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.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
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.
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.
- She argued for the protection of Tribal sovereignty.
- She said, "I believe strong, effective Tribal governments will insure that Indian people remain distinct political groups"
- "I remain interested in the “one-stop shopping” concept,"she said.
- 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."
- 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.
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.
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.
Friday, May 16, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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"
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"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
