June 22, 2004 Message from Hugh Stevens, Chairman Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone. For more information call Te-Moak Tribal Office at 775-738-9251. For general information on Western Shoshone land issue see http://www.wsdp.org/


AN OPEN LETTER
to the
President of the United States,
the U. S. Congress,
and the American People
from the Western Shoshone Nation

Concerning the Worst Case of Injustice to be Inflicted Upon our Nation's American Indians Upon in More than a Century

Dear President Bush, Members of Congress, the People of the United States:

Today, the Western Shoshone Nation is in a struggle for survival against powerful forces within the U. S. Congress that are attempting to steal our ancestral homeland. While Western Shoshone warriors are fighting in Iraq to defend and protect the United States, certain members of Congress are attempting to illegally confiscate our homeland, which the U. S. Government promised to preserve and protect for the Western Shoshone Nation by the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty.

If the Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Bill (H.R. 884/S.618) is passed and approved by the President, our Western Shoshone warriors will not have a homeland to return to when they complete their tour of duty in Iraq.

Today, the Western Shoshone People are not being attacked by U.S. Army soldiers who are firing their rifles and swinging their sabers in murderous attacks upon our people, as they did in the 1800s. Instead, today, the Western Shoshone People are being attacked by a Congressional juggernaut that has been fueled by false and misleading information that is intent upon stealing our sacred lands from under our feet.

While the direct frontal attacks of the 1800s were deadly and killed many Shoshones, today's Congressional attacks upon the Western Shoshone are far more devastating and destructive, since, if they are successful, they will destroy the entire Shoshone Nation.

People say "How could this be happening in the United States of America in the 21st Century?" But it is happening, and the legislative conquest of the Western Shoshone will succeed unless stopped by Congress, the American People, and the President of the United States.

WHAT CONGRESS IS BEING TOLD

Members of Congress have been told that the Western Shoshone People want the distribution of the funds that were made available to the Western Shoshone Nation in 1979 by the Indian Claims Commission for damages inflicted upon the Western Shoshone People in 1872. The funding, which represents 15¢ per acre plus interest, is currently being held in the U.S. Treasury.

THE TRUTH

Seven tribal governments of the Western Shoshone Nation strongly oppose the distribution of the Indian Claims Commission funding which, if accepted, will extinguish their title and ownership of 24,000,000 acres of Western Shoshone lands that were guaranteed to the Western Shoshone by the U.S. Government by the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty.

These lands have never been ceded or sold by the Western Shoshone. and remain the homeland of the Western Shoshone Nation.

ILLEGAL ACTIONS BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

In 1951, Western Shoshone filed a claim for damages with the Indian Claims Commission for actions being taken by the Federal Government to illegally confiscate Western Shoshone lands. Twenty-seven years later, in 1978, the Indian Claims Commission got around to responding to the Western Shoshone claim. Finally, in 1979, the Indian Claims Commission attempted to make a final judgment on the Western Shoshone claim. By law, in order for the Indian Claims Commission to make a final judgment on a tribal claim, two actions were required. First, the amount of monetary judgment for damages had to be determined by the Indian Claims Commission, and secondly, a final report had to be filed with Congress that defined the basis for the judgment. In the case of the Western Shoshone claim, the amount of monetary judgment was established by the Indian Claims Commission, BUT THE REQUIRED FINAL REPORT WAS NEVER FILED WITH CONGRESS... WITHOUT BOTH STEPS BEING TAKEN, ANY SETTLEMENT AMOUNT WOULD BE INVALID, AND ANY PAYMENT BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE TAKING OF INDIAN LANDS WOULD BE ILLEGAL.

During the time period from 1946 to 1979 that the Indian Claims Commission was authorized by Congress to address Indian claims, 320 claims were addressed, but 20 claims were not completed, since no final reports were filed with Congress on the 20 claims. The Western Shoshone claim was one of the claims that was never completed by the Indian Claims Commission before Congress abolished the Indian Claims Commission in 1979.

The Indian Claims Commission "final judgment" on the Western Shoshone claim remains incomplete as of this day, and can never be
completed, since the Indian Claims Commission is no longer in operation.

