From Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown
pgs 59-60, Little Crow's War
        "On December 6 (1862) President Lincoln notified Sibley that he should "cause to be executed" thirty-nine of the 303 convicted Santees... 
Execution date was the 26th of December...  At the last minute, one
Indian was given a reprieve.....About ten o'clock the thirty eight
condemned men were marched from the prison to the scaffold.  They sang
the Sioux death song until soldiers pulled white caps over their heads
and placed nooses around their necks.  At a signal from an army officer,
the control rope was cut amd thirty-eight Santee Sioux dangled lifeless
in the air.... a spectator boasted that this was "America's greatest
public execution."
Your heroes our enemies
Memorial: Honoring the Dalota 38*
*Please note that the lead runner is Emmett EASTMAN, not Smith.
FLANDREAU SANTEE SIOUX
History of the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska
Related article:
Remains of Dakota Warrior Buried, Jul 17

FACTOID 
Leonard Peltier - A Man With History   
December 24, 2000 
 Elaine Matlow 
    This same time of year, 138 years ago, on December 6, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the first mass execution by listing 39 Dakota men to be hanged at Mankato, Minnesota. The reason for the hanging was because the Dakota's rose up to defend their land from being illegally seized from them and to prevent their families from starving due to the Indian agent withholding promised annuities from the government. This resulted in a war with the white settlers who coveted Indian land and their means of supporting their families. 
  
    Of the Dakota's hanged on December 26, 1862, one named White Dog had a cousin called Hunka Sivaka, also known as, Anna Williams. Anna had to flee with her two small children to the northern Plaines, now known as Devil's Lake, North Dakota, because the relatives of the 38 hanged were being hunted down and killed by General Sibley and his army. 
  
    Anna Williams is the great-great grandmother of Leonard Peltier. 
  
    Leonard Peltier is a blood relative of White Dog of the 38 actually hanged at Mankato, Minnesota. The 38 bodies of those hanged were buried in a mass grave. Later that night, the bodies were dug up and dissected. The flesh was removed from the bones by boiling the bodies in a huge cooking pot, as this was a common practice of phrenologists at that time and is still practiced by today's anthropologists. The boiled-cleaned bones were then used for so-called medical research for the benefit of the American people. Dr. William Mayo and his sons used these bones in anatomical studies. The Dakota bones were used to lay the foundation for what became known as the Rochester Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. 
  
    Ironically, last March, 138 years later, Leonard Peltier was taken from Fort Leavenworth prison to Rochester Mayo Clinic for surgery on his jaw (the place that his ancestors bones founded). Leonard Peltier, like the 38 hanged, has been harshly penalized for protecting his people from being mistreated and murdered by their oppressors on their own property, in their own homeland. 
  
    It is interesting to note that several years ago, Cut Nose, another of the 38 hanged, had his skull removed from display at one of the doctor's office at Rochester Mayo Clinic and returned to the Dakota's of Morton, Minnesota for burial. Recently, his tattooed skin measured about 4 by 5 inches was returned from the Public Museum of Grand Rapids, Michigan to be buried. 
  
Sources: "The Dakota Conflict Trials of 1862" by Douglas Linder 
              "Through Dakota Eyes" by Gary Anderson and Alan Woolworth 
              "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown 
              "Remains of Dakota Warrior Leader Come Home With Honors" Morton, MN (Associated Press 1-17-2000) 
  

ABQ Journal
Departing BIA Head Says Work Isn't Done 
By Matt Kelley
The Associated Press
    WASHINGTON; When he took over as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1997, Kevin Gover's top goal was simply to make the agency competent at providing services to nearly 560 tribes.
    The longtime Corrales resident commissioned a report by outside experts that found a "lack of credible management" so serious the BIA often inadvertently broke the law. After nearly three years of working on reforms, Gover says the agency has improved but has not achieved basic competence in all areas...READ THE ARTICLE...

Educator Loretta Gagnon dies at 45 
By MURALI BALAJI STAFF WRITER

Loretta Gagnon, a longtime education advocate considered one of the 
cornerstones of Minnesota's American Indian community, died early Christmas Day after an eight-year battle with breast cancer. She was 45.
READ THE ARTICLE...

Tribal sovereignty: Indian tribes embrace role  of self-governing as a way to preserve their language, values and heritage
SPOKESMAN REVIEW
Defining what sovereignty means to Native Americans often leads to a tangle of legal jargon and historical debate.
Lucy Covington knew what it means: the recognition of the right to govern.
Which is why she sold her cows.
The Colville tribal council member did so to pay her own way back to Washington, D.C., where she dueled with the formidable Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson. That was during what is known as the Termination Era of the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, the United States' approach to Indian nations was to decide they didn't exist. Fifty tribes accepted cash buyouts. In doing so they gave up federal recognition and support promised in their treaties....READ THE ARTICLE...

Tribe urges cleanup for radioactive homes
But Superfund help not likely for now, EPA says
DALLAS NEWS
By Bill Papich / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
OAK SPRINGS, Ariz. ­ Walking through the rubble of a home she lived in as a child on the Navajo Indian reservation in northeast Arizona, Sarah Benally said the sandstone rocks strewn about were once a popular building material.
"We didn't know they were contaminated," said Ms. Benally, who suffers from a thyroid condition.
Her father built the home using uranium ore waste rock in the early 1950s. He was among thousands of Navajo men who worked in hundreds of uranium mines across the reservation from the late 1940s through the 1970s, mining the fuel for America's nuclear weapons arsenal..
READ THE ARTICLE...

