Members of the Karuk Tribe blockaded a logging crew along the Klamath River in Northern California on Wednesday after learning the U.S. Forest Service had not imposed safeguards to protect a tribal religious site.

Tribal spokesman Craig Tucker said the tribe spent three years working with the Forest Service to be sure the thinning project near Orleans, Calif., did not cut big trees or run heavy equipment where world renewal ceremonies are performed, only to see it ignore the agreement.

“We’re not saying don’t cut any trees,” said Tucker. “We are saying just do what you agreed to that we spent three years working out, and stressed every step of the way how important this place is from the tribe’s religious perspective.’

Six Rivers National Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelley said it was an oversight by the Forest Service that the restrictions were not written into the contract telling the logging crew what to do.

“This was just an oversight,” Kelley said, adding no one would be disciplined. “When the tribe brought it to our attention the first week of logging, we started working with the tribe to mitigate impacts.”

Kelley said the Forest Service had agreed to require a smaller kind of equipment to rig cables that haul logs up the hill to the loading area, which did not require anchoring to large trees that would be scarred and later cut down. But that was not specified in the contract.

Work in the ceremonial area has finished, and the logging crew will be resuming work in other areas, Kelley said.

Tucker said it was unacceptable to characterize the problem as an oversight.

“That is like saying, ‘Oops, we’re sorry, we didn’t mean to bomb the wedding, it was collateral damage,’” he said.

Shinnecock Indian tribal leaders first tried to open a casino on their reservation in Southampton in 2003, but they were told the Bureau of Indian Affairs must first formally recognize them as a tribe.

The preliminary approval received Tuesday sets off a review period that could bring final recognition by next spring.

Shinnecock leaders have said they are willing to negotiate an appropriate site for a casino, either on Long Island or in the Catskills upstate.

“We’re not even going to address it tonight,” Randy King told The Associated Press in a telephone interview when asked about a casino. When pressed, he said the tribe would “work closely with state, local officials and congressional leaders” on the subject.

“It’s a great exhale that the tribe is doing, but we’ve always known who we are,” King said.

James Eleazer Jr., a former trustee, said tribal members were gathering at its community center to celebrate with music and song. “Everybody is just extremely excited. This is long overdue,” he said.

“The Shinnecock petitioner has met all seven mandatory criteria for federal acknowledgment,” BIA official George Skibine said in a statement.

He said the criteria included that the Shinnecocks have been continuously identified as an American Indian entity since 1900; have been a distinct community since historical times; and have maintained political influence over members.

About 500 Shinnecock tribal members live in modest homes on a 1,200-acre reservation in Southampton. Nearby, some of the richest people in the world, including Wall Street power brokers and Hollywood celebrities, have sprawling estates worth tens of millions of dollars.

BIA officials reviewed ancestral records and other historical documents of the tribe before determining whether the Shinnecocks met the recognition criteria. The tribe had sought to circumvent the federal approval process by seeking recognition in federal court, but a judge rejected that effort in 2007.

Even with federal recognition, the tribe needs additional federal and state approvals before operating a casino. In addition to being able to operate a casino, federal recognition makes the Shinnecocks eligible for federal grants and other funding.

The Shinnecocks, whose earlier plans for a casino in Southampton sent shudders through their wealthy neighbors in 2003, reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Interior last May that sped up the process for formal recognition by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tribe has been seeking federal recognition since 1978 but stepped up its efforts in recent years.

Tribal leaders have been reticent about discussing their plans for a casino but previously indicated they are willing to negotiate with state leaders on a location. Belmont Park in neighboring Nassau County, as well as various sites on eastern Long Island, have been floated as possible locations for gambling.

The Shinnecocks’ reservation is situated at a narrow strip of waterfront land in Southampton where traffic nightmares — once only an issue for summertime visitors — have become standard year-round.

The BIA also found that the nation “has a governing document describing its governance procedures and membership criteria; and has provided a list of its current members who descend from an historical Indian tribe and are not members of another federally recognized tribe.”

When the Shinnecocks broke ground in 2003 on their proposed Southampton casino, town officials raced into federal court and got an injunction to stop it. Since then, Suffolk County officials formed a task force to study the issue; County Executive Steve Levy said he is waiting for the results of that study before taking a position.

“I think they are well aware and recognize that putting gaming at the reservation is troublesome,” said Suffolk County Legislator Wayne Horsely, who helped organize the task force. “The quality of life and traffic would be just awful.”

“One is headed toward the abyss,” Nenadich said during Saturday’s introduction to the XI Native Gathering of the Americas, held at the Carbondale Recreation and Community Center. “It is going full speed and has no driver.

