North Dakota Human Rights Coalition

Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights

Join Us Today!!

Click PayPal link for direct credit card contribution or PayPal payment options.

(No PayPal account necessary!)

NDHRC Membership Brochure

NDHRC Volunteer Program

Interested in Receiving NDHRC Email Newsletter?

Sign Up Here

~NDHRC PAUR Report~

May 5, 2003

Programs ~ Announcements ~ Updates ~ Resources

Hello members and friends of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition!

In this week’s PAUR Report:

1)     Save the Date! Fall NDHRC North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Conference

2)     Peace Rallies for the Near Future

3)     2003 Four Bears Pow Wow, May 29-31, New Town, ND

4)     Associated Press Article, American Indian women to be added to hall of statues at U.S. Capitol

5)     Fargo Forum Article, Lou Ziegler column: A bleak, disappointing legacy from Legislature

6)     Fargo Forum Article, Tolerance is vital, Laotian immigrant tells students

7)     Fargo Forum Article, Human rights forum focuses on disabilities

8)     (Reminder) Sisters of the Presentation at Sacred Heart Convent Presents “Peace Studies” (Various Locations in ND and MN)

*********************************************

1.) Save the Date! Fall NDHRC North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Conference

NDHRC Fall Conference

Saturday, October 25, 2003

Fargo

Ideas & suggestions for topics are welcome, contact Andrea at andreadeegan@ndhrc.org

*********************************************

2.) Peace Rallies for the Near Future

The North Dakota Peace Coalition and the Red River Anti-War Coalition (RRAWC) sponsors pro-peace demonstrations in Fargo in front of the Federal Building (657 2nd Ave N) at noon.

The RRAWC has moved the rallies to once a month during the summer to accommodate vacation schedules and avoid diluting the rallies.  The rallies will respond to events as they unfold and will be on the first Saturday of the month.  The next rally will be on Saturday, June 7th at noon.

The RRAWC will continue to have weekly organizational meetings, which are expected to evolve into planning/strategy meetings in preparation for the monthly rallies for the fall and for the beginning of the political season.

The RRAWC meetings will move to Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm beginning May 14th.

More information is available at the Red River Anti-War Coalition's website: www.rrawc.org

*********************************************

3.) 2003 Four Bears Pow Wow, May 29-31, New Town, ND

The pow wow will be hosted by the Three Affiliated Tribes at the Four Bears Casino & Lodge Event Center in New Town, ND.  For more information contact Paul Danks at (701) 627-4781 or email fourbearspowwow@mhanation.com.

*********************************************

4.) Associated Press Article, American Indian women to be added to hall of statues at U.S. Capitol

American Indian women to be added to hall of statues at U.S. Capitol
AP
April 30, 2003

CARSON CITY, Nevada (AP) -- Two proud symbols in the history of American Indian women -- Sacagawea and Sarah Winnemucca -- may soon enter a room full of white men frozen in marble and bronze: Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

They would become the first nonwhite women enshrined in the collection that honors distinguished citizens from every state.

The only question is: Who will make it to Washington first?

"The race is on," said Marcia deBraga, a former Nevada lawmaker behind her state's push for Winnemucca. "Nevada is last in so many things. It'd be nice to be first in this."

Nevada's project, however, is still in the fund-raising stage and lags far behind that of North Dakota, which recently cast its 8-foot Sacagawea statue and plans to have the bronze installed in the Capitol in October.

"We never looked at this as a race," said Rick Collin of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. "But it does make all the sense in the world that this is happening."

Historians and women's advocates say the campaign to honor the two figures represents an effort to offer a more diverse image of American history. Women's groups are behind both projects.

Winnemucca was a bold, 19th-century Nevada Paiute woman who was a translator and a bridge between Indians and settlers. She wrote an autobiography and testified before Congress about the hardships facing her people. She died in 1891 at 47.

Sacagawea, who is claimed by several Indian tribes, was the legendary guide for Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their trek across the frontier in 1804-06.

Nevada, North Dakota and New Mexico are the only states that have not yet placed their allotted second figure in Statuary Hall.

The 139-year-old collection has long been popular with tourists for its gathering of favored sons and daughters from each state. The 97 likenesses line the walls of the elegant marble-floored original House chamber and are scattered along Capitol corridors.

"It's a collection where change comes very slowly," said Philip Viles, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, expert who wrote a guidebook on Statuary Hall. "They could use some more diversity."

No state has ever selected a black person for inclusion in the hall. Only six women are among the figures that include Virginia's George Washington and obscure citizens such as Florida's John Gorrie, a scientist who patented an ice maker.

But federal and state lawmakers are starting to pay attention to the hall's symbolic power.

Kansas may swap out one of its statues for a sculpture of aviator Amelia Earhart. Alabama has approved a similar swap to add Helen Keller.

North Dakota lawmakers four years ago voted for Sacagawea to represent their state. New Mexico recently chose Pope, a Pueblo native who led a revolt against Spanish colonizers in 1680. The Nevada Legislature picked Winnemucca in 2001.

The catch? Cash-strapped state governments have relied on local groups and donations to raise money for the statues.

