North Dakota Human Rights Coalition
Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights
|
North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights |
|
Click PayPal link for direct credit card contribution or PayPal payment options. (No PayPal account necessary!)
Interested in Receiving NDHRC Email Newsletter? |
The full PAUR report is available on the NDHRC web site at http://ndhrc.org/Newsletters/PAUR%202005/091605.htm
~North Dakota Human Rights Coalition~ PAUR Report
Programs ~ Announcements ~ Updates ~ Resources
Visit our Website at www.ndhrc.org Hello members and friends of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition!
In this week’s PAUR Report:
Announcements 1) Cass Arc Collecting Old Cell Phones 2) Hur ricane Katrina Relief Fundraisers in F-M Area 4) Rehabilitation Research and Training Center Survey 5) United Way: Ready to Change the Community
Newspaper Articles 6) Native-American Nicknames/Mascots 7) The Forum, Church Trial Ends Without a Decision 8) The Forum, Advocates Tout Living Wage 9) The Bismarck Tribune, Indian Guide Quite a Handful 10) Bismarck Tribune, Teacher Reject Contract 11) The Forum, Bruce Brovold Letter: Getting to Bridge the Bigger Problem 12) The Forum, Judge’s Ruling Split in Arrest Case 13) The Forum, F-M Protesters Gather in Support of Sheehan 14) The NDSU Spectrum, Anti-War Coalition Holds Protests 15) The Times-Record, Valley City Diners Enjoy Kurdish Food, Friendship 16) Rapid City Journal, Standing Rock Tribe has New School 17) The Forum, Legislators to Determine How to Handle Grievances by N.D. Workers 18) The Forum, Other Views: Workers, Beware of WSI 19) The Forum, Spreading the Word: Project Uses Translated Rap Music as Means for Younger American Indians to Learn Native Language
Events 20) New American Community Forum September 17
21)
22) AAUW to Host Social Security Program September 19 23) ND Progressive Coalition: Energizing the Spirit of North Dakota September 21 24) Rally to Save Social Security September 24 25) Take Back the Night March and Rally September 27 26) Traditional Pow Wow October 1 27) Unlearning Racism Seminar with Lee Mun Wah October 4th 28) Indian Law Center Speaker Series October 13th 29) Fiesta de Mujeres Silent Auction and Dinner October 15
Reminders 30) NDHRC 2005 Annual Giving Program 31) North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Position on: Use of School Nicknames, Mascots and Logos at Educational Institutions in North Dakota 32) Between Two Cultures: The Art of Star Wallowing Bull & FM Symphony
Please Note: The NDHRC distributes a weekly PAUR report to inform our members and friends about news, events, and other human rights related information around the state. The opinions expressed within the articles are those of the authors and are not endorsed by the NDHRC.
New NDHRC members: as a membership benefit you have received an e-mail subscription of our weekly e-mail newsletter, the NDHRC PAUR Report. If you would like to be removed from the PAUR Report mailing list, please send an email to humanrights@ndhrc.org.
********************************************* Announcements *********************************************
1.) Cass Arc Collecting Old Cell Phones
The Forum - 09/11/2005
The Arc of Cass County wants donations of used, hand-held cell phones. Drop boxes are in The Arc Thrift Store, 215 N. University Drive, Fargo, and at Sunmart stores in Fargo-Moorhead. The Arc serves individuals with developmental disabilities.
*********************************************
2.) Hurricane Katrina Relief Fundraisers in F-M Area
Forum staff reports The Forum - 09/10/2005
Information about how North Dakotans can assist with the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts by donating money or volunteering time or resources can be found on the North Dakota State Government Web site at www.nd.gov, the governor’s Web site at www.governor.state.nd.us and the Department of Emergency Services Web site at www.state.nd.us/des. Details are also available by calling (800) 773-3259.
Following are some of the scheduled Hurricane Katrina-related fundraisers:
<snip>
*********************************************
Sonali Seth, daughter of Vinod & Aruna Seth (Strong Human Rights Supporters), was recently hospitalized and received exploratory surgery in Bismarck.