FOLLOW UP ARTICLES:
Great divide Tribal members, non-Indians struggle to find common ground on reservation..READ IT...

TODAY IN HISTORY December 26  **1854: At a meeting at Medicine Creek in present-day Kitsap County, 62 leaders of major Western Washington tribes signed a treaty with Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens. The tribes gave up most of their lands in exchange for $32,500, designated reservations, and the permanent right of access to traditional hunting and fishing grounds. One clause of the treaty read, "The right of taking fish at usual and  accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the territory." This proved to be the basis of the 1974 Boldt ruling that gave Native American fishermen rights to half the harvestable salmon running through their territorial waters.** {EXCERPTED FROMOn This Date In North American Indian History By Phil Konstantin} 1861: Battle of Chustenahlah: Pro-Union Indians have established a fortified encampment on Hominy Creek, northwest of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Confederate forces from Arkansas attack them, today. The Indians were deployed on a forested hill. It would take fierce, hand-to-hand fight to win the day. The Indians abandon their supplies, and 1134 head of livestock. The Indians escape during a blizzard, and many people freeze to death in Kansas. They finally stop in central Kansas, with 3168 CREEK, 777 SEMINOLEs, a few other Indians, and 91 negroes. The Union will provide them with some supplies. Eventually, over 7500 survivors would make it to the camp. The men would be organized into the First Regiment of Indian Home Guards.  1862: The SANTEE SIOUX condemed for their actions in the "SANTEE Uprising" will be hanged today at Mankato, Minnesota. This will be the largest mass hanging in American History.      1890 ARGUS LEADER PHOTO GALLERY Related News:  Big Foot Ride: Riders remember, honor culture on trek's longest day Big Foot Ride: Journey returns history to family  Big Foot Ride: 'This might be the last ride' Big Foot Ride: Young Lakota riders draw strength from history Big Foot Ride : Warm coffee on trail replaces glitter of Christmas THIS WEEK'S COMPLETE LISTING HERE...

PELTIER COVERAGE a railroad job is a railroad job -  once the destination has been predetermined, the process becomes one  of simply laying down the tracks so that the train can get to the  predetermined place it was meant to go ..Interlochen..a Peltier supporter Waiting for an old acquaintance, DEC25 LIST OF 62 GRANTED CLEMENCY Peltier not among pardons   http://web.northscape.com/ AP  WASHINGTON -- President Clinton was making decisions on Friday about granting clemency to some of the scores of convicted Americans seeking presidential pardons or lighter punishment, but did not mention American Indian activist Leonard Peltier, convicted 25 years ago in North Dakota for killing two FBI agents. ... ...A spokesman said the president was expected to make more clemency announcements before Jan. 20.   READ THE ARTICLE...   Clinton To Act on Clemency Requests, Peltier backers wait, hope for presidential pardon PA Attorney General Fisher Urges President Clinton to Deny ClemencyTo Convicted LPDC Web site updates LPDC Web Site Update..Dec 22 http://www.freepeltier.org/ The following audio clips recorded from the "NYC Leonard Peltier Walk and Rally for Freedom" are available from the main page of the LPDC web site: Jennifer Harbury, Peltier Attorney and Human Rights Activist [6:32] http://www.freepeltier.org/jenniferharbury.mp3 Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney General [5:55] http://www.freepeltier.org/ramseyclark.mp3   Dec 19 Current and Past Supporters of Clemency for Leonard Peltier Click here for complete listing in PDF format {translated for the PDF challenged here} Letter from Congressman Don Edwards, Former FBI Agent PDF Format Letter from NCAI PDF Format Letter signed by World Renowned Human Rights Leaders PDF format {translated for the PDF challenged here} Go to More Support Statements SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS -=<+>=-ARTICLES-=<+>=- Clemency for Peltier Likely to Fail..Dec 21  By ERIC LICHTBLAU,  Times Staff Writer   Pleas: Clinton is leaning toward rejecting a pardon for the killer of two FBI agents, officials say. Case underscores the rift between the president and Freeh. READ THE STORY... URGENT NOTICE: FROM THE LPDC Letter to the Editor/Peltier..Catherine Davids Dec 20 Ottawa Sun - Editorial - Clemency Dec 19 FBI marching same as Uniformed Soldiers protesting  Reconciliation with Viet Nam...Interlochen  Dec 18 The FBI [active and retired] in truth marched in opposition to the  War on American Indians coming to an end with the release of one the POW's, Leonard. Since when do the "soldiers" dictate to  the "leaders"? READ THE ARTICLE... Clemency: Letter.....urgent..Bonnie Winona Dec 18 Extradition based on false evidence, Peltier inquiry says  PREVIOUS ARTICLES

WATCH FOR NEWS FROM THE LEONARD PELTIER RALLIES!! WHITE HOUSE PRAYER VIGIL DEC 19...mike mc,Scott Tippets PRAGUE COVERAGE...DEC 17 Bushka PERSONAL OBSERVATION DEC 15 ... antoinette

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FRONT PAGE DEC 25, 2000

PRISON WRITINGS MY LIFE IS MY SUNDANCE by LEONARD PELTIER  is available at the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

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