Mary Jane Evans, president of a Nevada branch of the American Association of University Women, said it has been tough convincing donors that placing a statue of an Indian woman in faraway Washington has symbolic significance.

"It is a big deal," said Evans, who has helped host dinners and teas that have so far have raised nearly $60,000 of the needed $150,000. "How many times do you see a woman representing the United States in any way?"

Though Sacagawea is far more well-known, it took the General Federation of Women's Clubs of North Dakota more than three years to raise $200,000 for the 1,200-pound bronze casting that was completed in February. The project got a powerful boost from the bicentennial observances of Lewis and Clark's expedition.

Nevada women, for their part, held a tea at the governor's mansion last weekend that raised $7,000. They also received $500 in change from pupils at Reno's Sarah Winnemucca Elementary School.

"It's not that much money," deBraga said. "Hopefully we'll find some generous people and move quickly. We'd really like to have Sarah be the first Indian woman recognized."

*********************************************

5.) Fargo Forum Article, Lou Ziegler column: A bleak, disappointing legacy from Legislature

Lou Ziegler column: A bleak, disappointing legacy from Legislature
The Forum - 04/27/2003

One of the sorriest political performances I’ve witnessed in a long time is the way the North Dakota Legislature collectively turned its back on young people in the state.

I’ve been working with Janell Cole, The Forum’s Bismarck bureau chief on a “report card” on the North Dakota legislative session. It will be published in about a week.

While doing that, I couldn’t help but reflect on an event Jan. 9 on the North Dakota State University campus.

That night, 31 people, ages 21 to 34, told a statewide television audience what they thought could be done to stop the mass migration of young people out of North Dakota.

It needs to be repeated that in the long term, potentially serious consequences lurk for those who stay behind to support a population that is aging at just about the fastest rate of any state in the nation.

Outmigration cost North Dakota nearly $400 million during a recent three-year period.

<snip>

View full article here

*********************************************

6.) Fargo Forum Article, Tolerance is vital, Laotian immigrant tells students

Tolerance is vital, Laotian immigrant tells students
By Jonathan Knutson
The Forum - 04/30/2003

Tou Ger Ziong came to the United States 23 years ago to be free. He came to Fargo Tuesday to tell kids to be tolerant.

Ziong entertained and educated students at Fargo’s Carl Ben Eielson and Lincoln elementary schools. His hour-long presentations, which included rap songs, skits and stories, sought to drive home the importance of tolerance for other races and cultures.

“If we were all exactly alike, it would be very boring,” he said.

Xiong was born in Laos in 1973. His father served in the CIA, so his family had to flee, eventually settling in St. Paul when Tou Ger Xiong was 6.

Now a naturalized U.S. citizen, Xiong gives presentations to schools and corporations nationwide. He has visited more than 1,000 schools in 44 states. Tuesday was his third trip to Fargo.

Verlene Dvoracek, a Fargo schools official who helped arrange Tuesday’s presentations, said Xiong’s message is important.

“We want students to understand why diversity is important,” she said.

<snip>

View full article here

*********************************************

7.) Fargo Forum Article, Human rights forum focuses on disabilities

Human rights forum focuses on disabilities
By Erin Hemme Froslie
The Forum - 04/26/2003

Before he became a quadriplegic, John Trautman never paid attention to the challenges faced by people in wheelchairs.

Now he can’t avoid them.

In public, he sometimes needs to wait for somebody to open doors or push elevator buttons. A student at North Dakota State University, he registers for classes held in buildings he knows he can access easily.

“For the most part people are accepting of me and places are becoming more accessible,” said Trautman, who was serving in the Army when he severed his spinal cord in a swimming accident. “But I’ve noticed those who build buildings don’t take into account all disabilities.”

Trautman was one of several people with disabilities who addressed a human rights forum Friday. The daylong gathering identified human rights violations against people with disabilities. Plans to address those violations also were made.

“We wanted to bring people together to focus on action,” said Tricia Lund, an intern at Cultural Diversity Resources who helped organize the event. The organization has a human rights library and is bridging its work with diversity into working for human rights as a whole.

<snip>

View full article here

*********************************************

8.) (Reminder) Sisters of the Presentation at Sacred Heart Convent Presents “Peace Studies”(Various Locations in ND and MN)

Sr. Yvonne Nelson has begun a Peace Studies program at the Sacred Heart Convent.  Lectures will take place at the Presentation Center through May 30.

View Schedule of lectures here.

*********************************************

***Member Reminder***

Please keep us in mind for your group or church social action/social justice meetings! We’d be happy to provide a presentation at a meeting or provide newsletter articles for your organizations.

************************************************

Do you have a Program, Announcement, Update or Resource that you would like shared on our weekly PAUR report? If so, please send an email to AndreaDeegan@NDHRC.org and we will do our best to accommodate you.

If you are not a member of NDHRC yet, what are you waiting for? Sign up now! On-line or by mail, it's all set at: http://www.ndhrc.org/membership.htm

Not getting the PAUR Report directly in your email? It's so easy to be added to the PAUR mailing list! Email HumanRights@NDHRC.org

If you have received this email in error, or would like to be removed From the PAUR Report mailing list, please send an email to AndreaDeegan@NDHRC.org for immediate assistance.