SECRETARY OF INTERIOR ACCEPTS INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSION FUNDING AS THE "TRUSTEE" OF THE WESTERN SHOSHONE

Despite the fact that the legal responsibility of the Indian Claims Commission was never fulfilled, the Secretary of Interior, acting as the trustee of the Western Shoshone Nation, accepted the payment of 15¢ per acre, plus interest, as a "fair settlement" for the confiscation of 24,000,000 acres of Western Shoshone lands by the federal government, a settlement that included compensation for the richest gold fields in the United States from which $25 billion in gold has been removed from Western Shoshone lands without any compensation being paid to the Western Shoshone Indians, as required by the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty.

THE INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSION DECLARED THAT THE WESTERN SHOSHONE LANDS WERE "LOST" BY THE WESTERN SHOSHONE ON JULY 1, 1872 AS A RESULT OF "GRADUAL ENCROACHMENT" ON THE WESTERN SHOSHONE LANDS... A COMPLETELY FABRICATED AND UNTRUE STATEMENT.

The 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty was a treaty of "peace and friendship between the Western Shoshone and the U. S. Government. Article II of the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty gave the U.S. Government, emigrants, and travelers across the Western Shoshone lands permission to have unobstructed and free access to travel through and on Western Shoshone lands, but the Treaty never ceded ownership of the lands.

Specifically, Article II of the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty states:
"The sevaral routes of travel through the Shoshone Country, now and hereafter used by White men, shall be forever free, and unobstructed by the said lands, for the use of the Government of the United States, and of all emigrants and travelers under its authority and protection, without molestation or injury from them."

For the Indian Claims Commission to declare that the Shoshone "lost their lands" in 1872, three years after the Ruby Valley Treaty was ratified by Congress, is not possible inasmuch as "encroachment" by definition means to trespass on or through territory, and the word "trespass" means to enter without permission. The Western Shoshone gave their permission for the U.S. Government, emigrants, and settlers to pass through and use Western Shoshone lands; therefore, the taking of Western Shoshone lands by "gradual encroachment" was a fabricated myth that was made up by the Indian Claims Commission. It is not possible to trespass across lands if permission is granted to enter and use the lands, and that is precisely what the Western Shoshone Nation granted to the U.S. Government, to all emigrants and settlers by the terms of the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty.

WHAT THE WESTERN SHOSHONE NATION IS SEEKING

Mr. President, and the People of America, please do not allow the Congress to use the injustices and abuses of our nation's American Indians that occurred during the 1800s to serve as the standard for which continuing abuse and mistreatment of Indian people will continue in the 21st Century, precisely what approval of H.R.884/S.618 would perpetuate.

The United Nations, the Organizations of American States, and the National Congress of American Indians have all called for the U.S. Government to enter into good faith negotiations with the Western Shoshone Nation in an attempt to resolve this long-standing dispute that threatens our people, our culture, and the very survival of the Western Shoshone Nation.

We are prepared to enter into good faith negotiations, and we sincerely believe that a fair and just resolution of this matter can be
achieved.

We appeal to the President of the United States to issue an Executive Order to the U. S. Department of Interior to direct the Secretary of Interior to enter into good faith negotiations, on a nation-to-nation basis, with the Western Shoshone Nation in an attempt to a reach fair and just resolution for the land dispute related to the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty between the Western Shoshone Nation and the U. S. Government.

And we appeal to the U.S. Senate, please do not approve H.R.884/S.618 without at least giving the Western Shoshone Nation a hearing on the bill so that our voices may be heard.

Hugh Stevens,
Chairman, Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone


Informant: Kalynda

http://newswire.indymedia.org/de/newswire/2004/06/804771.shtml
https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/06/293793.html

1. Navy ships around the World around are strangely leaving their ports in unprecedented numbers possibly to avoid killer tidal waves.

2. Feverish activity on all US Military bases (especially closed ones possibly getting ready for refugees).

3. U.S. Federal Reserve Bank totally bizarre in its actions.

4. Huge amounts of rumors and government disinformation on the Internet.

Grandfather Red Elk of the Inner Heyoka Society returns this week to speak about physical and spiritual preparations people should be making for the end times.

Grandfather Red Elk gives the same talk he gives to his students around his council fires concerning his identity...and speaks about current "wars and rumors of wars" and "rumors and wars of rumors".