“The other is headed toward the salvation of humanity,” he said. “It is moving more slowly, and stopping all the time. It is the train of forgiveness, of humbleness and of understanding. The driver of that train is the indigenous people.”

Most of society is on the wrong train, he said.

But with more gatherings like the one he has helped organize for the past 11 years may come greater unity of indigenous people. In time, perhaps that will lead to broader understanding, and maybe more people will change trains, he said.

Nenadich started the Centro de Estudios Indigenas de las Americas, which began convening the gatherings each year.

He related his story of how he once was very ill, and as part of his healing process in the mid-1990s said he heard a calling to help unify indigenous people up and down the American continents.

The three-day gathering, which was cut short Sunday evening due to the snowstorm, brought close to 100 people to Carbondale from as far north as Alaska and as far south as Argentina and Chile.

Among those representing “Turtle Island,” a Native reference to the lower 48 contiguous states of the United States, were several western nations, including Ute, Cherokee, Arapaho and Navajo.

Attendees took part in blessing and healing ceremonies at the Carbondale Nature Park, as well as the nearby Sustainable Settings Ranch. They also met for discussions at the community center related to economic development, exercising of sovereignty among Native American nations, cultural integrity and human dignity, and concerns related to ecosystem destruction.

A major thrust of the conference was the founding of the new International Foundation for the Advancement of Indigenous People, for which several fundraisers were held over the weekend as well.

The community was treated to an opening concert of world music Friday night, and Native American dancing, singing and drumming at a special Cultural Evening held Saturday.

“It was through the good will of so many people who worked together to make this happen,” Nenadich said.

The weekend gathering, which followed meeting of tribal leaders in Fort Collins late last week, was originally to have been in Denver until plans fell through in early November.

Nenadich was put in touch with several people in the Roaring Fork Valley, including Rita Marsh, who runs the Davi Nikent organization in Carbondale, and valley resident Sue Gray.

“The response from the community has been awesome, and it shows you can put on an international event in three weeks,” Marsh said. “And, to have it here in the heartland of Ute country proved to be deeply meaningful.”

Ute elder Clifford Duncan said the high Rockies were a favorite place for the Ute people, until they were removed to the reservations 128 years ago following the Meeker Massacre.

“There are many sacred sites here that are still being used — connecting points of our ceremonies,” he said. “There is a connection to the land here in a spiritual way.”

Gray said she feels a connection to indigenous cultures, even though she is not indigenous herself.

“I felt called by the heart to the healing and love for humanity, and love for the earth that Ramon and his organization represents,” she said.

The week’s activities conclude with another fundraiser for the newly formed foundation, an Evening of Music at Steve’s Guitars in Carbondale tonight beginning at 7:30 p.m. Donations will be accepted.

The Cobell case, filed in 1996, alleged the government had mismanaged billions of dollars in income from natural resources on Native American land.

Under the deal the interior department will share $1.4bn among 300,000 tribe members as compensation and set up a $2bn fund to buy land from them.

President Barack Obama said it was “an important step towards reconciliation”.

“I heard from many in Indian Country that the Cobell Suit remained a stain on the nation-to-nation relationship I value so much,” Mr Obama told Congress.

He said he had pledged as a presidential candidate to resolve the issue and was proud the step had finally been made.

The secretary of the interior department also said it would aid reconciliation.

“This is an historic, positive development for Indian country,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement released by the department.

Contentious case

The dispute dates back to the 1887 Dawes Act, which seized Indian land – much of it rich in natural resources – and gave it to white-owned companies to exploit.
Elouise Cobell in New York (8 December 2009)

Under the Act, the land was divided into plots and each Indian family was assigned a parcel of land, a concept alien to their culture in which all land belonged to the tribe.

The idea was for them to be “compensated” for the use of their land; however disputes arose almost immediately, perpetuated as ever smaller parcels of land were inherited by new generations.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the parties had tried to reach an agreement “many, many times”.

“But today we turn the page. This settlement is fair to the plaintiffs, responsible for the US, and provides a path forward for the future,” he said.

Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfoot tribe and who filed the complaint in 1996, welcomed the settlement, saying the administration had listened to Native American concerns.

But she said there was “no doubt” that the final amount was “significantly” less than what those affected actually deserved.

The plaintiffs had claimed they were owed $47bn.

On its website the department for the interior said that the litigation had included hundreds of motions, dozens of rulings and appeals, and several trials.

The agreement must be approved both by Congress and a federal judge.

It has also become world-renowned as a New Age metaphysical center, attracting seekers and followers of an assortment of spiritual pathways, many of whom believe healing energy is released from “vortexes” that aresaid to be scattered among the rock formations.

