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VOLUME 15, ISSUE 012
Distributed by Gary Night OwlEDITORIAL
By: Gary SmithO'siyo Brothers and Sister!
I am breaking several self imposed "rules". I am including an article in the editorial. The article included is about, yet another, act of utter racism by Montana Representative Ed Butcher. Butcher has made a career out of ignorant, anti-Indian remarks. Please hold your nose and read the following:
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070318/NEWS01/703180332/1002
BUTCHER DRAWS MORE FIRE FOR E-MAIL MESSAGE
By Alan Suderman
Associated Press Writer
HELENA- Rep. Ed Butcher was criticized Saturday for insensitivity reflected in a private e-mail, written by him, that characterized
supporters of increased funding for a Native American education program as "semi-literate."
The Winifred Republican said he is the victim of a Democratic attack designed to silence debate.
Retired Fairfield teacher Dorothea Susag wrote Butcher an e-mail on Wednesday, urging him to support a bill by Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, that would increase funding for Indian Education for All. The program is intended to teach all students about Montana's Indian tribes.
The funding measure, which passed the Senate, was heard Friday by the House Education Committee.
In his response to Susag, Butcher, who is on the committee, wrote that the program was misguided and was being "propelled by the 'politically correct' crowd of semi-literate proponents."
Later in an interview, Butcher would not specify which people comprise "the politically correct crowd." But he said Juneau was not among them, nor were other Indian lawmakers or the Office of Public Instruction, the department that overseas Indian Education for All.
He also wrote in his response he had been "astonished at the naivety of our educational community in buying into this 'Indian education project."'
He wrote that an accurate picture of historic Indian culture was not possible because Indians were a "hunter/gather peoples who would have had a limited vocabulary ... and relied upon sign-language for much of their communication."
The e-mail exchange eventually was forwarded to lawmakers critical of Butcher's comments.
Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Rocky Boy, said Butcher was "basically thumbing (his) nose to the creator."
Earlier this session, Butcher apologized on the House floor for calling Windy Boy "Chief Windy Boy." In 2001, Butcher drew criticism for calling Indian reservations "ghettos."
Butcher said that the statements in his e-mail were accurate and that he has studied Indian history extensively. He added that he was not prejudiced against Indians, but simply thinks their history should not be "overemphasized" in schools, to the neglect of other subjects.
"I mean good grief, there are a heck of a lot more Norwegians, Germans and other ethnic groups in the state of Montana than there are Indians," Butcher said.
Last month, House Democrats tried to have Butcher censured for calling an argument from Rep. Rep. Eve Franklin, D-Great Falls, "nonsense."
"The Democrats are twisting and turning this thing to try and make an issue out of something that is a non-issue," Butcher said.
Democrats made no official statement criticizing Butcher's e-mail, but Senate Majority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula, urged Republicans to speak out against him.
"I think that shows a void in Republican leadership because it implies that the leadership agrees with him," Williams said.
House Majority Leader Michael Lange, R-Billings, called Butcher's e-mail "disappointing," but said he had no control over the private correspondence of his party's members.
Copyright c. 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright c. 2007 Great Falls Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
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This semi-literate, mixed-blood would like to point out there is Black History, Spanish History and European History presented in Montana schools. In a state with as many tribes as Montana has, to continue to ignore Tribal History is pure hypocrisy, at best.
I have a sign for Ed Butcher. It's one raised finger. Even a smart, educated bigot like him can figure that one out.
Dohiyi Ani OginaliiGary Smith (*,*)
P. O. Box 672168 (`-')
Marietta, GA 30006, U.S.A. ===w=w=== http://www.nanews.org
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FOR ARTICLES GOT TO WOTANGING IKCHE-Native American NewsEditorial Section: . Butcher's Bigotry
- Urban Clinics Told To Deny Undocumented Patients
- Lawmakers Must Ensure All Indians Have Health Care
- New Evidence Surfaces In Schaghticoke Appeal
- Bush Aide Linked To Special Trustee Firing Resigns
- Senecas Rally Against Tax Collections
- Radioactive Water Near Hopi Springs
- Rosebud Sioux Declare Emergency Over Suicides
- Feds, Indians Clash At Bison Refuge
- Zuni Pueblo Works To Expand Housing Availability
- Nanticoke Try To Bring Tribe's Tongue Back To Life
- Moron Alert: County Band Dispute Racism Perception
- Play Takes Native Language To Unfamiliar Stage
- Wickham: The Floating Heads Of Mount Rushmore
- Yellow Bird: Times Change, Dreams Don't
- Rossum: Court Must Affirm Tribes' Sovereignty
- Jodi Rave: Native Economy Focus Of Res2007
- Mayan Priests Purify Ruin After Bush Visit
- Int'l Observers Denounce Paramilitary Aggressions
- Ross: Being Zapatistass In The Southwest
- Social Struggles In Oaxaca And Chiapas
- Canadian Indigneous In Struggle Support EZLN
- The Akwesasne Fairy Tale
- Iroquois Curse On Conrad Black
- Open Message From Two Former Grand Chiefs
- National Chief Fontaine On Special Land Claims
- Film: Missing And Murdered Aboriginal Women
- Supreme Court Reverses Water Rights Ruling
- Seminole Police Quiet About Fatal Shooting
- Native Justice -- Aboriginal Youth Incarcerations Disproportionatly High
- Rustywire: Navajo Grandma - Shi Ma Ssni
- Verse: Hawaiian Book Of Days
- Lee Goins Poem: The Jester
FOR ARTICLES GO TO WOTANGING IKCHE-Native American News =.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.= Along the U.S.-Mexico border, the body count continues to pile up daily. Meanwhile, the Minutemen patrol the U.S.-Mexico border and shameless politicians find it easy to denounce illegal immigration as the cause of all the nation's problems - including linking it with "the war on terror."
Amidst all the clatter, the only views not being heard are the ones that matter most. Thus here, we bring you a truly historic column,
featuring the views of those that have come before us to these lands:
American Indians:"... False and violent borders have been imposed upon our many peoples and upon the landscape, dissecting our Mother Earth, our home continent, in two and attempting to sever our deep connection with the land, and with each other... We maintain our recognition and respect for all our Indigenous brothers and sisters of the Western Hemisphere, with whom we traded, learned from, loved and laughed with for a millennia. We are Indigenous, of this place on Mother Earth, called Turtle Island, the Middle Place, Abya Yala and the Fourth World. And we remain bonded together forever, knowing ourselves as the K'iche and Karuk, Saraguro and Cheyenne, the Cherokee, Xicano and Chumash, we are all relations."-- Tia Peters, Zuni, Seventh Generation Fund
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CONTACT: Please send all submissions, subscription requests, questions or comments for this newsletter to Gary Night Owl at . Website: Wotanging Ikche-Native American News
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