Vinod, Aruna, and their family request your prayers for Sonali knowing that prayers from friends & family around the world will help carry them all through the challenges of the next few weeks.
Prayers or thoughts of encouragement & good wishes would be welcome.
*********************************************
4.) Rehabilitation Research and Training Center Survey
Are you a person with a disability interested in the accessibility of medical clinics? The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Health & Wellness is asking people with disabilities to participate in an on-line survey identifying barriers to routine health care. Information gathered will be used to develop a checklist which health care providers can use to assess their accessibility. The survey takes no longer than 15minutes to complete and must be answered by September 30.
*********************************************
5.) United Way: Ready to Change the Community
The local United Way set the stage for its 2005 campaign Thursday morning, announcing four core areas to which it will direct funding.
Volunteers met in a series of community needs assessments last spring and decided United Way should focus dollars to strengthen and support families, to promote self-sufficiency, to support vulnerable and aging populations and to help children and youth succeed, said Earl Beal, chair of the United Way board of directors.
The goal for this year's campaign is $1.2 million, an increase of 2.6 percent from last year.
<snip>
********************************************* Newspaper Articles *********************************************
6.) Native-American Nicknames/Mascots
*********************************************
UNITED TRIBES OF NORTH DAKOTA RESOLUTION
Title: Urging formal consultation between North Dakota Tribes, UND, ND Board of Higher Education and NCAA regarding use of “Sioux” logo and nickname, and support for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) action banning display of “hostile and abusive” nicknames, logos and mascots at NCAA sanctioned tournaments.
INTERTRIBAL SUMMIT IX RESOLUTION NO. 05-06
WHEREAS, United Tribes of North Dakota ("United Tribes") is an association of the five federally recognized Tribes located in North Dakota, each of which has a government-to-government relationship with the United States established by Treaty, including the Three Affiliated Tribes, the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Spirit Lake Tribe and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, with a Board of Directors composed of the Chairman and one council member from each member Tribe; and
WHEREAS, United Tribes exists to assist in furthering the common goals of the North Dakota Indian Tribes and Nations; and
WHEREAS, From September 6-8, 2005, the Tribal Chairmen and the Tribal Council members from the five Indian Nations that are members of United Tribes of North Dakota, along with other Tribal leaders from the upper Great Plains, have been meeting at the Ninth Annual Intertribal Summit discussing issues of great importance to the Indian Tribal Nations of North Dakota and their members; and
WHEREAS, The vast majority of the Tribal Nations of the Great Plains are indigenous peoples who called themselves Lakota, Dakota or Nakota, a word meaning “friend or ally”, who non-Indians call collectively the Sioux people; and
<snip> ###########################
Spirit Lake Tribe Says No to Nickname
Associated Press - 09/01/2005 - Fargo Forum
FORT TOTTEN, N.D. – Members of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe, the closest tribe to the University of North Dakota campus, have voted to reject the school’s Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.
More than 70 people packed a tribal administrative building about 90 miles west of Grand Forks to discuss the nickname Tuesday night.
Opponents of UND’s nickname and Indian-head logo presented a draft resolution calling on the school to drop them.
“(The tribe) finds that the use of the “Fighting Sioux” and “Sioux” names by the University of North Dakota is both dishonorable and an affront to the dignity and well being of the members of Spirit Lake,” the resolution reads.
<snip>
###########################
UND President Downplays Logo Issue
University of North
Dakota President Charles Kupchella said there are groups that have devoted their
lives to opposing UND's "Fighting Sioux" nickname and logo, but most people
don't have a strong opinion about it.
"They don't think it's
really important when you look at things like unemployment, the need for
economic development, health care needs, education, methamphetamines - all the
big issues of the day - this one pales and shrinks almost to nothing in
comparison."
###########################
Opponent Says NCAA Will Allow ‘Fighting Sioux’
BISMARCK – The NCAA soon will rule in favor of the University of North Dakota using its Fighting Sioux nickname and logo despite resolutions of opposition from tribes in North and South Dakota, an outspoken advocate for changing them said Wednesday.
