BOGOTA – Hooded men in uniforms without insignias on Wednesday shot and killed 12 members of the Awa indigenous group, including five children, on a reserve in a region plagued by the cocaine trade, authorities said.

Indigenous leaders and government officials said the killings took place at 5 a.m. when 10 gunmen opened fire on two houses in the Gran Rosario reserve, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) inland from the port of Tumaco in Narino state. The reserve has about 1,500 Awa.

The state governor, Antonio Navarro, told The Associated Press that the victims were all related. The attack killed five men, two women, two boys, two girls and a baby. He said two males, a 10-year-old and a 20-year-old, were wounded in the gunfire but fled and survived.

The identity of the killers was not immediately known.

Narino state prosecutor, Alvaro Lara, said the gunmen asked for a woman called “The Matron” about a purported debt.

“Seconds later the armed men began to shoot at anything that moved,” Lara said.

In February, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels acknowledged killing eight Awa Indians at a different but nearby reservation for allegedly working as informants for the army.

The area is rife with coca plantations and illegal armed groups – leftist rebels as well as far-right militias, both of whom typically wear uniforms – that process the leaf into cocaine and smuggle it out of Colombia.

Navarro said he could not remember a massacre of so many people in Narino state. He said the survivors described the killers as tall, fair-haired men with mustaches, ruling out local Indians.

The director of operations of Colombia’s national police, Gen. Orlando Paez, announced a reward for information leading to the arrest of the killers.

Massacres of the magnitude of Wednesday’s have been rare since President Alvaro Uribe first took office in 2002 and far-right militias demobilized in a peace deal with his conservative government.

Some 20,000 Awa live in Narino state, Navarro said.

Colombia is home to more than 1 million members of more than 80 indigenous communities. Indians have suffered disproportionately in Colombia’s half century-old conflict. So far this year, at least 75 have been killed.

In a recent interview with the AP, the president of the National Organization of Indigenous Colombians, Luis Evelis Andrade, complained that native groups are routinely caught in the crossfire of a conflict that is not theirs.

They represent a disproportionate part of the Colombians forced to flee their homes and villages to escape fighting.

“The lands they gave us – which are the most inhospitable – are today in dispute by armed groups,” he said. The same remote reserves also tend to be prime cultivation spots for coca, he said.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1203892.html

The settlement, announced today by the attorney general’s office, resolves the dispute over free slot-machine play given in coupons and bonuses to casino patrons.

CODY — Two Park County filmmakers are working on a documentary they hope will draw attention to the case of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian activist serving two life sentences who was denied parole last week.

“I’ve always known about the Peltier case, because I grew up hearing about it,” said Preston Randolph, 19, of Cody.

“About a year ago, I decided to do something more meaningful in my work, and my life. And in talking to Leonard’s family, I thought that something more needs to be done,” said Randolph, who has spent several months working on the film.

Peltier, 64, was convicted in 1977 for the murder of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

His case has attracted widespread attention from supporters who say he was denied a fair trial, and that the government engaged in misconduct in his arrest and prosecution. The FBI and federal prosecutors deny any wrongdoing, and point to numerous unsuccessful appeals by Peltier, including to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Peltier has acknowledged that he participated in the shootout, but continues to deny that he fired the fatal shots in the execution-style murders of Coler and Williams.

With the denial last week of Peltier’s parole request, his next hearing is scheduled for 2024, when he would be 79.

“I’m extremely disappointed, but unfortunately, I’m not terribly surprised,” said Derrick McGuire, 19, a sound engineer attending Northwest College who is working with Randolph on the film project. The two men traveled together to Pennsylvania earlier this month to document Peltier’s parole hearing.

“We’re going to try to just keep informing people of the whole situation. It isn’t going to stall our work at all. We’re going to try to get this out as soon as we can,” McGuire said.

Randolph said he is passionate about Peltier’s case, and while his film will take a fair look at all the facts, his research has convinced him that Peltier should be released.

“I’ve been writing to Leonard for six months, and talking to his relatives for probably about a year,” he said.

“I want to show that personal side to this story, to show his family and how it’s affected them, him being in prison for 34 years,” he said.

While in high school, Randolph won awards for his short films in three consecutive Wyoming State Film Festivals, and he has spent time in Los Angeles participating in filmmaking courses and working on video productions.

He plans to travel throughout the winter, filming interviews with sources involved in the Peltier case, and hopes to have a finished full-length documentary by the end of summer 2010.