LISTEN ANYTIME NOW AT http://www.prophecykeepers.com

Prophecykeepers Radio is a non-profit cooperative effort of the White Roots of Peace Council, with the blessing of elders of the Nighthawk Keetoowah (Cherokee) Society at

http://www.keetoowah-society.org


Informant: AmaNoGawa

http://www.crystalinks.com/hopi2.html
http://www.spiritconnectionstore.com/ARThopiProphecy.htm


Informant: Millennium Twain

I am very glad to have this time to send a message to you. We are celebrating a time in our history which is both filled with joy and sadness. I am very glad that our Hindu brothers have given us this opportunity to share these feelings with you because we know many of you are having the same troubles.

We Hopi believe that the human race has passed through three different worlds and life ways since the beginning. At the end of each prior world, human life has been purified or punished by the Great Spirit "Massauu" due mainly to corruption, greed and turning away from the Great Spirit's teachings. The last great destruction was the flood which destroyed all but a few faithful ones who asked and received a permission from the Great Spirit to live with Him in this new land. The Great Spirit said, "It is up to you, if you are willing to live my poor, humble and simple life way. It is hard but if you agree to live according to my teachings and instructions, if you never lose faith in the life I shall give you, you may come and live with me." The Hopi and all who were saved from the great flood made a sacred covenant with the Great Spirit at that time. We Hopi made an oath that we will never turn away from Him. For us the Creators laws never change or break down.

To the Hopi the Great Spirit is all powerful. He appeared to the first people as a man and talked with them in the beginning of this creation world. He taught us how to live, to worship, where to go and what food to carry, gave us seeds to plant and harvest. He gave us a set of sacred stone tablets into which He breathed all teachings in order to safeguard his land and life. In these stone tablets were made, instructions and prophecies and warnings. This was done with the help of a Spider woman and Her two grandsons. They were wise and powerful helpers of the Great Spirit.

Before the Great Spirit went into hiding, He and Spider woman put before the leaders of the different groups of people many colors and sized of corn for them to choose their food in this world. The Hopi was the last to pick and then choose their food in this world. The Hopi then choose the smallest ear of corn. Then Massauu said, "You have shown me you are wise and humble for this reason you will be called Hopi (people of peace) and I will place in your authority all land and life to guard, protect and hold trust for Me until I return to you in later days for I am the First and the Last."

This why when a Hopi is ordained into the higher religious order, the earth and all living things are placed upon his hands. He becomes a parent to all life on earth. He is entitled to advise and correct his children in whatever peaceful way he can. So we can never give up knowing that our message of peace will reach our children. Then it is together with the other spiritual leaders the destiny of our future children is placed. We are instructed to hold this world in balance within the land and the many universes with special prayers and ritual which continue to this day.

It was to the Spider woman's two grandsons the sacred stone tablets were given. These two brothers were then instructed to carry them to a place the Great Spirit had instructed them. The older brother was to go immediately to the east, to the rising sun and upon reaching his destination was instructed to immediately start to look for his younger brother who shall remain in the land of the Great Spirit. The Older brothers mission when he returned was to help his younger brother (Hopi) bring obout peace, brotherhood and everlasting life on his return.

Hopi, the younger brother, was instructed to cover all land and mark it well with footprints and sacred markings to claim this land for the Creator and peace on earth. We established our ceremonials and sacred shrines to hold this world in balance in accordance with our first promise to the Creator. This is how our migration story goes, until we meet the Creator at Old Oribe (place that solidifies) over 1000 years ago. It was at that meeting when he gave to us these prophecies to give to you now at this closing of the Fourth World of destruction and the beginning of the Fifth World of peace. He gave us many prophecies to pass on to you and all have come to pass. This is how we know the timing is now to reveal the last warnings and instructions to mankind.

We were told to settle permanently here in Hopi land where we met the Great Spirit and wait for Older Brother who went east to return to us. When he returns to this land he will place his stone tablets side by side to show all the world that they are our true brothers. When the road in the sky has been fulfilled and when the inventing of something, in Hopi means, gourd of ashes, a gourd that when drops upon the earth will boil everything within a large space and nothing will grow for a very long time. When the leaders turned to evil ways instead of the Great Spirit we were told there would be many ways this life may be destroyed. If human kind does not heed our prophecy and return to ones original spiritual instructions. We were told of three helpers who were commissioned by the Great Spirit to help Hopi bring about the peaceful life on earth would appear to help us and we should not change our homes, our ceremonials, our hair, because the true helpers might not recognize us as the true Hopi. So we have been waiting all these years.