Leigh Jeanotte, the Director of American Indian Student Services, told a crowd of about 60 at the North Dakota Tribal Leaders and Tribal Councils Summit that the decision would only be a matter of time.
Seven Sioux tribes from the two states have resolutions opposing UND’s use of the nickname and logo.
<snip>
###########################
Poll Respondents Explain Answers
The Forum poll asked North Dakotans: “Do you agree or disagree that the University of North Dakota should use the ‘Fighting Sioux’ nickname and logo?”
For those who agreed with keeping the nickname, the majority said it was because they attend UND or are an alum, for reasons of tradition, because the nickname honors American Indians, and because they don’t find anything negative or derogatory in the nickname.
Here are some other reasons given by those who agree with keeping the nickname.
<snip>
###########################
UND groups say school not honest in NCAA appeal
The University of North Dakota was not honest in its appeal to retain the Fighting Sioux nickname, two campus groups wrote in an e-mail to the NCAA this week.
UND was one of 18 schools included in an NCAA decision last month limiting the use of American Indian nicknames and logos deemed hostile and abusive by the NCAA.
The university filed an appeal in late August, saying the NCAA – as it has for three other schools – should remove UND from that list.
UND argued it uses the logo and nickname with respect and has the support of many American Indian people.
<snip>
###########################
Parents’, Students’ Attitudes Differ
Parents of University of North Dakota students are more likely to oppose changing UND’s nickname than students who attend the university, a Forum poll shows.
In a statewide survey of 605 North Dakotans, 62 percent of those who identified themselves as parents of UND students said the school should keep its “Fighting Sioux” nickname and logo, even if the state’s Sioux tribes formally ask the university to change it.
<snip>
###########################
UND NICKNAME: Both sides meet
UND President Charles Kupchella said Thursday he walked away from a nearly two-hour long meeting with Spirit Lake Tribal Council leaders and other enrolled members of the tribe with a feeling that both sides understood each other better.
"Absolutely, whenever you have a chance to visit with real people and find out what their concerns are, it's always good," Kupchella said.
Whether that newfound understanding might lead to reaffirmed support for UND's Fighting Sioux nickname and logo, Kupchella said, the tribe gave him no indication.
Kupchella said he met with four of the six Spirit Lake Tribal Council members and eight or so other enrolled members of the tribe during the United Tribes Intertribal Council Summit in Bismarck. Spirit Lake tribal chairwoman Myra Pearson was attending another summit function and was unable to meet with Kupchella, he said.
<snip>
###########################
NCAA Ignored Relevant Facts, Law - Grand Forks Herald 9/9/05
GRAND FORKS - The National Collegiate Athletic Association's executive committee made its decision about American Indian nicknames contrary to facts and law, both of which earlier had been given to the NCAA.
The NCAA refers to stereotypical, racist, sacrilegious, discriminatory, hostile environment, and responses from tribes, as basis for their actions. But in the course of its investigation, the NCAA had sent correspondence to some 500 tribes and received only 50 responses. Then the organization claimed the opinion of 90 percent of those scant 50 tribes somehow proved general
<snip>
###########################
From ND Supreme Court:
UND's Tribal Judicial Institute awarded $965,477
The Department of Justice has awarded the Tribal Judicial Institute at the University of North Dakota School of Law a $965,477 grant. The grant, from the department's Bureau of Justice Assistance, is intended to support the institute's work providing technical assistance and training to tribal justice systems in the lower 48 states and Alaska.
The grant notice states that the grant will help the institute "continue to promote and support assistance to Indian tribes and Native American villages in the development of their tribal courts and traditional justice systems while preserving principles of sovereignty and government-to-government relations."
