 380 million; I hope we all do.

P.S. Dirk Kempthorne should know that NCAI does not speak for me. I think you could do a lot better than Majel Russell. Dirk, count this as one vote against Majel. Matter of fact I think I'll send this to you at your mailing Address:

Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.Washington DC 20240
Phone: 202-208-3100
E-Mail: webteam@ios.doi.gov

Repeal of the Bennett Freeze

Now this is only my opinion and I gather that there are a lot of opinions out there on this subject-piece of land, and I'm sure the Palestinians and Israelis will also tell you that land is an issue for them in a similar way.

Read here to see what the Bennett Freeze is. Basically, in the opinion of myself and others out there in Cyberspace, it was a blockade of services to Dineh (Navajo Tribe) to force them off their aboriginal land so that the Federal Government could "give" Peabody Coal Company access to the land and the water there.

Indianz.com reports that this Thursday May 15, 2008, there is a U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing to repeal Sect. 10 (f) of P.L. 93-531, which is also known as the "Bennett Freeze." Robert Bennet was head of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1966 and he is "credited" with having created this policy.

The web page, Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute, states that:

Observers at the time of this decision felt (and wrote) that it (the Bennet Freeze temporarily being removed) seems to have been influenced by the fact that the Navajo tribe could be expected to be more compliant and friendly to Peabody Coal than Hopis with newly-affirmed Navajo subsurface rights. The coal deals were the basis for the swift rise to power of long-term Navajo tribal chairman Peter MacDonald, who had been appointed (in 1963) to head Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity. MacDonald was elected to the first of his many terms as tribal chairman in 1970. MacDonald was recently released for health reasons from federal prison terms being served for convictions in 1990, 1992 and 1993 for racketeering and corruption charges in relation to land and financial dealings.

Peabody Coal was formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kennecott Copper. Many mergers later, it is now part of an empire of coal, owned by a British holding company, Hanson. Not only was the Black Mesa to be strip-mined, but the Mohave power plant, 275 miles away was to be -- and is -- fed by a liquified slurry of crushed coal pumped along a pipeline that uses 3,000 gallons a minute of precious desert aquifer water, laid down in the deep rocks millions of years ago, before this land was desert. This irreplaceable water is the most valuable of the subsurface rights Peabody acquired access to, and its profligate use is the most threatening to long-term survival of the entire southwest. The water pumping all takes place near the Black Mesa mine (though it can suck water from hundreds of miles away, the entire aquifer). The Peabody Kayenta mine feeds the power plant at Page with dry coal on coal trains. But for Black Mesa, Peabody counts only the cheaper method of delivery, which maximizes its profits, not counting the cost of stolen water to all life in the southwest.

Dirty Per Caps? Keep the Natives dependent, poor, denied of basic privileges, so that you can gain the most precious resources from under their feet for the cheapest of prices. Sounds like the policy was hard hitting all over Indian Country.

"It is discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit." (think: "money & bottom line")

Related Blog Posts:
"Good Indians"
"An Ammotment of Sorts"

Native 911 update

And the State Police did get involved. We'll wait and see if they can indeed cite on Federal property. It's kind of funny, you know. It's Federal property when it comes down to absolute (it's a myth) ownership, it's Federal property when they want mineral rights under it, but it's our property when we need appraisals or surveys or somebody wants to tax it.

So, is this Federal property? Can State Police cite them? What about the Tribal Court Order? Exhaustion of venues hasn't taken place, will Timmy Live through his operation? Tune in tomorrow to find out the exciting conclusion to a day in the life of some crazy Native Americans.

Kelo land news is staying on this story so check out their site.

Protest over a battle for of all things, land...

There is a protest going on right now as we speak in Marty, South Dakota home of the Ihanktowan (aka Yankton Sioux). There have been multiple arrests, including minors, as protesters seek to block front loader bulldozers from breaking ground on a new pig farm that will be occupied by thousands of pigs and their waste near a Head Start Program filled with Native children. A man was struck by the metal scoop of the front loader (which is used to excavate tons of dirt) and was medically evacuated by ambulance.