It is known that our True White Brother, when he comes, will be all powerful and will wear a red cap or red cloak. He will be large in population, belong to no religion but his very own. He will bring with him the sacred stone tablets. With him there will be two great ones both very wise and powerful. One will have a symbol or sign of swastika which represents purity and is Female, a producer of life. The third one or the second one of the two helpers to our True White Brother will have a sign of a symbol of the sun. He, too, will be many people and very wise and powerful. We have in our sacred Kachina ceremonies a gourd rattle which is still in use today with these symbols of these powerful helpers of our True Brother.

It is also prophesied that if these three fail to fulfill their mission then the one from the west will come like a big storm. He will be many, in numbers and unmerciful. When he comes he will cover the land like the red ants and over take this land in one day. If the three helpers chosen by the Creator fulfill their sacred mission and even if there are only one, two or three of the true Hopi remaining holding fast to the last ancient teaching and instructions the Great Spirit, Massauu will appear before all and our would will be saved. The three will lay our a new life plan which leads to everlasting life and peace. The earth will become new as it was from the beginning. Flowers will bloom again, wild games will return to barren lands and there will be abundance of food for all. Those who are saved will share everything equally and they all will recognize Great Spirit and speak one language.

We are now faced with great problems, not only here but throughout the land. Ancient cultures are being annihilated. Our people's lands are being taken from them, leaving them no place to call their own. Why is this happening? It is happening because many have given up or manipulated their original spiritual teachings. The way of life which the Great Spirit has given to all its people of the world, whatever your original instructions are not being honored. It is because of this great sickness-called greed, which infects every land and country that simple people are losing what they have kept for thousands of years.

Now we are at the very end of our trail. Many people no longer recognize the true path of the Great Spirit. They have, in fact, no respect for the Great Spirit or for our precious Mother Earth, who gives us all life.

We are instructed in our ancient prophecy that this would occur. We were told that someone would try to go up to the moon: that they would bring something back from the moon; and that after that, nature would show signs of losing its balance. Now we see that coming about. All over the world there are now many signs that nature is no longer in balance. Floods, drought, earthquakes, and great storms are occurring and causing much suffering. We do not want this to occur in our country and we pray to the Great Spirit to save us from such things. But there are now signs that this very same thing might happen very soon on our own land.

Now we must look upon each other as brothers and sisters. There is no more time for divisions between people. Today I call upon all of us, from right here at home, Hotevilla, where we to are guilty of gossiping and causing divisions even among our own families; out to the entire world where thievery, war and lying goes on every day. These divisions will not be our salvation. Wars only bring more wars never peace. Only by joining together in a Spiritual Peace with love in our hearts for one another, love in our hearts for the Great Spirit and Mother Earth, shall we be saved from the terrible Purification Day which is just ahead.

There are many of you in this world who are honest people. We know you spiritually for we are the "Men's Society Grandfathers" who have been charged to pray for you and all life on earth never forgetting anything or any one in our ceremonials. Our prayer is to have a good happy life, plenty of soft gentle rain for abundant crops. We pray for balance on earth to live in peace and leave a beautiful world to the children yet to come. We know you have good hearts but good hearts are not enough to help us out with these great problems. In the past some of you have tried to help us Hopis, and we will always be thankful for you efforts. But now we need your help in the worst way. We want the people of the world to know the truth of our situation.

This land which people call the Land of the Freedom celebrates many days reminding people of the world of these things. Yet in well over 200 years the original Americans have not seen a free day. We are suffering the final insult. Our people are now losing the one thing which give life and meaning of life--our ceremonial land, which is being taken away from us. Hotevilla is the last holy consecrated, undisturbed traditional Native American sacred shrine to the Creator. As the prophecy says, this sacred shrine must keep its spiritual pathways open. This village is the spiritual vortex for the Hopi to guide the many awakening Native Americans and other true hearts home to their own unique culture. Hotevilla was established by the last remaining spiritual elders to maintain peace and balance on this continent from the tip of South America up to Alaska. Many of our friends say Hotevilla is a sacred shrine, a national and world treasure and must be preserved. We need your help.

