Archive for November 17th, 2009

17
Nov

Yaqui warriors laid to rest with honor a century after massacre

   Posted by: admin    in Indian History, Yaqui

Warning: This is a harrowing story at first, that – belatedly – has as happy an ending as possible, under the circumstances.

As the Telegraph of London reports here, the brutalized remains of a dozen Yaqui Indian warriors have finally been buried in a tribal ceremony in Mexico’s Sonora state.

The people died a terrible death. They were among 150 Yaqui men, women and children massacred by Meixcan troops in 1902. History holds that some were clubbed to death to save ammunition. Others appeared to have their ears sliced off as trophies.

As if that weren’t bad enough, an American antrophogist named Ales Hrdlicka collected a dozen of their decaying bodies form the American Museum of Natural History.

Tom Leonard’s story reports that Hrdlicka is said to have beheaded the corpses with a machete and boiled them to remove the flesh. Once the remains arrived in New York, they went into storage and stayed there.

It’s the first time, according to the museum, that it “turned over cultural patrimony to a foreign government that immediately returned it to the indigenous people.”

The tribe held a memorial ceremony at the museum on Central Park with incense, drums and chants.

“They would not be at peace with their souls and conscience until they got their people back to their land,” says Jose Antonio Pompa of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.

Read more about the tribal ceremonies upon the warriors’ return, here.

Gwen Florio

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17
Nov

Newsweek: Redskins fans “shouldn’t take out their jerseys and headdresses to celebrate quite yet.”

   Posted by: admin    in Sports

redskins1Newsweek’s By Krista Gesaman writes here that the litigation surrounding the Redskins is set to keep going.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court declined to review the case filed by Native Americans that challenges the Redskins team name and logo, saying it’s offensive.

An earlier federal court decision implied that the suit should have been filed earlier.

So, writes Gesaman, “ in August 2006, a group of Native Americans ranging in age from 18 to 24 filed an identical lawsuit, Blackhorse v. Pro Football, Inc, to challenge the offensive team name and logo issues without running into any time-limitation challenges.”

That suit was suspended while the other case was being resolved, but now it can move forward.

Team attorney Bob Raskopf says he doesn’t think the suit will pose any problems.

Philip Mause, an attorney who represents the Indian people involved in both cases, responds that “We feel very good about the upcoming case. The sentiment is turning around more and more in our favor.”

Gwen Florio

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17
Nov

Show me the money. Reports wonders: Where’s the nearly $5 million from Shiprock Navajo Fair?

   Posted by: admin    in Navajo

ShiprockA report by the Farmington (N.M.) Daily Times raises questions about the reported $4 million to $5 million raised at last month’s Shiprock Navajo Fair.

No one knows where the money from the nearly century-old four-day fair goes and there are legal questions about the credibility of the fair board as a tax-exempt organization, the Times’ Alysa Landry reports here.

Although admission and entry fees are higher than those at the neighboring San Juan County fair, the Shiprock Fair’s buildings are in disrepair, parking is scarce, and there are no permanent bathrooms or drinking fountains. The fair attracts about 100,000 people annually.

Landry writes that lawmakers and Navajo Nation citizens have expressed concern about the the apparent lack of financial accountability.

Former Shiprock Chapter President Duane “Chili” Yazzie says the fair board hasn’t released any financial reports “in recent history. They have been very secretive about it. Through the years there have been many allegations, suspicions and stories that the fair sponsors have personally profited.”

Fair Board President Frank Yabeny did not return repeated calls from the paper.

Gwen Florio

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17
Nov

Navajo Nation attorney general seeks special prosecutor for probe into President Joe Shirley Jr., others

   Posted by: admin    in Navajo

Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr.

Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr.

Here’s the entire text of the story just moved by the Associated Press:

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — An investigation into whether the leader of the country’s largest American Indian reservation and others broke any laws in connection with two companies that operated on the Navajo Nation is moving forward.

Tribal Department of Justice attorney Henry Howe told lawmakers last week that Attorney General Louis Denetsosie soon will file a petition with the Window Rock District Court to appoint a special prosecutor.

The lawmakers placed Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. on administrative leave last month. The move came a week after they met in closed session to discuss alleged legal violations arising from tribal contracts with separate Internet and manufacturing companies.

Investigators hired by the council compiled the reports, but they haven’t been made public.

Gwen Florio

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