Elder's Meditation of the Day - June 13
"We have and old saying, Everything living must die. Only the rocks and mountains are forever."
--Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
The Creator designed all life to happen in a circle. For example, the cycle of life for the human being is Baby, Youth, Adult, Elder, then we die. The trees and the leaves happen in a circle; the leaves bud, then the leaves mature, next the leaves change color and at last they fall off the tree to return to the Mother Earth. The birds bear their young, raise their young, then they die. The salmon are born, swim to the ocean, live their lives, swim back to the spawning grounds, then die. All aspects of the Life Cycle should be honored.

Great Spirit, today, let me enjoy today

National Native News ...
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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

A meth toolkit to help educate Native communities is unveiled at the National Congress of American Indians Mid-Year Conference. NCAI's Meth Taskforce compiled the box, which includes jelly bracelets. Officials say the bracelets are becoming a new fad for combating the drug.

Three former U.S. Attorneys tell NCAI delegates Attorney General Alberto Gonzales does not care about crime on Indian reservations. Mary Chiara, Paul Charlton and Dan Bogden spoke at a panel session on Monday. They were among the eight U.S. Attorneys fired by the Justice Department last December.

As the former U.S. Attorneys site gross negligence on the part of the Attorney General when it comes to Indian issues, Senate Republicans succeeded in “blocking� a no confidence vote on Gonzales.

...Understanding our Present by Honoring Our Past

During this week in 1944, a fire destroyed much of the Alaska village of Hoonah and many priceless Tlingit cultural objects.

AZOCAR ELECTED NAJA PRESIDENT; NEW BOARD MEMBERS; NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CHOSEN

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

CONTACT:
Cristina Azocar, 415-338-7437 or cazocar@sfsu.edu

AZOCAR ELECTED NAJA PRESIDENT; NEW BOARD MEMBERS; NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CHOSEN

DENVER_June 11, 2007_Cristina Azocar, the director of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism and an assistant professor of journalism at San Francisco State University, was elected Sunday as president of the Native American Journalists Association by the board of directors.

Azocar (Upper Mattaponi) was re-elected to a second, three-year term on the board during NAJA's annual convention. She previously has served as NAJA's secretary and treasurer.

"I joined NAJA as a student in 1992, and I'm honored to be able to give something back to an organization that I grew up with," Azocar said. "With the upcoming move to the University of Oklahoma and the UNITY: Journalists of Color convention in Chicago next year, we will be busy. I promise to work very hard to make this a successful year."

Azocar succeeds Mike Kellogg (Navajo), publisher of the Stillwater (Okla.) NewsPress, who was elected treasurer by the board. Bryan Pollard (Cherokee), editor of The Cherokee Phoenix in Tahlequah, Okla., was elected vice president. Pollard previously served as NAJA secretary. Shirley Sneve (Rosebud Sioux), executive director of Native American Public Telecommunications in Lincoln, Neb., was elected NAJA secretary. Newly elected to the board was Rhonda LeValdo (Acoma Pueblo), a graduate student in journalism at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Ronnie Washines (Yakama), NAJA’s outgoing vice president, was re-elected to a second term on the board.

The board also announced the hiring of Jeff Harjo (Seminole), editor of the Kickapoo Traveling Times, as NAJA executive director. Harjo succeeds Interim Executive Director Kim Baca (Navajo/Santa Clara Pueblo), who will leave the organization when NAJA moves to Norman, Okla., at the end of July.

Based in Vermillion, S.D., NAJA is a national nonprofit that works to encourage American Indians to pursue journalism careers and works with media organizations to encourage fair and thorough coverage of Indian people and issues.

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Elder's Meditation of the Day - June 12
"The faces of our future generations are looking up to us from the earth and we step with great care not to disturb our grandchildren."
--Traditional Circle of Elders
The leaves, when they are finished with their life on the trees, will return to the Earth. The leaves that return to the Earth are the future trees. So inside the Mother Earth are the future forests. The human, when finished with its life on the Earth, will return to the Earth. So in the Earth are our future grandchildren. Knowing this, we should be respectful of the place where our future generations live. Only take from the Earth what you need. Every time you pick a plant or Medicine, leave an offering and leave a prayer. Be respectful and walk in a sacred way.

Great Spirit, teach me to respect the place of future generations.

Major land claims announcement expected

Last Updated: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 | 9:42 AM ET

CBC News

Native leaders across Canada will be watching closely Tuesday as the federal government announces a plan that experts say is intended to defuse rising anger over drawn-out land claims.

"We need substantive legislative reform," Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, told CBC News. "And this matter is not simply tinkering with existing structures. That will not cut it."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice are expected to propose a bill Tuesday afternoon that would streamline aboriginal land claims, which take an average of 13 years to settle.

Prentice has said that it takes about eight years for a lawyer even to look at a claim. He served on the commission for a decade and is considered an expert in land claims negotiations.

The government has signalled that it will establish a specific claims reform commission, which it hopes will make inroads on the backlog of more than 800 outstanding land claims within five years.

The current Indian Claims Commission, set up in 1991 to investigate claims made by First Nations that have been rejected by the government, has the power to make recommendations to the government about how claims could be resolved. It does not have the power to make independent rulings.

But the Harper government is expected to do more than create a new claims reform commission.

Sources with the Assembly of First Nations say Harper could put as much as $250 million a year toward settling the claims ­ more money than the assembly had hoped for.

Also expected is legislation, to be co-written with the AFN, outlining how to settle the outstanding claims.

Tuesday's announcement comes shortly before an AFN call for a national day of action on June 29 to draw attention to outstanding land claims, and to the racism and poverty faced by First Nations communities.

Chief Terry Nelson of the Roseau River First Nation in Manitoba has threatened to block railway lines running through his community on the day of action.
http://www.cbc. ca/canada/ story/2007/ 06/12/claims. html