Sachems and Sagamores, Take Note!

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce ( Niimíipu )

I think I shall re-apply myself to my study of the Cree language. From what I can gather, the bunch of incoming Republican sachems and sagamores and chiefs are - believe it or not! - adherents to the theory that the people who used to live on lands a long time ago still, even after a few thousand years, still maintain their ownership rights to that land!

In other words, all this squabbling over pipeline rights-of-way will soon be academic, for the lands in question will speedily revert to Native American ownership.

In other words, go long on Native Americans!

The theory of the Dead Hand  (Mortmain is a type of dead-handian thingie) of ancient ownership still exerting rights after thousand-year absences is extolled by Mike Huckabee:

Huckabee visits West Bank: 'Build Israel Great Again'
CNN Digital Rebranding 2015 Oren Liebermann Photo: Jeremy Freeman
By Oren Liebermann, CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/03/politics/huckabee-west-bank-settlements/index.html

Maale Adumim, West Bank (CNN)Standing in front of a bright red banner reading "Build Israel Great Again," former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee promised Tuesday during an appearance in the West Bank that President-elect Donald Trump's policies toward Israel would be very different than President Barack Obama's.

Huckabee was in Maale Adumim to lay the cornerstone for a new neighborhood in one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank, just east of Jerusalem. The former Arkansas governor and strong supporter of Israel held a hat with the same catchphrase, and said he would bring one to Trump, whose campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" was the inspiration for the Maale Adumim banner.
Huckabee told CNN that he rejected the use of the word "settlements."

"I think Israel has title deed to Judea and Samaria," said Huckabee, using the Biblical terms for the West Bank. "There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It's Judea and Samaria. There's no such thing as a settlement. They're communities, they're neighborhoods, they're cities. There's no such thing as an occupation."

Settlements have surged back onto the international agenda following the recent United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as having "no legal validity" and being "a flagrant violation under international law."
Days later, Secretary of State John Kerry addressed settlements in a speech as an obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Huckabee slammed Kerry's remarks, calling them "irrational" and "absolute bull butter."
"It was insulting to me as an American, and I think certainly insulting to Israelis as well," he said.
In the waning days of the Obama administration, the Kerry speech and the Security Council resolution have heightened interest in Trump's policies in the region.

The President-elected has said he'd like to try making peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but he's also said he wants to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moves Palestinian leaders have denounced as the death of a two-state solution.
Though he does not serve as an adviser to Trump and is not part of his incoming administration, Huckabee, speaking as a private citizen, said he was optimistic about the relationship between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

Huckabee visited the settlements on the same day that Senate Republicans introduced a bill to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the embassy to Jerusalem.
Called the "Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act," the bill requires the United States to act on a 1995 bill calling on the US to relocate the diplomatic mission. Since the bill's passage, every president -- both Republican and Democrat -- has waived the requirement of the move, citing national security considerations...

"The only people who have ever had Yerushalayim as a capital have been the Jews," said Huckabee, using the Hebrew name of the city. "Nobody else has ever made this city a capital, ever. So it shouldn't even be controversial. Now it will be, but it shouldn't be."

An evangelical Christian, Huckabee is a frequent visitor to the settlements. Last summer, he visited Shiloh, a settlement north of Jerusalem in the West Bank, that is the Biblical site where the Ark of the Covenant rested before it was carried into Jerusalem...

First, even Huckabee is not stupid enough to not know that "Build Israel Great Again" is the same thing as "Builder Greater Israel".
Greater Israel is the concept of Israeli hegemony from the Nile River to the Euphrates River. In 1994 Daniel Pipes called the Nile to Euphrates concept a calumny against Zionism. I had agreed with Mr. Pipes back then, but a lot of water has flowed down the Nile and the Euphrates since.


Since the West Bank is East of Israel, this is a Push To The East, or a Drang nach Osten, if you prefer 20th century metaphors and expressions.


Second, the Palestinians have to learn that in Likud Israel the land is a waqf   - وقف‎‎ -   established before the diaspora and in force even now. A waqf is defined in Wikipedia as:

A waqf, also spelled wakf... or mortmain property, is, under the context of charity "sadaqah", an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically donating a building or plot of land or even cash for Muslim religious or charitable purposes with no intention of reclaiming the assets.

Since these things are so (quae cum ita sint),  the evangelical and their Republican allies adjust the Middle Eastern notion to allow reclamation, since properly in Western Society

Mortmain is the perpetual, inalienable ownership of real estate by a corporation or legal institution; the term is usually used in the context of its prohibition

They apply it to the Middle East. Ownership forever.

Now see if they apply it to the USA!
All the chiefs and sachems of the Native Americans apply now for your ancestral holdings!

--

Powwows

There are many, many gatherings of the First Nations across the USA and Canada, but around here the big Powwow is the one on Walpole Island.It takes place early in the year, and this year it was held on May 16 and 17.

