Here we are…the Ojibwa Indian Club in 1979. Do you know any of these guys?
Here are some names (see if you can find them):
Melvin Monette, John Olson, Duane Poitra, Buck Herman, Cory and Curtis Delorme, Julie Lattergrass, Julia Henry, Curtis Lunday, Adrienne Laverdure, Dean LaFromboise, Lisa Malaterre, Audra Herman, Roberta Delorme, Krissy Delorme, Tony Brunelle, Crocket Demontingny, Susan Bercier, Heath Gourneau, Tracy Grant…these are just a few.
It was a great year. We had a lot of fun.
Posted in Culture, Turtle Mountain World
I’ve always loved Walela…Rita Coolidge and crew. All of their songs have great meaning and spirit.
Just a few thoughts on the subject. What are your feelings about this?
Did you know tribal members are paying fuel taxes to the state on a regular basis when they shouldn;t be?
Why can’t we just go into our tribal gas stations, show our enrollment card when we purchase gasoline and have the taxes deducted at the till? This certainly shouldn’t be that hard to do. Why isn’t it being done?
Any ideas? What are our options?
Why aren’t the tribes in North Dakota doing something about this? Suggestions?
Come on you guys…DON’T BE BASHFULL!
Posted in Politics, Turtle Mountain World
I was one of Buffy’s original fans, and still love her music. She has a real important history for all Natives to know and understand. This award makes me proud and brings me joy. Buffy deserves it.
Thanks to Brenda Norrell of Censored Blog for the article. Brenda’s great…isn’t she.
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/10/canadian-aboriginal-music-awards-is.html
The resolution is making news. This is important. Please take time to read. There’s a sister post I made earlier, if you want to read more. People certainly need to look at this and understand what’s going on and how important the issue is. We certainly do not need to brush this one under the carpet…
The resolution is frustrating for some tribal members, who say the law was passed illegally.
“It was unconstitutionally considered,” said tribal member Andy Laverdure, who has acted as watchdog to tribal resolutions where he believes the tribe’s laws have been flouted. “It is my understanding this was considered behind closed doors. Closed-door considerations of resolutions are allowed in personnel matters and contract issues; they have privacy issues to them.
“For all other considerations, tribal council meetings are open to the public and held in a public accessible place. This was not. We had no published agenda, no three-day notice. It’s a clear violation of the tribal constitution.”
Once a tribal resolution is passed by the tribal council, it becomes law. It usually needs a stamp of approval through the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Laverdure said his main concern about the resolution is the manner in which it was adopted by the tribal council.
“If someone wants to propose or suggest a resolution of this type, it’s got to be done in open session. It needs to be transparent, on the council’s meeting agenda, so anybody who may want to discuss the issue can do so,” he said.
He questioned how often resolutions are passed behind closed doors.
“Is this an isolated incident, or has it been done before?” Laverdure said. “My main concern is that our constitution is followed because it’s our law.”
Laverdure also questioned the legality of the resolution.
“It goes directly against Roe v. Wade and impacts the Violence Against Women Act,” he said. “I also have a bit of concern that it’s a resolution that’s religion-based. It’s more or less forcing a religious preference on tribal members. That’s really difficult to talk about, we do have a large Christian population, but we also have other people on our reservation that have different beliefs.”
Posted in Music, Politics, Uncategorized
Turtle Mountain Community College…
Posted in Culture, Music, Turtle Mountain World
I’m really sad today. I found out our Tribe passed a resolution against abortion and supports a Pro-Life agenda. A copy of the resolution can be found on page 7A of the Turtle Mountain Times, October 20, 2008 edition.
The resolution is numbered TMBC0810-09-08. The meeting was held on September 17th and was adopted by an affirmed vote of four (4) in favor – Elmer Davis, Jr., GT Monette, Ernie Azure and Ted Henry. It was signed into law on Monday, September 29th by Tribal Chairman David “Doc” Brien. There were four councilmen not at the meeting – Jim Baker, Stuart LaFountain, Don Keplin and Clarence “Swede” Counts.
Here’s the “meat” of the resolution:
WHEREAS, the greater majority of enrolled members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians are Christians and quasi to our Native and French ancestry; and
WHEREAS, the Governing Body faithfully believes that life is sacred and begins at the moment of conception between a man and a woman and life to protected at all levels affirming natural law and reasoning; and
WHEREAS, Pro-life is a universal issue of common sense, moral righteousness for the common good of life; now
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Governing Body of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians hereby asserts its sovereign powers and proclaims the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, and other lands under the jurisdiction of the Tribe, as pro-life and anti-abortion.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that absolutely under no circumstances will abortions be performed and allowed with any private or public facility within the boundaries of the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation and other lands under the jurisdiction of the Tribe.
I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting the areas that concern me.
Logan Davis at the Turtle Mountain Times wrote that the resolution was agreed to unanimously, but it wasn’t. Logan Davis took journalistic liberty and reported incorrect information in the Times. Well, Logan needs to go. He doesn’t have what it takes to be editor of our tribal paper. I know the resolution did not have unanimous consent because I talked to Stuart LaFountain and found out that he disagrees with the resolution and has been having words with our Tribal Chair “Doc” Brien. Stuart has also been fighting with Logan because Logan did not report the story properly.
The resolution was adopted behind closed doors. It was not publicly posted for three days, as is required. Only contractual and personnel issues are handled behind closed doors because of privacy concerns. The resolution needs to be rescinded based on this fact alone. Our constitution specifically requires open government and transparency.
Questions: Who proposed the resolution and which Tribal Councilmen brought it forward? Why was the resolution considered behind closed doors and not presented before the full council during a regularly scheduled meeting? Why did it take so long to publish the resolution?
What pisses me off is the fact that the Catholic Church is dictating to the Tribal Council what laws it should pass. When will this bull stop? The Tribal Council should be ashamed. The church should not be involved in politics. Bottom line.
A good friend of mine, Florence Kay Fiddler-Lovell contacted me yesterday by email and wrote:
Quoting a famous justice, “If today we tell women they cannot have an abortion, what is to stop us tomorrow from telling them they must?”. A dangerous decision, especially in Indian country where forced sterilizations took place so recently, how can we give away the rights to our own bodies so easily when we just so recently got them back.
She is right on. This is a dangerous precedent the tribe is embarking on.
What about Roe v Wade? What about the Violence Against Women Act? What about rape or incest?
What’s wrong with our tribe? It’s election time and they are pandering for the Catholic vote on our reservation, that’s for sure. It appears our Tribal Council chooses to concentrate on issues they shouldn’t be handling and forgets about important issues, like jobs and infrastructure.
We need to elect a responsible and responsive council…one that truly represents everyone. The above described resolution is a real reason we need to support candidates with true leadership abilities.
Think about it.
Posted in Politics, tribal newspapers