Scores of self-proclaimed mystics, healers, channelers of past life experiences (and aliens), sacred touch massage therapists, wind whisperers and vision quest guides offer their services, often for a hefty price. Many of these spiritual pathways are based somewhat loosely around Native American traditions, including the ceremonial sweat lodge.

But the deaths of two people in a sweat lodge last week at Angel Valley, a New Age spiritual retreat about six miles south of West Sedona, is causing more soul-searching among New Age practitioners and concern among town leaders.

“We are severely impacted by the fact that this happened,” said Sedona’s mayor, Rob Adams. “We need to get to the bottom of what happened.”

Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown, N.Y., and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee, died on Thursday after collapsing inside the Angel Valley sweat lodge. Three other people were airlifted in critical condition to Flagstaff Medical Center.

“The people in the field will take a close look at their operations, absolutely,” said Marcus, an intuitive counselor — a kind of spiritual guide — who goes by only his first name. “This is ridiculous, it shouldn’t have happened.”

At least seven other people have died in ceremonial sweat lodges since 1993 in the United States, England and Australia, according to news accounts compiled by Alton Carroll, an adjunct professor of history at San Antonio College who also moderates the Web site Newagefraud.org.

James Arthur Ray, a self-help expert from Carlsbad, Calif., led what was billed as five-day “spiritual warrior” experience at Angel Valley, which concluded with a tightly packed sweat lodge ceremony. Participants paid about $9,000 each for the weeklong retreat, which included seminars, a 36-hour fast and solo experiences in the forest.

The authorities say that at any one time 55 to 65 people were packed for a two-hour period into a 415-square foot structure that was 53 inches high at the center and 30 inches high on the perimeter. Mr. Ray’s employees built the wood-frame lodge, which was wrapped in blankets and plastic tarps. Hot rocks were brought into the lodge and doused with water. Mr. Ray, who conducted the ceremony, left the area on Thursday after declining to give a statement to the police.

Sheriff Steve Waugh of Yavapai County said a death investigation would continue for several weeks. Mr. Ray, the Angel Valley owners, Michael and Amayra Hamilton, and all the participants are part of the investigation, the sheriff said. The results from autopsies that were conducted Friday have not been released and results from toxicology tests are not expected for several weeks.

Dr. Carroll, who is partly of Mescalero Apache descent, said the Angel Valley sweat lodge was the “best example I have seen, sadly, in a long time of why it is extremely dangerous to conduct sweat lodge ceremonies without proper training.”

Katherine Lash, a co-owner of Spiritquest Retreat in Sedona and a veteran of more than 100 sweat lodge ceremonies, said she had never heard of a sweat being conducted with as many people as were involved in the Angel Valley event. “In my experience it has been very rare to have more than 20 people,” she said.

Limiting the number of people inside a sweat lodge is critical because the person leading the event is supposed to carefully monitor the mental and physical condition of each participant, experts said.

“It’s important to know who is responsible for your spiritual and physical safety in that lodge,” said Vernon Foster, a member of the Klamath-Modoc tribe who regularly leads ceremonial sweat lodge events in central Arizona.

Mr. Foster said native people would use only natural materials in the construction of a sweat lodge. “We would never use plastic to cover our lodges,” he said. “The lodge has to breathe, that steam has to go someplace.”

Sheriff’s office investigators are conducting tests to determine whether any toxins were released during the ceremony. The authorities said sandalwood “was thrown on the rocks to give the effect of incense.” A 2007 study by the National University of Singapore on the effects of smoke emitted by sandalwood incense published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials found that “continuous and prolonged exposure to incense smoke is of concern.”

Ms. Brown, said friends in Cabo San Lucas, Mex., where she lived and worked as a interior house painter, was in excellent physical condition and regularly practiced yoga and enjoyed surfing. “She was very beautiful and a very, very exceptional and unique person,” said Todd Clouser, a musician from Boston who met Ms. Brown three years ago.

Mr. Clouser said he was not surprised that Ms. Brown would attend a sweat lodge. “It was totally up her alley,” he said.

Mayor Adams said that Sedona believed that people should be free to follow their spiritual path and that metaphysical services would continue to be an important part of the area’s economy. But, he said he shared concerns of some Native Americans who complain that non-natives are, at times, exploiting their sacred ceremonial practices for profit.

“If it is simply to make money, then that’s another issue,” he said.

Grace Milliea said that in 40 years of crossing the Canada-U.S. border, she’s never had an issue with border control the way she did when she was pulled over earlier this month at the crossing between St. Stephen, N.B., and Calais, Me.