Walpole, or Bkejwanong, has never been set up as a reserve or legislated into being nor set by treaty. It is considered an "unceded" territory, which consists of 6 islands in the St. Clair River delta.

If you search on Walpole Island, one of the very first photos presented is

which is on a blog Native American Bode'wadmi  Pokagon Times
(http://pokagon.blogspot.com/2010/01/walpole-island-chief-joseph.html)
in an article about Walpole and Chief Joseph Gilbert, shown below, right:

A look at Walpole from space in Google Earth shows that this is not a photo of Walpole Island. The island in the photo does resemble something in Georgian Bay, perhaps, but Walpole is large and not rocky, being built up by sediment deposited by the river as it enters Lake St. Clair:

The USA, Harsens Island, is on the left, and the large yellow place marker near the top marks the Chenal Écarté, known locally as the Sny Carty, a moderate river or creek which separates Walpole from Ontario.
The green line from top to left bottom is the international boundary, USA and Canada, while the green line top to bottom right is the boundary between Bkejwanong and mainland Ontario.


If we go to Wallaceburg, Ontario for lunch, we go from Algonac to Walpole on the ferry:

which docks on the northern part of the island.

There is a Canada Customs to the left and just out of the range of the following photo. A couple of years ago we landed, the customs agent was sitting in a wooden chair slightly pushed back with his feet up on a barrel. Straight ahead of us, there was a yellow dog slowly walking in the noonday heat.

I immediately thought of Atticus Finch and the sheriff, Hec, and the dogs of the summer's dog days.

--

Pow Wows 2013

Gathering Of The Nations, April, 2013
New Mexico

Young

Old

--

2013 Tashmoo Festival

We did make it to the First Nations portion of the Tashmoo Festival in San Souci, Michigan. Many people from Walpole Island First Nation, or Bkejwanong, were there.

We have a video of a young lady doing a dance that goes back to World War II and celebrates the end of the war and the return of the men from their fighting. (Please forgive the finger; it soon gets out of the way.)

We also saw old acquaintances.
We had used a frontal photo of the young male dancer on the right, below,

 

back in the post about this upcoming festival  

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=24659266#editor/target=post;postID=3777705219789154127;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=link

Here he is from in front:

The website Indian Country has a full list of powwows in the year.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/

--

Every Child Left Behind

Indian Country:


Every Child Left Behind: Sequester Guts Indian Education, Part 2
 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/31/every-child-left-behind-sequester-guts-indian-education-part-2-149592
Tanya Lee
May 31, 2013

The cuts to K-12 education funding because of the federal sequester will impact students and teachers across the country, but many say they will hurt American Indian elementary and secondary school students the most.
Tribal schools are funded through a number of mechanisms, among them the federal government (through per-student payments, grants and Title I, II and VII programs), tribes and sometimes states. A major source of funding comes from the Bureau of Indian Affair’s Bureau of Indian Education, which allocates ISEP (Indian School Equalization Program) funds on a per-capita basis.

A Government that indulges entirely in politics and thus finds itself incapable of creatively governing will end up destroying its peoples.

--

Immigration Point Of View

 

State Rep. Ponka-We Victors, Kansas

Ponka-We Victors (D-Wichita), a member of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma and the Tohono O'odham Nation, and the only American Indian in the Kansas State Legislature, offered her reading of the situation to Kris Kobach, Kansas' Secretary of State.

The encounter takes on added significance when one considers the man Victors was addressing. Kris Kobach is known around the country as an anti-immigration hawk, and had a hand in such controversial measures as Arizona's SB 1070. As Mother Jones puts it, "if there's a controversial new anti-immigration law that's captured national attention, chances are that it has Kris Kobach's imprimatur."

"I think it’s funny Mr. Kobach, because when you mention illegal immigrants, I think of all of you," Victors said...

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/22/native-legislator-ponka-we-victors-turns-tables-immigration-hearing-kansas-148309

--

Ojibwe Buzz Saw

Sometimes it is an all-out war on people, and the environment:

 http://www.dailyyonder.com/ojibwe-women-vow-oppose-mining/2013/03/12/5707

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker... is soon to run head on, or rear on, into the buzz saw that is the angry Ojibwe woman in full out defense mode.

He and his fellow Republicans have finally pushed a mining bill through the legislature that will allow the creation of a huge open pit iron ore mine just south of the Bad River Ojibwe reservation on the shores of Lake Superior. A similar bill was narrowly defeated in 2011, igniting some of the most vocal environmental protests that the state has seen in years.  (See my stories for the Yonder and Indian Country Today Media Network for more background.) The Republican dominated assembly and senate, however, redrafted the bill that handily passed both houses this week.  Gov. Walker is expected to sign the legislation this week and probably anticipates smooth sailing for the much-touted jobs bill.