SD State Troopers have violated their jurisdiction by arresting protesters on a BIA controlled road which is considered Federal land and therefore off limits to State Agencies and Law Enforcement. It was said that the arrests of the minors and others were conducted illegally by the State Police on the Federal Road and they were escorted to State Land nearby to receive their citations and were released.

South Dakota Highway Patrol has informed the Officers that they are in fact in violation of their jurisdiction as this is being written and they are being told to stand down and not to detain anymore protesters. Dakota, Lakota and Nakota and other Native Activists including a AIM chapter are mobilizing to this spot to support and join their Indigenous Families to protect their Native children and community from this gross violation of Tribal Sovereignty and Basic Human Rights.

For More Information contact Kip Collins through his e-mail: keyawitko2676@yahoo.com

Now if that doesn't scare you what will? Arrest a minor? Yes it happens, when they do some horrible things, but protesting? I guess in some people's eyes that's a "horrible thing."

The Yankton Sioux Tribal court has already banned this pig farm from the boundaries of their reservation. I guess when you think about it, it's natural that the pig farm would go there. Nobody else wants it so go ahead Arlan Ross try putting it on that land-locked piece of fee property over there. Just step lightly mind you, if you step on Trust property getting there.....well, you're in for a heap of trouble.....Oopps, I meant, we'll arrest them there kids to keep you outta trouble.

...............sigh.................

A Grand Contracted Mess

Remember back when I discussed the contracting of CFEDS surveyors and even Appraisers? Remember when I said that accountability walked out the door, when Office of Special Trustee and Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Bureau of Land Management all CONTRACTED their work out?
Here is what happens when anyone, I mean anyone, contracts work out to civilians who are under no authority to be reprimanded. Boo Hoo! Their contract service goes away and then you wonder what happened to their stolen documents, the stolen information, the breach of security of sensitive documents, sensitive information. It happened at the State Department as seen on Yahoo, news page by the Associated Press Writers, titled 3 CANDIDATES PASSPORT FILES BREACHED.
Now for any Natives out there, ask yourself if you want a CONTRACTOR to the Federal Government who also has an elected position in their county, their state, their city, to come on the reservation and survey your land. If this contractor who works for another government does come on the reservation and surveys your land, he is now privy to information such as the title of the land, and the description, and the owner. If you are the owner who has been waiting for years to have your land changed from Fee (tax) to Trust land, congratulations, the tax man just came onto your land!
If you are a County Treasurer wondering how much you should charge that crazy Indian living in the corner of your county that is on the reservation for land that he didn't know was out of Trust, congratulations! With a quick phone call to the appraising firm that works for the BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, or the OFFICE OF SPECIAL TRUSTEE, you are also on the list of people who will gain access to this information.
If you are with Office of Special Trustee, DO NOT TELL ME IT DIDN'T HAPPEN, DON'T TELL ME IT WON'T HAPPEN, DON'T SAY ONE WORD!
Look at the State Department. You think you're more intimidating than Condoleeza Rice? You think you can control someone who isn't an employee of yours?
If you do, then you're stupid. What am I saying "if?"
For those of you on reservations, listen up. They, meaning Office of Special Trustee, Bureau of Land Management, and the Glorious Bureau of Indian Affairs have all been contaminated with a dose of guillability.
We currently have CONTRACTORS performing
ALL OUR APPRAISALS
ALL OUR SURVEYS
on our reservations. Well maybe not all the appraisals, maybe not all the surveys, but they could................
Makes you wonder if they'll be walking your property next week don't it?