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2009/08/27/news/wyoming/517901022535c2c48725761e007e4382.txt

WINNIPEG — A northern Manitoba community struggling with drugs and gang violence has put forward a bylaw that would let it banish serious troublemakers.

But Indian and Northern Affairs Canada says Norway House Cree Nation doesn’t have the power to enforce the bylaw.

The bylaw introduced earlier this summer would urge Norway House residents involved in illegal activities to get treatment and change their ways. If they turned down help, they could face expulsion from the community, located 450 kilometres north of Winnipeg, and, eventually, lose their band membership.

“We’ve been seeing an escalation in violence, in gang-related activity, and drugs,” said Norway House Chief Marcel Balfour.

Balfour said Indian and Northern Affairs did not object to the bylaw within the required 40-day review window, which ended earlier this week, and said the community plans to go ahead with enforcement.

But department spokeswoman Margot Geduld said criminal activity is already covered by legislation like the Criminal Code and the Controlled Substances Act.

“The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs recognizes the seriousness of the issues that Norway House Cree Nation is facing, and we understand the efforts of the chief and council to try and control criminal activity, such as the drug-trafficking, gangs and violence within the community,” said Geduld.

“Regrettably, the bylaw submitted to the department attempts to regulate activities that are outside the bylaw-making powers of the Indian Act.”

The new bylaw isn’t Norway House’s first attempt to regulate illegal activity. The community of about 5,500 residents created an illegal-drug control bylaw in 2005 that would have allowed banishment of offenders.

That law was never enforced. Balfour said there were problems because it didn’t guarantee that banishment would not be used for political reasons.

Balfour said the new bylaw will offer healing and reconciliation for offenders, with services including counselling and traditional teachings, and temporary removal from the community if they don’t accept help.

http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Manitoba+reserve+wants+power+banish+troublemakers/1933498/story.html

The recent deaths of two young aboriginal women near Winnipeg may be connected, according to a close friend who is now scared for her own life.

The woman, who CBC News is not identifying because of her concerns, said she was best friends with Cherisse Houle, 17, and Hillary Angel Wilson, 18, when they got involved a few years ago with a group of men who used them for sex in exchange for food, clothes and crack cocaine.

On July 1, Houle’s dead body was uncovered by a construction crew working near the shore of Sturgeon Creek in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, northwest of Winnipeg. Police have not deemed her death a homicide and are still investigating.

Wilson’s body was found Aug. 20 on a dirt path in a sparsely populated area in East St. Paul. RCMP are treating her death as a homicide.

“They bought us things. They took us shopping, out to eat. They gave us everything we wanted,” the young woman said about the men who supplied the drugs. “Sometimes we were so f–ked up and we didn’t even know what was going on.”

Cherisse Houle’s body was found July 1 in a creek near a section of dirt road just off Highway 221. (Winnipeg Police Service)
She and her current group of friends were horrified to hear about the deaths of Houle and Wilson. Now they are worried for their own safety.

“Something’s gonna happen. I have this feeling ‚Äî all of my friends have this strong feeling,” she said. “We’re scared for our life right now.”

The RCMP is investigating the Houle and Wilson’s deaths. Spokesperson Sgt. Line Karpish won’t confirm or deny there are connections between them.

“This is an ongoing homicide investigation and to discuss the specifics of the work we’re doing could jeopardize the integrity of the investigation,” she said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/08/26/mb-deaths-women-connected-manitoba.html

TAHLEQUAH — Cherokee Nation attorney Chrissi Ross Nimmo will participate in the Oklahoma Bar Association’s second annual Leadership Academy class selected from applicants throughout the state.

 
Nimmo, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation who works in the tribe’s Office of the Attorney General, was one of 26 lawyers chosen for the OBA’s Leadership Academy.

The OBA Leadership Academy will offer four sessions, set to begin in the early fall and continue through May 2010.

Nimmo is a graduate of the University Of Tulsa College Of Law. Originally from the Warner community, she has worked for the Cherokee Nation since September 2008.

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/local_story_238151858.html

Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, the top three teams in the preseason USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll, are led by three history-making quarterbacks: Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford.

With Bradford claiming the 2008 Heisman Trophy and Tebow winning the 2007 trophy, could 2009 be McCoy’s year? Never before in the Heisman’s 74-year history have the top three vote-getters returned the following year to New York as finalists.