<snip>
###########################
Forum Editorial: Local Relief Efforts Win the
Roses The Forum - 09/06/2005
LEAFY SPURGE: To University of North Dakota officials who seem to have changed the way they view tribal endorsement or rejection of UND’s “Fighting Sioux” logo and nickname. Not long ago the school was making the argument that at least one Sioux tribal council supported the name, which lent credence to the university’s determination to keep the name. But when leaders of that same tribe reversed course and came out against the logo, a UND spokesman said the school was not “hanging its hat on any existing or in-play resolutions of any tribe.” Now the school says the contentious issue is a matter of a relationship with American Indians as individuals.
Whether one wants to keep the Fighting Sioux name or scrap it, UND’s malleable position regarding American Indian support is not credible.
Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper’s Editorial Board.
<snip>
###########################
NICKNAME: Tribal chair: UND has done 'a good job' Turtle Mountain leader says he's not an opponent of 'Fighting Sioux' nickname, logo
The chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa said Thursday that UND has done "a good job" in its use of the "Fighting Sioux" nickname and Indian-head logo, and that nickname opponents and media have erroneously reported his stance.
Ken Davis, in a prepared statement, said a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation lumped him in with other state tribal leaders who've given verbal commitment to draft resolutions against UND's use of the nickname. The tribes are expected to oppose UND's appeal of an NCAA decision to bar teams with "hostile or abusive" nicknames from hosting tournaments. The decision also would ban UND and 17 other schools from wearing their nicknames and any American Indian imagery in postseason play after Feb. 1.
<snip>
###########################
Summit of Tribes to Debate Mascots
BISMARCK – North Dakota American Indian tribes gathering for a summit in Bismarck next week will discuss the issue of team mascots during one session.
David Gipp, president of United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, said he added the panel to the meeting agenda after attending the Spirit Lake Sioux Nation meeting this week in Fort Totten. Members voted against the continued use of the Fighting Sioux name by University of North Dakota athletic teams. The Spirit Lake Sioux gave its blessing five years ago.
The NCAA recently asked colleges with Indian nicknames to quit using them.
The following day, UND President Charles Kupchella speaks on “Addressing the higher education needs of tribal nations.”
<snip>
###########################
N.D.’s 5 Tribes Oppose Nickname at UND
North Dakota’s five Indian tribes have banded together against the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname.
A unanimous vote Thursday by the10-member board of the United Tribes of North Dakota marks the first time the state’s five Indian tribes have collectively opposed the nickname, said David Gipp, a board staff member and president of the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck.
<snip>
###########################
Forum editorial: UND Logo Dispute No Big Deal?
The Forum’s poll on the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux logo (page one, Sept. 9) had a couple of surprises and a couple of confirmations of long-standing opinions.
Among the surprises was a finding that most North Dakotans, including American Indians, would not withdraw support for UND if the school kept the nickname and logo. The converse also was true: If the moniker were scrapped, support for the school would not slip.
<snip>
###########################
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Sioux City stays if UND Sioux goes
Grand Forks Herald September 14, 2005
I hesitated to wade into the debate about the NCAA's recent ruling regarding UND's logo. I hesitated because so much already has been said so many times over - whew. Yet, there is a need to clarify why the names of cities and rivers are different from the "Fighting Sioux" nickname and logo. My other concern is about the surveys that seem to be treated as real evidence.
UND President Charles Kupchella and former UND president Tom Clifford say we have place names such as Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Big Sioux River and Little Sioux River. So why not Fighting Sioux?
Well, Mr. Presidents, it's the difference between buildings, cities, rivers and human beings. I see no city or river feeling insulted when a student stands beside it, cupping his hands and yelling, "Big Sioux River, you suck." Rivers hardly babble at the thought, and a city on the receiving end of such a slur might belch only a little pollution.
<snip>
*********************************************
7.) The Forum, Church Trial Ends Without a Decision
By Dave Forster The Forum - 09/03/2005
The trial between a woman and the Catholic Diocese of Fargo ended with a hung jury Friday in a case alleging gender discrimination.
Judge John Irby sent jurors home about 8:30 p.m. after they spent the day deliberating. The final count had two members holding out in favor of the plaintiff, Melissa Enebo, who sued the diocese after she was fired in June 1999.