P.S. Ever wonder how power companies get easements? They have to provide appraisals, and surveys. Ever wonder who did that for them? Look at their employee records. In the words of Borat, Wowwie Wow Wow Wow! They have appraisers and surveyors on staff! How come they didn't contract out for that? And more importantly, why didn't a Federal Surveyor and a Federal Appraiser do it for us? Check your power lines, check your negotiations for payments on the land that these power companies use. There better be a Federal survey, and a Federally reviewed appraisal.

P.P.S. IT CAN GET REALLY DEEP AROUND HERE SO PUT YER WADERS ON!!!!!!!

The poorest of the poor.

I listened to a human rights activist, whose heart is in the right place speak about some work he was doing in Africa. He said when he got there he was continually surprised to see the local population was always happy, always smiling, even though they had very little in material means.

My question then is, why would you change that? If they really are happy having school under a tree, why would you give them a modern building with doors that separate classes, separate cultural mentors from younger children, separate the student from the environment?

And then I reflect on how the reservation effects affected many of our tribal nations. The Navajo lost much of their culture when they were put in houses with separate rooms separated by doors. What was once a family classroom 24 hours a day in a one room hogan, was replaced by a "modern" house which instilled that "this room is mine, and this house is my family's, and this is our food in our refrigerator.

The Nisqually Indian Tribe were already in houses. So while reservations were made to centralize most other Indians, the U.S. Government created the Nisqually Indian Reservation and then gave them houses because they were too close, so while the effect was to herd up plains Indians, it was also to spread out other coastal tribes.

And now here we sit today and place values on the crops we cultivate on our reservations. Only, "we" is an appraiser contracted by the Office of Special Trustee to come in here with no exposure to a closed tribal market and place a S.W.A.G. (scientific wild ass guess) on the value of our land, our crops, our leases, our timber, our resources lost as a result of rights of way, and easements.

Now my only caution to any of you is that when you take an appraisal from the Office of Special Trustee, take the appraisal and neatly file it away in a quiet, secluded, dark corner, locked away for eternity.

An appraisal is the MINIMUM AMOUNT YOU SHOULD BE GETTING, NOT THE STANDARD! Think about it. Ever bought land? When you did, did you ask if the land had been appraised? Of course you did, because that is the maximum amount you wanted to pay. If you're a savvy buyer, then you pick the property apart to refute or even LOWER the amount you will offer to below the appraised value.

Ever looked at land to sell and wondered how to increase the appraised value if you were selling? Of course you did! You knew the appraised value held some value because it will be used against you. You will want your appraised value to be as high as possible because you know that a buyer will hedge against that value.

If you're sneaky, you don't get an appraisal, and sell to a unwitting buyer who either has a lot of money to throw away or has the credit line to swallow your enthusiastic selling attempt.

So, when your reservation gets a reservation wide appraisal, glance at the amount that land is going for, but don't stare at it. We don't want to get used to that amount. We want to actually NEGOTIATE like we mean it. If all else fails let BIA tell everyone that the lease meets the appraisal quote, like Gerald Ben said they do in this article on The Authentic Voice.

Gerald said, "The only thing the bureau has to do is make sure the rate meets the minimum approved rate."

hmmmm....would that minimum rate be the APPRAISED QUOTE? Hmmm?

That doesn't sound like much of a negotiation does it? Well let's hope that Gerald Ben isn't the one "negotiating" for your best lease on your land. As a matter of fact, lets hope that more tribal members are empowered with knowledge so that like Ernestine Werelus, we all negotiate the most advantageous leases from an obviously lucrative resource that all tribes share in common, the land.

And yet, he challenges us to question appraisals: at an ITMA Listening Conference at Wild Horse Resort in 2004, he responded to...
...a question from the audience about appraisals showing Indian land as less valuable than off-reservation land, Gerald Ben stated that if a landowner has questions about an appraisal, “ask them to come back and explain to you so you know for yourself that what you sold your property for was really what it was worth.” He said that the BIA is trying to get local appraisers how know the reservation to work on contract so that appraisals can be done more quickly.