Republicans maintain that by diminishing current mining laws, the new bill will help create jobs in the economically depressed northern part of the state. Tribal members and concerned citizens, however, argue that the proposed open pit iron mine will pose serious environmental hazards to the water, wildlife and quality of life in this pristine woodland.  Indeed, the language in the new law presumes damage to wetlands and includes a mitigation plan that Democrats argue is not viable.

and  the damage which is foreseen by the bill's proponents:

http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/jessica_vanegeren/mining-bill-author-admits-it-will-cause-environmental-harm/article_c9679d4a-8299-11e2-b886-0019bb2963f4.html

Gov. Scott Walker's comments Thursday to The Business Journal in Milwaukee are typical: “We are going to go forward with a permitting process that still protects our natural resources. It’s incredibly important to tourism, it’s important to agriculture and timber in (northern Wisconsin). We’re not going to do something that jeopardizes that.”

But the main author of the controversial mining bill that's moving quickly through the Republican-led state Legislature admitted otherwise on Thursday.
And, with numerous groups already vowing to challenge the bill in court, Sen. Tom Tiffany also acknowledged that changes were made to the legislation to put the state on stronger legal ground to withstand such a challenge.

“The bill reflects the reality of mining. There are going to be some impacts to the environment above the iron ore body,” said Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst. “If the law is challenged and ends up in court, the judge needs to know it was the Legislature’s intent to allow adverse (environmental) impacts. That way, a judge can’t find fault if the environment is impacted.”
Tiffany made the admission after being asked Thursday in an interview with the Cap Times how Republicans could continue to claim the mining bill doesn't risk environmental harm when:

• It specifically changes the wording of existing state permitting law from “significant adverse affects (to wetlands) are presumed to be unnecessary” to “significant adverse affects are presumed to be necessary.”

• Bill Williams, present of Gogebic Taconite, which is proposing a massive iron ore mine in Ashland and Iron counties, said in a recent Wisconsin State Journal article that as much as 30 to 40 percent of the 3,300 acres it is leasing could be covered by waste piles if it builds a $1.2 billion open-pit iron ore mine.

• The land above the rich vein of iron ore contains hundreds of acres of wetlands, numerous pristine trout streams and several small tributaries that feed into the Bad River. The Bad River wends its way to Lake Superior through the Bad River Indian Reservation, which includes culturally and economically significant rice beds.

“We are simply being honest,” Tiffany says. “There will be some impacts but they will be limited. Changing the word 'unnecessary' to 'necessary' lets the judge know it was the Legislature’s intent that there will be some adverse impacts.”

People differ on how they value things, but I admire Sen. Tiffany for his honesty.
Gov. Walker, however, is typical of so many of the power elite for whom Truth and Honesty are like poker chips.
--

The Other Dog Race

From Minnesota Public Radio, Race information as well and intimations of Climate Change:
 http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/01/15/regional/beargrease-sled-dog-race-postponed

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Poor snow conditions have forced organizers to postpone the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in northeastern Minnesota.
The race had been scheduled to start Jan. 27. It's now postponed until March 10.
Race coordinator Pat Olson tells the Duluth News Tribune that the trail is "terrible."
Olson says organizers are hoping for snow by March 10. If it doesn't snow, the race could face only its third cancellation ever. A lack of snow caused the Beargrease board of directors to cancel last year's races. It also was canceled in 2007.

 and some background from 2011 (when the race was run):
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/02/09/legend-ojibwe-john-beargrease-and-annual-sled-dog-marathon-bears-his-name-13872

When one of the longest and most-respected dogsled races in the lower 48 was run January 30 through February 2, it included a tribute to the Ojibwe man for whom it is named. The 390-mile John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon honors the mail-carrier who braved appalling weather and questionable trails to deliver mail at the turn of the 20th century, traveling by dog team or by boat the 90 miles between Two Harbors and Grand Marais along the sometimes treacherous shoreline of Lake Superior.

Choose Yer Poison

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19795838

A federal judge has dismissed a case by an American Indian tribe that blamed beer sellers and makers for chronic alcoholism on their reservation.

Judge John Gerrard said there was "little question" that sales in a bordering Nebraska town had contributed significantly to the problem.
But he said federal courts did not have the jurisdiction to hold brewers or stores responsible.
The Oglala Sioux tribe [South Dakota] sued beer stores and manufacturers for $500m (£309m).
The lawsuit alleged that the stores and beer makers had knowingly allowed alcohol sales to residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which has banned alcohol since 1832, fully aware it would be smuggled to drink or resell.
The Oglala also argued that the beer distributors supplied the White Clay, Nebraska stores with "volumes of beer far in excess of an amount that could be sold in compliance with the laws of the state of Nebraska"...

There is no war on alcohol addiction; too bad.

Around here in Michigan, the people of the State had a grassroots campaign to repeal the ban on buying booze before noon on Sunday; we really needed our Sunday morning shot.

Or did we? The Liquor Lobby - like so many other lobbies - own the State of Michigan, just like they own Nebraska and South Dakota.

That is the reality of Democracy today.
--