Enebo, 40, sought about $268,000 from the diocese for wage losses and emotional distress. Her lawsuit accused the diocese of firing her because she had a child out of wedlock, leading to her claims of discrimination by gender, pregnancy and marital status.
<snip>
*********************************************
8.) The Forum, Advocates Tout Living Wage
By Craig McEwen The Forum - 09/07/2005
About two-dozen people gathered Tuesday urging Fargo-Moorhead area employers to start paying a living wage.
You have to have a livable wage in order to live, said Moorhead Councilwoman Diane Wray Williams.
Williams has been trying to convince the Moorhead City Council to raise the $7.50-per- hour wage floor that companies receiving city tax breaks must pay to workers.
The gap between low and high wages is widening, Williams said. The reality is that low wages don’t pay the bills.
<snip>
*********************************************
9.) The Bismarck Tribune, Indian Guide Quite a Handful
Leo Tolstoy's epic
masterpiece "War and Peace" tops the list of Veronica Velarde Tiller's favorite
books.
Tiller, president
of Tiller Research Inc., led a 20-member research team to create the new,
improved and expanded second edition to "Tiller's Guide to Indian Country," a
one-stop encyclopedic tool that should grace every library shelf across the
country.
<snip>
*********************************************
10.) Bismarck Tribune, Teacher Reject Contract
<snip>
*********************************************
11.) The Forum, Bruce Brovold Letter: Getting to Bridge the Bigger Problem
The Forum - 09/02/2005
I am responding to Helen Rudie letter: “Bridge has been good for walkers,” published Aug. 22.
Yes, I agree with her that the new Main Avenue bridge is a beautiful bridge for walkers. With the history of the Red River inlayed in the sidewalks, the beautiful brick designs, the beautiful flowers.
It is a shame that people in wheelchairs, handicapped scooters or people in walkers, that can’t raise their legs to get over curbs, cannot get to this new bridge. The builders of this bridge were kind enough to put wheelchair access sidewalks leading to the streets on the new bridge, but failed to put wheelchair access on the other side of Second Street, on the corners of Main Avenue. Therefore, the new bridge is inaccessible for anyone coming down Main Avenue in a wheelchair or handicapped scooter or walker.
<snip>
*********************************************
12.) The Forum, Judge’s Ruling Split in Arrest Case
A retired police officer and the city of Fargo must pay damages for wrongly accusing a man of a crime.
The police were not motivated by race, however, and they did not conspire against Michael Huynh, East Central District Judge Steven Marquart ruled.
The decision reached attorneys Wednesday, eight days after the close of Huynh’s Cass County trial against retired officer Larry Kensinger and the city.
Marquart ordered the city and Kensinger to pay $16,900 in damages, plus costs.
<snip>
*********************************************
13.) The Forum, F-M Protesters Gather in Support of Sheehan
By Sherri Richards
A mother of two young adult sons, Laurie Baker of Moorhead knows Cindy Sheehan is acting with the heart of a mother.
“She wasn’t trying to be a movement,” Baker said of the anti-war protester, whose son, Casey, died in Iraq.
But Sheehan’s three-week protest in Crawford, Texas, has sparked more than a thousand vigils across the country, including a weekly peace rally in Fargo-Moorhead.
“We needed that mother’s voice, that woman’s voice, to be the catalyst,” Baker said Sunday afternoon, waving to cars passing by.
<snip>
*********************************************
14.)
The NDSU Spectrum, Anti-War Coalition Holds
Protest By Kristy A.
Simmons <snip>
*********************************************
15.) The Times-Record, Valley City Diners Enjoy Kurdish Food, Friendship
By Carla Kelly,
Times-Record Staff Writer
Sometimes - in love, love, or Las
Vegas - you just get lucky. Sunday afternoon, some of us hit the culinary
jackpot.
From the lamb roasted in the fire
pit, to the baklava and dates, we knew we were eating better than anyone in
Valley City. Probably better than anyone in North Dakota. Shoot, we ate better
than anyone in America on Sunday night.