Where is the freedom which you all fight for and sacrifice your children for? Is it only the Indian people who have lost or are all Americans losing the very thing which you original came here to find? We don't share the freedom of the press because what gets into the papers is what the government wants people to believe, not what is really happening. We have no freedom of speech, because we are persecuted by our own people for speaking our beliefs.

We are at the final stages now and there is a last force that is about to take away our remaining homeland. We are still being denied many things including the rite to be Hopis and to make our living in accordance with our religious teachings. The Hopi leaders have warned leaders in the White House and the leaders in the Glass House but they do not listen. So as our prophecy says then it must be up to the people with good pure hearts that will not be afraid to help us to fulfill our destiny in peace for this world. We now stand at a cross road whether to lead ourselves in everlasting life or total destruction. We believe that human beings spiritual power through prayer is so strong it decides life on earth.

So many people have come to Hopiland to meet with us. Some of you we have met on your lands. Many times people have asked how they can help us. Now I hope and pray that your help will come. If you have a way to spread the truth, through the newspapers, radio, books, thought meeting with powerful people, tell the truth! Tell them what you know to be true. Tell them what you have seen here; what you have heard us say; what you have seen with your own eyes. In this way, if we do fall, let it be said that we tried, right up to the end, to hold fast to the path of peace as we were originally instructed to do by the Great Spirit. Should you really succeed, we will all realize our mistakes of the past and return to the true path-living in harmony as brothers and sisters, sharing our mother, the earth with all other living creatures. In this way we could bring about a new world. A world which would be led by the great Spirit and our mother will provide plenty and happiness for all.

God bless you, each one of you and know our prayers for peace meet yours as the sun rises and sets. May the Great Spirit guide you safely into the path of love, peace freedom and God on this Earth Mother. May the holy ancestors of love and light keep you safe in your land and homes. Pray for God to give you something important to do in this great work which lies ahead of us all to bring peace on earth. We the Hopi still hold the sacred stone tablets and now await the coming of our True White Brother and others seriously ready to work for the Creator's peace on earth.

Be well, my children, and think good thoughts of peace and togetherness. Peace for all life on earth and peace with one another in our homes, families and countries. We are not so different in the Creator's eyes. The same great Father Sun shines his love on each of us daily just as Mother Earth prepares the sustance for our table, do they not? We are one after all.

Chief Dan Evehema, (105) Spiritual leader, Eldest Elder Greeswood / Roadrunner Clan Society Father / Snake Priest / Kachina Father.

From Hotevilla, Arizona, Hopi Sovereign Nation.

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/Resources/Hopi/dan's_message.html


Informant: Linda

I HEREBY CHALLENGE THE ELDERS

Posted By: Darrel Whitewolf

Date: Monday, 24 May 2004, 8:16 a.m.

I Darrel Whitewolf, elder of Cherokee decent, with this powerful message, hereby challenge the elders of all native nations. I hereby petition for the immediate release of sacred information to all humanity concerned for the immediate future of their families and loved ones.

At the risk of having many arrows shot in my direction, I send this message.

I am an old warrior who is no stranger to battles.

It has been brought to my attention that the elders at this time are preparing the last ceremonies. The Hopi who have no word in their vocabulary for the future and are preparing to go underground. The Ojibwa and the Lakota are saying that we are at the end. They say and I quote "Go back and tell the people it is no longer the eleventh hour". It is said that the blue star (katchina) has arrived and the "Purifier" (a large celestial body) follows. It's time for the "CLEANSING" THE "THIRD SHAKING".

It is time to tell the people about the arrival of the watchers from the skies who don't look like us and the ones underground as well. I have heard that White Buffalo Calf Woman has returned. I have been told to teach the stories of creation and how we must become together as one. This is not enough.

Chief Lookinghorse has delivered his messages at sacred sites all over the world but it is still unclear to non indian people just what is happening now, this very year, maybe even this very next month.

It is perfectly clear to me but who will believe one person?

It is not enough to quote verses from the bible. It is not enough to tell the old stories. It is not enough to talk about the animals and what it means when a certain one shows up in your life.

I think I can safely say that I speak for all readers here when I challenge you for the plain and simple truth about what is about to happen. No more Bible verses from the unbalanced cross brought by the ones who stole our land, raped our women and killed our children. The ones manipulated by the watchers.

No more old stories. No more codes.

People do not want to hear this nonsense any longer because time is too short. I know that you know. I also know that there is still prejudice in the hearts of some of you and you do not want non-indian people to know these things.