Millea was part of a group of more than 100 First Nations people who travelled to a camp in the U.S. to harvest blueberries for two weeks.

“When I passed the border control … as soon as he saw the [First Nation] status cards, he stepped out and he nodded his head to the other guys,” Milliea said.

“And I even said it in Mi’kmaq, I told my children that they’re going to pull us over.”
‘Had to be strong’

Milliea was travelling with her four children, and she said she could tell they were scared as they all waited in the border-control office.

“I was really scared, but I had to be strong for them, because I didn’t want them to break down and start crying,” she said.

Milliea said she only had First Nations status cards for herself and her children when she arrived at the border. That identification, she said, had been sufficient in the past when crossing into the United States.

Kevin Corsaro, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Control, said a status card with a photo affixed to it is sufficient to cross the border on land.

Another Elsipogtog member, Kevin Augustine, was also stopped and searched at the border. After he left the border crossing, he began talking to other First Nations people, and he found that many of them had been pulled over as well.

Augustine said he believes he was stopped at the border because of his ethnic background.

“They said, ‘These [status] cards are really not worth the paper they’re written on — [that] they could easily make copies of’,” he said.

“They were saying I’d have to prove my blood count the next time I go across. … They said I’d have to prove that I’m at least 50 per cent Indian.”

Corsaro said that everyone who crosses the border is subject to inspection, regardless of race or religious beliefs.

“If an individual feels they are being selected for any one of those reasons, I would recommend that they immediately speak to the shift supervisor at that port of entry and express their concerns,” Corsaro said.

A NAFTA tribunal announced its decision Tuesday to uphold state and federal actions that would regulate hard-rock or open-pit mining by GoldCorp Inc. (formerly Glamis Gold) at an area northwest of Yuma known as Indian Pass. Tribal officials heralded the decision as a crucial obstacle to the company’s intent to build the mine, but those officials stressed that their battle still isn’t over.

“The (decision) shows that the tribunal understood that the Indian Pass area is a sacred area to the Quechan people, worthy of protection from hard rock mining,” said Mike Jackson Sr., president of the Quechan Tribe. “After battling the mining company for nearly 15 years, it is good to have this decided. We encourage Glamis (now GoldCorp) to take immediate steps to put the matter behind all of us.”

GoldCorp, which is based in Canada, had asked the North American Free Trade Agreement tribunal to intervene after the state of California and the United States announced decisions to regulate hard-rock or open-pit mining at the Glamis site, according to Courtney Ann Coyle, attorney for the tribe.

GoldCorp stressed Tuesday that by not allowing the mine to be built, California and the U.S. are hurting their own own economics.

“We are certainly disappointed, particularly in light of continued economic challenges facing the country and rising jobless rates,” said Jeff Wilhoit, vice president for investor relations. “We’re disappointed that the U.S. has decided to turn its back on an opportunity to create skilled jobs.”

Wilhoit stressed that mining operations at Indian Pass would not involve the negative impact that the Quechan Tribe fears.

“We have proven time and time again through our mining projects throughout North America that we operate first and foremost with respect to the community in which our mines are located, giving high consideration to the very highest environmental standards. That is our track record,” Wilhoit said. “There is a legacy connected to gold mining that simply doesn’t apply anymore. The technology used today has an extremely low impact. We’re disappointed that California will not be able to participate in a responsible and modern, 21st century gold mining project.”

Indian Pass, which is considered a sacred area by the Quechan, is located east of Ogilby Road adjacent to the Picacho State Recreation Area.

“We are very pleased to see that an international tribunal recognized the obligation of state and local governments to respect indigenous cultural rights,” Coyle said. “We sincerely hope that the tribe’s actions will pave the way for increased participation by other indigenous peoples in international economic law disputes.”

GoldCorp’s request for a mining permit was denied by the Clinton administration in 2001, according to Coyle. The Bush administration later rescinded the denial, Coyle explained, but an actual permit was never granted.

The land remains undeveloped and is administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Wilhoit declined to predict if GoldCorp will pursue plans to mine at Indian Pass. He said Tuesday’s decision was issued via a 350-page statement, which the company’s lawyers will need time to consider.

Coyle stressed that any further attempts to mine Indian Pass would be purely “foolhardy.”

“GoldCorp would now have to reinitiate the permit process, which the tribe would strenuously object to. I doubt the Obama administration would grant it,” Coyle said. “We are still going to have to forge a solution to protect this area for the long run. This isn’t really over, but this is still a great political victory.”

Wilton Rancheria is near Elk Grove in southern Sacramento County. About 600 people belong to the tribe.