*********************************************
16.) Rapid City Journal, Standing Rock Tribe has New School
Rapid City Journal 8/27/05 FORT YATES, N.D. (AP)
Some of the
flooring has yet to be installed. Marker boards, teacher desks, carpets and the
principal's new chair have yet to arrive. But students and staff are still happy
about the new Standing Rock Middle School. The 218 enrolled sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders on Standing Rock Indian reservation will share the 77,000-square-foot building, which replaces one that was too small.
<snip>
*********************************************
17.) The Forum, Legislators to Determine How to Handle Grievances by N.D. Workers
By Patrick Springer
A legislative committee formed to review North Dakota’s workers’ compensation system will meet Monday to decide how it will hear workers’ grievances.
The interim committee – which can only hear complaints from workers who have exhausted their appeals – plans to meet quarterly before the 2007 session.
Monday’s meeting at the Capitol in Bismarck will be strictly organizational. The agenda calls for determining procedures and reviewing the law that established the panel.
<snip>
View Article
18.) The Forum, Other Views: Workers, Beware of WSI
By Judy Arneson
This incident has not hit the newspaper before but after reading the latest articles (July 30), I couldn’t resist informing other readers of WSI (Workforce Safety and Insurance (formerly Workman’s Comp) judgment calls.
My son was injured on the job four years ago and hasn’t worked since. His injury was to his hand, arm, shoulder and nerve damage to his neck. Because the initial surgery was botched, he had to endure multiple surgical procedures to correct it. One of the doctors involved stated that this could be an ongoing, lifelong issue.
He has had several sessions with therapies of all sorts. At the present, he cannot sit or stand for more than a half hour to an hour before he has severe pain in the neck and head.
Several attorneys were contacted; none would take his case. I have contacted the insurance commissioner, but he doesn’t handle this insurance, so referred me to the governor. I also contacted Sen. Gary Lee, R-Casselton, N.D.. When he finally returned my call, his most ingenious statement was “I recall that his wife is a social worker, she should know how to get him on some kind of disability.”
<snip>
*********************************************
Agency Village, S.D.
Tammy DeCoteau devotes much of her time thinking about how she can coax children into doing something that came naturally to their great-grandparents: speak in their native Dakota language.
In recent years, she’s been the driving force behind a series of efforts to expose young people on the Lake Traverse Reservation to their ancestral language in appealing ways.
Those efforts have included recording popular children’s songs and publishing illustrated phrase books and nursery rhymes in Dakota Sioux. The latest project is a collaboration of young and old: recording a rap song with Dakota lyrics and widely distributing copies.
<snip>
********************************************* Events *********************************************
A calendar of events for September is available on the NDHRC web site at http://www.ndhrc.org/Events/Calendar/2005/Sept.htm.
*********************************************
20.) New American Community Forum September 17
The Fargo Police Department in collaboration with The People’s Diversity Forum invite you to a community forum
Discuss Concerns * Ask Questions * Relate Experiences * Find Solutions * Get Answers
Be Heard Saturday September 17th, 2005 1-4 PM Community Health Building 306 4th Street North Fargo
This meeting is an opportunity for you to let us know about your experiences and your concerns involving incidents that may have been racially motivated.
It is our opportunity to answer your questions on how to report these types of incidents. We will also address questions on current laws and legal requirements.
If you have any questions, concerns or special needs, please contact Officer Julie Hinkle at 701-730-8859 or David Ideele, The People’s Diversity Forum, at 701-235-5440 or 701-293-7287.
*********************************************
21.) You’ll Never Walk Alone- Artist Reach Out to Other Artists Performance
Empire Arts Center in Grand Forks, Monday and Tuesday, September 19-20 7 PM both evenings.
A free-will donations will be taken at the door in lieu of tickets. People interested in giving further donations or artists who wish to become involved in performance or donating art may call the Empire Arts Center at 701-746-5500.
*********************************************
|