It is time and the time is now for you to speak clearly and decisevely in releasing the information needed for people of all nations to prepare themselves practically, safely, physically and spiritually.

There is talk that the Pope is giving his final blessings. He speaks of the fact that "Wormwood" (Planet X) has arrived. There is talk that supposed astronomers are watching something large speeding toward Earth. There is clear and unmistakable evidence that the skies day and night have suddenly changed dramatically. The moon has changed its orbit and appears in the west sky now when it rises. The stars are turning around in the sky at night and moving slower. The Earth Mother staggers like a drunk.

With great respect to the Creator, I bow to him in a humble way and ask for guidance in these matters not for me but for my brothers and sisters, my friends and families.

With great respect for the elders I ask you to put this knowledge forth and back up your words which say Mitakoye Oyasin. We are all your brothers and sisters. Will you leave us behind, only knowing half truths?

Grandfather forgive me if I have offended as this message comes from my heart and the Spirit of Crazy Horse inside me speaking. Grandfather forgive those who still hold contempt for the white man, the black man, the red and the yellow.

We send our prayers to you with the smoke from the sacred pipe on the wings of our brother Awahili, the Eagle.

I ask that you keep all of us here in your presense now and for ever.

Let the truths become clear to all.

Wado, Wakan Tanka, Aho

That is all I have to say.


Darrel Whitewolf

http://www.haveyouthought.com/ContactUs.htm


"LAST Ceremonies" forwarded by Millennium Twain

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LeagueOfTheLastDays/


Informant: AmaNoGawa

Links from Millennium Twain:
http://dirty2feetstreks.crimsonzine.com/20040919-15231.html
http://www.teton-rainbows.com/letter_whitewolf.html
http://www.shout.net/~bigred/Signs.htm



Omega see also:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Western+Shoshone/

Sab the buffalo "hunt"
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/457052/

By Francis X. Clines
New York Times
March 28, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/opinion/28SUN4.html?th

WASHINGTON - The word Potomac means "where the goods are brought in" and it dates from the local Indian tribe rudely displaced here centuries ago by colonial whites intent on a New World. The word seems perfect for the whiff of irony and history in the air this month as the last of 800,000 Indian artifacts -- priceless goods, in fact -- were trucked in from New York City to become the bedrock treasure of the new National Museum of the American Indian:

http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Even incomplete, the museum stands as a modernistic cynosure, defiantly staring down its immediate neighbor, the gleaming white Capitol, where so many treaty promises to American Indians were written and broken. The museum marks a grand turning point in that history, a sacred federal site ceded to Indian management and broadcasting a message of hardy survival, not tribal extinction, to throngs of tourists.

The museum -- a 10-story, cantilevered edifice suggesting a mesa with a cascading brook, indigenous landscaping (from corn bed to marshland), and a cladding of desert-toned Kasota limestone -- opens in September and is likely to be the last Smithsonian attraction built on the National Mall. It will offer a kaleidoscopic sampling of stories from hundreds of tribes that were consulted from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.

The peerless collection -- from papoose carriers to sacred regalia, from armadas of dugout canoes to armories of bows and arrows -- is the rapacious trove of George Gustav Heye, the heir to an oil fortune who collected Indian treasures by the boxcar loads a century ago. A buccaneer with a Hearst-like obsession for hunting and gathering other peoples' stuff, Heye left a collection that stuns today's Indian leaders for its power to recapitulate so much lost history.

The collection, from towering totems to shimmering beadwork, had been crammed for decades into a 20,000-square-foot storage space in New York that few Americans knew to visit. The new Smithsonian enterprise offers 12 times that museum space, as well as an even larger state-of-the-art preservation center in suburban Maryland. Even then, the collection will have to be rotated across time like a galaxy to be fully sampled here and in its remaining Manhattan outpost, an already-open Customs House museum.

Quite poetically, what Heye collected as artifacts of a fading culture are about to be displayed instead as evidence of tribal resilience across 10,000 years in the Western Hemisphere. There now are about two million Indians in the United States, an eightfold rebound from the low point of tribal decimation after the Indian wars.