But then he would never question the fact that BIA sends out requests for Authority for BIA to negotiate your leases for you; insted the BIA will merely sign off on leases that went to bid, with no respect to the the minimum approved rate because it is "in your best interest," according to 25 CFR.

And they smile at us at every conference, at every public engagement. They smile at fellow Indians whose leases rob them of the chance to be prosperous.

I would think that much like our fellow human beings in Africa, we'd be better smilers too if we had far less to deal with. Let me live on the land, let me be poor, just don't let someone else profit at my expense--it makes me feel abused. I guess my thanks for that feeling go to my friends, my fellow human beings, my fellow tribal members at the BIA who fail to speak up for me and for all tribal people. Don't feel guilty, just act for me, act for my aunties, my cousins, your relatives.

Restore the smiles we all had wayyy back when.

An "amootment" of sorts!

Ok,
I have been following this issue on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation with some excitement. It matters because I side with those who believe that this is a matter for corporate money or dirty per caps. Dirty per caps are those that corporate people offer up to the poorest people to give the smallest amount possible to take the greatest amount from those who need it the most.
I have followed the coal bed methane issue for a while now and I am convinced that it is just as dangerous as the faulty software that predicted that the National Nuclear Waste dump would be a safe facility. The problem in that scenario was that the software only projected 50 years out. That did not endear me to the EPA when I applied for a job there out of college, but you know I really didn't care. And I still don't. If I have an opinion, then you can be assured that it has been forged from my exposure on a daily basis to those who, daily, have unmet needs the most.

So why would I form an opinion on the matter? Well, I can remember very vividly a man speaking to me about the policy for land acquisition. The position was that the government through BLM and BIA, and various other agencies, departments, cabinets, and legislation is in a position to continually keep the reservations in a poor state of affairs. The reasoning behind that was to continually keep offering the lowest deals to the people with the highest needs to gain the most beneficial returns because they are indeed the poorest people in the United States.
Beneficial was to the corporations who made the deals while the government winked an eye toward nefarious deals.

It has some history going way back. You know that the Black Hills were part of the reservation dontcha? Well very few of you will know that the generals in the army at the time were communicating with the president asking if they should wink a knowing eye toward the miners, the mining scouts, the railroad surveyors--all the people who were trespassing in the Black Hills. And we all know the results. Now the Black Hills is purported to have been bought by the Government from the Indian Nations. No money has been accepted, from some of the poorest people on this soil called the United States.

I would hope that the Northern Cheyenne people and all tribes rally behind the "supposedly ousted," legally elected Tribal President, Eugene Little Coyote. There is an interesting article on his site The New Front Line that calls all tribes to unity. There is also an article where one of our dubious leaders in the BIA, Carl Artman, seems to refute his whole argument which fueled the incident even more. He uses "mootment" as a term that seems to be serious although the result is anything but serious.

And we all here on this blog know that "results is what matters!"

I would hope that the Northern Cheyenne reach the most beneficial use of their land, no matter the cost. I won't say what the most beneficial use will be, because that really is best left to them. And the Bureau of Indian Affairs had best not make the MOOTSTAKE of interfering with the sovereignty of the Northern Cheyenne. Lets hope it works out for the best for those people and all of Indian Country.

I would encourage everybody to read up on this issue and decide for yourselves whether joining the amicus brief would be a vote for tribal sovereignty everywhere.

Run the numbers

Ok,
lets run some numbers.
In the 26th Status Report to the Court which is supposed to show Trust Reforms being taken to help settle the Cobell Lawsuit, Donald A. Buhler, Chief Cadastral Surveyor, Bureau of Land Management ( BLM ) signed off on his portion of that same report that says that $16.4 millions dollars were proposed for appropriation to complete surveys in 2007/8/9. The value of the Indian Trust projects would total about $127.4 million dollars. For $16.4 million dollars we're going to fix $127.4 million dollars worth of property pieces. They fix them by performing surveys which is their contribution to managing the land.
But, what if we divided $16.4 million dollars by 200. $16,400,000/200=$82,000 dollars.
$16.4 million dollars
200________________
$82,000 dollars.
16.4 MILLION DOLLARS
200 SOMETHINGS
$82,000 dollars
What does it mean? Lets divide $82,000 dollars by 1/3. $82,000/3=$27,333 dollars
the other 2/3 looks like $54,666 dollars.
So we have $54,666 dollars per 200 somethings to play with.
What are those somethings? Why is 1/3 being set aside for those 200 somethings?