U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled Monday that the tribe had been illegally stripped of tribal status back in 1958 by the controversial U.S. Rancheria Act.

While repeal of the law’s impact began to gain traction in 1970, it has taken until this week for the Wilton Miwoks to prevail against the federal government.

“This is a historic day for all of the members of the Wilton Rancheria,” says Mary Tarango, co-chair of the Interim Tribal Council established in 1999. “Today marks the end of a long struggle for justice, and the beginning of an exciting new opportunity to bring unity and prosperity to our people.”

The settlement says that the Interior Department “…agrees that the tribe was not lawfully terminated, and the rancheria’s assets were not distributed, in accordance with…” the Rancheria Act.

The ancestors and some surviving members of the Wilton Rancheria lived for many years on their land bordering the Cosumnes River until 1958. The tribal members are descendants of the Plains Miwok who lived in the Sacramento Valley.

Marisela Nuñez, Yaqui enrollment director, said the tribe’s estimated 16,000 members can apply for enhanced cards featuring electronic verification of the holder’s identity, tribal status and U.S. citizenship.

Beginning June 1, U.S. citizens entering the country from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda will be required to present a passport or other document recognized under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, a program designed to stiffen border security.

To date, only a few U.S. Indian tribes have been authorized to use enrollment cards for border entry.

The largest population of Yaquis resides on a reservation near Tucson, about 60 miles from the Mexican border. Other groups are based in satellite communities in Pima and Maricopa counties.

Nuñez said many members maintain close cultural, religious and social ties with the estimated 40,000 Yaquis in Sonora, where the U.S. band originated.

An agreement signed Tuesday in federal court in Central Islip stipulates that the Department of the Interior will make a decision by Dec. 15 on the tribe’s request for federally recognized status.

Shinnecock leaders, hopeful of getting that status by mid-2010 or sooner, say all signs point to approval – so much so that they are fast-tracking talks for a casino on Long Island.

Only tribes that are recognized by the federal government can operate Class II gambling facilities with video lottery terminals on their reservations. But the Shinnecocks want a larger casino off their reservation with a wider selection of casino gambling. That requires state and federal approvals.

“We finally see light at the end of the tunnel,” Randy King, chairman of the Shinnecock trustees, said from his weathered double-trailer headquarters on the reservation Wednesday. “It’s been a 30-year, arduous journey for many of our elders, living and deceased. We finally have it in our grasp.”

A spokeswoman from the Bureau of Indian Affairs didn’t return repeated calls for comment Wednesday, and a spokesman for the Justice Department, which also signed the agreement, declined to comment. But one government source said, “It looks like this is going to speed [recognition] up for them.”

A lot riding on tribe status

There’s much at stake. Federal status means access to Housing and Urban Development funds, educational and health care grants, and programs and subsidies to form a reservation police force and court system. As it now stands, said King, banks won’t write mortgages for home renovation or new construction, and the 500 tribal members who live on the reservation do so without access to town or county police and other essential services.

“We’re surrounded by one of the wealthiest communities in the country, and they’ve been hard-hit,” King said. “Just imagine what we’ve been going through.”

Whatever the social benefits for the tribe, discussions quickly turn to where and how the Shinnecocks would open a downstate casino.

Letter to the governor

In a letter to Gov. David A. Paterson on Tuesday, Shinnecock trustees said, “We trust that you will recognize that it’s time for the state of New York to sit at the table with us and conclude earnest negotiations to ensure that our quest for economic justice is not delayed any longer.”

They added, “We are fully prepared to pursue that economic justice, including gaming opportunities, so that our people have the housing, health care, schools and jobs that we need.”

Paterson’s response Wednesday was noncommittal. Spokesman Morgan Hook said the governor would “monitor” the petition’s status. “At this time, it is premature to discuss New York’s position with respect to a possible casino for the Shinnecock Indian Nation,” he said.

Shinnecock trustees said the tribe at this point was not focusing on any location for a casino.

King said the Shinnecocks’ preference is to open any casino in a region that wants it, including as far away as Belmont or Aqueduct racetracks as well as in Suffolk. Other locations discussed have included the EPCAL facility in Calverton and the scrapped Shoreham nuclear power plant. Tribal leaders said they had not heard Shoreham mentioned before and laughed at the suggestion.

Suffolk leaders appeared ready to push for a casino on their home turf, pointing to the thousands of jobs and tax income it would draw.

“They’re a Suffolk tribe and this belongs in Suffolk,” said Suffolk Legis. Wayne Horsley. He formed a task force to look at the gambling issue with the hope of keeping a operations in Suffolk.