This fall could be exceptional for several reasons ‚Äî three, in fact. “It’s a wonderful thing for those three to be the face of college football,” Texas coach Mack Brown says.

“They’re all three high-character guys,” Florida coach Urban Meyer says. “College football needs that.”

Tim Tebow, Florida

Bio: Senior from Jacksonville, 2008 Heisman finalist, first sophomore to win the Heisman in 2007. Last year passed for 2,746 yards and led the team in rushing with 673 yards. On track to graduate in December.

History maker: Became the first major college player with 20 touchdowns rushing and 20 passing in the same season in 2007. Could be considered the greatest player in college history with a third national title or second Heisman.

One more year: ”I really had a platform. I wanted to take advantage of that for one more year, be a good role model for the kids that look up to me,” Tebow says about his decision to return.

Tebow on all three Heisman finalists back: ”I think that’s cool, great for college football. But there are going to be people who are going to step up and be big-time guys, underdogs. People are going to predict 1-2-3 in whatever order, but preseason it doesn’t matter.”

Coach Urban Meyer on Tebow: Don’t expect Tebow to be under center just to appease NFL scouts, Meyer says. The Gators will run their usual shotgun offense and perhaps go under center based on their tailback play and “if it helps us win,” Meyer says. “We are certainly not trying to, because someone said Tim needs to ‚Ķ to enhance his draft status.”

Road to the title game: A trip to face LSU in Baton Rouge on Oct. 10 is the toughest road game. LSU, No. 9 in the preseason USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll, is one of three ranked opponents scheduled. The others: Georgia (13) and Florida State (19). Otherwise, by Southeastern Conference standards, the schedule is manageable.

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ATLANTA, Ga. – “This project is a perfect coming together of traditional and Western science,” said U.S. Public Health Service official Lemyra DeBruyn, about a new Centers for Disease Control effort to help tribes produce traditional foods as a shield against diabetes.

She is field director of the team from the CDC’s Native Diabetes Wellness Program that administers the effort. “We know that diabetes is delayed or prevented by a healthy diet and moderate exercise, and the activities supported by this grant provide both.”

In 2008, the program, called “Using Traditional Foods and Sustainable Ecological Approaches for Health Promotion and Diabetes Prevention in American Indian/Alaska Native Communities,” awarded $100,000 per year for five years (2009 – 2013) to 11 tribal entities from coast to coast. Another six groups just received four-year awards. The funds support gardening, gathering, hunting, storytelling events and more.

“There’s a lot of excitement at the CDC about this project,” said DeBruyn, who has a doctorate in medical anthropology and a background in behavioral and mental health.

“Tribal consultation, previous tribal projects, and formative research had showed us that maintaining the relationship among land, community and local, traditional foods supports traditional health practices. We also learned that these foods are an expression of sovereignty and identity for indigenous peoples, and we wanted to honor that.”

DeBruyn’s colleagues include team leader Dawn Satterfield, RN, PhD; health scientist and epidemiologist Melinda Frank, Diné; and family nurse practitioner Larry Alonso.

Alonso recently returned from visiting one participant, the Catawba Cultural Preservation Project. “The jewel of their program is their kids’ camp. Modern culture distances us from our food sources, and the Catawba program is reversing that. As I watched them, I was also blown away by the sense of community among the children, with teens helping the little ones.”

Another facet of the Catawba program involves communicating with other communities – including Lakota/Dakota and Cherokee – to discover where their heirloom seeds came from years ago and where they might be obtained now.

DeBruyn said local interests and conditions drive each community’s activities, along with any changes that must be made to the original plans.

“Problems with a site at the senior center meant they couldn’t put in the large in-ground garden they’d planned,” Alonso said. “So, they provided seniors with individual raised-bed gardens instead.”

“If problems arise, we’re shoulder to shoulder with grantees,” DeBruyn said. “We want to provide the framework for them to do what they need. The bottom line is listening and respect.”

Going forward, the Native Diabetes Wellness Program is keeping an eye out for foundation money that might help
communities continue the work done under the CDC grant. Some tribal entities are also looking into spin-off enterprises – such as farmers markets and packaged-foods businesses – that would bring in funds to support the continued presence of traditional foods in their communities.

Encouraging local organizations to purchase the foods will also help.

“We’re encouraging grantees to move this idea into the public-policy domain,” Alonso said. “Traditional food items need to be served at tribal gatherings and in schools and senior centers. Local stores need to carry them.”

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