Give up?

If we divide $16.4 million dollars by 200 FEDERALLY-EMPLOYED-SURVEYORS we have a total of $82,000 dollars per surveyor to play with. Of that $82,000 dollars per surveyor we take 1/3 for benefits away leaving us with $54,666 dollars per surveyor for salary. If you look at a recent job advertisement on USA JOBS for a surveying technician in Cherokee North Carolina, I think the pay grade was GS 4/5 which is right around $30,000 dollars.
hmmmmm.....

Spend the Indians' money and make sure that they have to come back next year and spend more money

OR

Spend the money enabling them to do it themselves.

You could be the reason for 200 new federal surveyors in the Bureau of Indian Affairs or you could be anther one who spent the entire "tribal" priority allocation piece by piece, sending it out the window and down the street to a bunch of private firms who will show up next year to do the same thing next year. What do you do? That your final answer?

Spend the Tribal Priority Allocation Funds the way they were supposed to be spent and start up a new division in the BIA (we'd even let you design a cool unit patch for your Survey Crew) or continue to be the lackey who has a hand in destroying the Tribal Priority Allocation Funds' checking account. Maybe the Office of Special Trustee or the Bureau of Indian Affairs Trust Services needs to have the truth explained to them. Maybe even they don't know how these funds are going out the window, keeping Indians dependent on the Federal Government. Not much trusteeship going on here right now, maybe they're not even busy so it might be easy to get into an office way up there at the top of Office of Special Trustee. Somebody "s'plain this to them," and wait for the virtue and beauty to roll out the door! Yeah, well, maybe not in this generation eh?

Maybe it's because Honorable Bill Anoatubbe, Governor of Chickasaw Nation of OK; Bobby Brooks at Bank of Oklahoma; Mr David English, Law professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia; Honorable Jim Gray, Chief of the Osage Nation, OK; Mr Edward Holland CEO Chota Capital Company; Mr Fred Matt, Confederated Tribes of Salish-Kootenai Tribes of Flathead Reservation, MT; Honorable Richard Milanovich, Chmn Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, CA; Mr. Loren "Bat" Pourier, owner Muddy Creek Oil and Gas Inc.; and Ms. Helen Sanders Chmn Allottees Association and Affiliated Tribes of the Quinault Reservation; who are all members of the Special Trustees Advisory Board don't know that this is going on right under their noses. Who knows?

At any rate, if I was in charge of spending my grandma's money at the store to get something to clean the counter off with, I damn sure wouldn't buy cheap napkins-I'd get maybe one or two dish towels so I could have something a year or two from now to do the job.

I would think the decision would be an easy one...but then methinks I think too much.

Yet more MOTIVATIONS!

Take a look around and you will see that the Certified Federal Surveyors Program (CFEDS)is supposed to be self funded. Self Funded? No budget from the great white father? Cut off? For real? Why would they do that? Why would the great white father create a program in the federal government that isn't funded? What gives? Come on now, you can't create a school traffic warning sign without some sort of maintenance fee in this country. Why would you create a program and "hope" it grows up on its own?