Indian leaders see the museum as an opportunity for what one termed "a cleansing and a blessing at the same time" -- a mix of honest history, resurgent pride and a sense of discovery that invites reconciliation. It has inspired tribal chiefs across America intent on tracking down and trying to reclaim other holy objects and human remains purloined in past "scientific" sweeps when "civilization regulations" were part of the federal dictate to force assimilation on the reservation tribes.

With more than five million visitors a year expected, the museum's spirit is decidedly more informational than confrontational. It aims to exude pride devoid of militancy. And it's a hospitable pride -- visitors will be able to sample five regional cuisines at the Mitsitam ("let's eat") Cafe there.

Featured tribes will hold court for tourists in a 100-foot-high "Potomac space," a circular, giant, lodgelike interior topped by a copper dome. The museum is oriented to Indian cosmology, with windows designed to track the sun's course across interior walls. Décor runs from wampum cabinet detailing to "grandfather rocks," prehistoric markers imported from the far ends of the hemisphere to display sacred tribal reference points.

Federal marshals were riding shotgun as the final truckload of artifacts arrived March 16 from Interstate 95: a kayak, a birch-bark canoe, a tule reed boat and a wooden canoe. They represented vessels from the hemisphere's four tribal corners. A welcoming prayer was offered by Emil Her Many Horses, a museum staff member. The Heye treasure, purchased and snatched so providentially from near and far, had finished its transfer intact back to the tribes' care. The museum opens for the autumnal equinox, with tens of thousands of Indians expected to march and dance, sing and pray at their new showcase status in America.


Informant: NHNE

U.S. Policy in Western Shoshone Country Since 1863

OAS Ruling calls for review of US policy re: indigenous lands and property right

GREETINGS FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE WESTERN SHOSHONE NATION

It is the religious belief of the Western Shoshone that the earth is most sacred, this includes everything in it, upon it and above it.

Therefore: it is the solemn duty of the Western Shoshone to protect Mother Earth from all forms of environmental destruction exemplified by open pit mining, atomic testing, storage of nuclear waste, all forms of military testing and the pollution of the ground, air and water. The continuing depletion and desecration of natural resources severely threatens the livelihood of generations of all life on Mother Earth.

In the beginning of time, Ah-peh (Father), created the human beings (Newe) now called Shoshone. The Shoshone lived upon Mother Earth according to the laws given to them by Ah-peh, in harmony with the world and it's creatures. Sciences of astronomy, medicine, agriculture, and government were developed. We had extensive trade routes and large trade centers at a time prior to any kind of European human development. The ancient laws, our religion and culture were enjoyed unhindered with true freedom for many eons of time.

Our lands were greater than what history has attributed to us, and our people numbered in the tens of thousands.

Our first contact with non-Indian invaders was in 1680 and culminated in the first defeat for the Spanish in the new world . By the 1840's all Spanish incursions into Shoshone territory had been expelled. During this time other major world powers were vying for our territory: Russia, Great Britain, France, Canada, and the United States.

We steadfastly maintained our sovereign territorial integrity through 250 years of warfare, which led to the expulsion of all foreign powers and ending our conflict with the United States by means of the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley, a "Treaty of Peace and Friendship."

Disregarding Western Shoshone traditional land use, the United States immediately encouraged its citizens to enter our territory and claim all lands. We, trying earnestly to live up to the Treaty, have faced every form of adversity, degradation, and misery known to mankind. To this day we have kept our word and have never violated the Treaty of Ruby Valley.

From time immemorial, the Western Shoshone National Council is the traditional legal government of the Western Shoshone Nation. Today's Council, as in the past, remains dedicated to the protection of the Western Shoshone and their fundamental rights as an independent nation and as a separate and distinct people.

Read further under:

http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/shoshone/pamphlet.html
http://indiancountry.com/?1079711504
http://environment.unlv.edu/thesis/dec2000/zabarte.htm
http://www.lifeinfo.de/inh2./texte2/UN_Study_On_Treaties.PDF


Informant: Sally Light


This an important message from Ian Zabarte, Secretary of State of the Western Shoshone National Council, concerning a ruling by the OAS on the US' government's calling for a review of US policy re: indigenous lands and property rights. The US is trying to prevent this international ruling from being known.

Mr. Ian Zabarte
P.O. Box 210, Indian Springs, NV 89018

NEWE SOGOBIA

Office Fax: (702) 879-3237 (in Cactus Springs)
Cellular #1: (702) 592-8699 (metro areas only)