1. Instead of enriching the program, instead of empowering tribes to become self sufficient, instead of teaching them how to fish, you drain their checkbook paying for each and every fish. Instead of putting funding into training tribal surveyors so that tribes can become self sufficient in at least one more area, you take TPA funds away from tribes across the board, and you pay those TPA funds into overpriced surveys on a piece-meal basis. Tribal Priority Allocations were meant in their infancy in the 1970s to pursue Indian self-determination by offering ways to set [TRIBAL] priorities and allocate funds for those activities they [TRIBES] wanted to fund, in consultation with BIA. BIA was supposed to give TRIBAL PRIORITY ALLOCATION FUNDS to tribes by funding TRIBALLY OPERATED ACTIVITIES or through SERVICES PROVIDED BY BIA as well as some of Bureau of Indian Affairs' management and administrative costs, according to A 1998 GAO report. The consultation went out the window. I know two years ago that when a regional BLM surveyor-type was made aware of the elected officials who would now be conducting boundary surveys, he said "I wasn't aware of that." And now apparently, neither is anybody else aware of the problem (the results) built into the Certified Federal Surveyor Program. Does the Certified Federal Surveyor program meet the test of being a TRIBALLY OPERATED ACTIVITY or a SERVICE PROVIDED BY THE BIA? Afraid not. Somebody at the Office of Special Trustee has made a horrible case for this program which will take a serious link out of the Indian Self Determination which Tribal Priority Allocations was supposed to create.

2. Instead of doing it outright, in front of GOD AND EVERYBODY, you make it sophisticated, covert, and you make believers of even the smartest people that it is in the best interest of the Indian population, when in reality it isn't. I really feel sorry for my friends at the Certified Federal Surveyor Program. I hope and I do pray that their eyes are opened to the sophisticated effects that are at work here. Remember it isn't the rules we care about in Indian Country. It's the RESULTS that we're concerned about. Do my friends, the Certified Federal Surveyor Program Coordinators really know what we're talking about here? Do they really know how they're being used to facilitate this egregious infraction against Indian Self -Determination? Why else would they willingly participate unless they didn't know? Why else would otherwise very intelligent, professionals so willingly participate? Why else would they cash the checks from the Tribal Priority Allocation funds like a Federal Spendthrift instead of advocating for these funds to be turned around and sent back to the Tribal Priority Allocation Fund coffers where some really advantageous work can be done?

3. Could it be because, the Certified Federal Surveyor program is now supposed to be SELF FUNDED? Could it be because the reputation as a manager, is on the line for a Certified Federal Surveyor Program Coordinator and staff? Could it be because they really put one over on him and his staff when they gave him about $400,000 dollars to start it up, and then "sell" the program to every state licensed surveyor who is at this moment clamoring to get in the class to "pad their resume?" Could it be because the Certified Federal Surveyor Program Coordinators on the ground level really aren't as experienced as they thought they were? Like maybe they didn't realize that the funds that went into starting this program now provides "the customers to raid the cash register?" Believe it- now the funds have been shifted through the Office of Special Trustee into paying for outrageous surveys. We pay now in some cases $15,000 dollars per survey and get what? Instead of providing funding at say $45,000 -$60,000 per surveyor per year to have them in-house in the tribes, or at BLM. Then if they screw things up, we have some accountability. As it stands now, we take away their contract and point and say "bad surveyor!" In a normal situation that would be sufficient. But in a Fiduciary Trust Model under the ownership of the Office of Special Trustee, it reaks of irresponsibility, and under-handedness, and a general lack of ethical fortitude.

We look for motivators to constantly evaluate how well we work for the "common good." Or do we? It isn't an easy thing to admit we've been hoodwinked. It isn't easy unless we think we have backing, unless we think we have support...when in reality we really do already have that support, that backing, when we withdraw from something less than honest (in a fiduciary trust model). All that support, all that backing will come from all those people we are supposed to remember we are supporting. When we really do come out in their corner, we find that they're there like they've always been: waiting for us to fight for them.

I'd shake the hand of somebody like that. I think the TRUE MOTIVATION is there for a whole "helluva lotta dem dere Indians" to shake the hand of someone who champions our cause, because then the results, the negative results, the disastrous results, would have one less protagonist.

Socrates would be proud.