Arizona forest fires, Apaches, Charlie LeDuff

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

(A surprisingly insightful NY Times article on the impact of the Arizona
forest fires on Apaches. This can be partly attributed to the fact that the
reporter is part-Indian no doubt.)

NY Times, June 27, 2002
Away From the TV Cameras, Fire Consumes Apache Land
By CHARLIE LeDUFF

CIBECUE, Ariz., June 26 ? "Pray for rain," say the signs posted along the
Fort Apache Indian Reservation roads. The springs are drying up here, and
the forest is an angry inferno.

The monsoons are supposed to arrive next week but there are no signs that
they will get here soon.

The medicine man has called for a rain ceremony tonight, the first in years.

While national attention is focused on the threat Arizona's wildfires pose
to Show Low, the resort town 40 miles northeast of here, the blaze has
already brought widespread and lasting economic damage to Apache country.

Questions over the origin of the fire have also rekindled longstanding
tensions between the white and the Indian communities.

Consider that both the Rodeo and Chediski fires started here last week on
the White Mountain Apache territory, home to 13,500 people. The fires have
merged, sending anvil-like clouds high into the sky and casting flames
across the vista. Sixty percent of the fire is on Indian land. Of the
350,000 acres of timber already destroyed, more than 200,000 are here on
this 1.6 million-acre reservation.

The tribal economy is devastated. This is the time when the trees are
supposed to be harvested but that will not happen. More than $300 million
worth of timber has been turned to ash. The sawmills have shut down and 300
people are out of work.

"No water and it hurts," said Johnny Endfield, vice chairman of the White
Mountain Apache, who had just toured the southern flank of the Chediski
fire, which was caused by a hiker lost in the woods.

"That timber has been here since before our time," Mr. Endfield said. "And
in less than 30 minutes it's all gone. Gone for us and gone for our unborn." 

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/27/national/27ARIZ.html

===

>From interview with Charlie LeDuff at JournalismJobs.com

Charlie LeDuff, 34, is a reporter at the New York Times. He started his
journalism career at age 29, after earning a bachelor's degree at the
University of Michigan and a master's degree in journalism at the
University of California, Berkeley. Before he joined the Times in 1995,
LeDuff worked as a school teacher and carpenter in Michigan and at a
cannery in Alaska. He also worked as a baker in Denmark and as a bartender
in Michigan, New York and Australia. Part Native American, LeDuff was one
of several reporters who worked on the New York Times series, "How Race is
Lived in America," which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in April 2001. He
spent one month working at a pork slaughterhouse in North Carolina, where
the division of labor was often decided by race. JournalismJobs.com spoke
with him about his experience at the slaughterhouse and his perception of
race relations. 

JournalismJobs.com: Why did you pick a slaughterhouse to profile for a
story on race relations? 

Charlie LeDuff: I was to write about work. That was one of the things I
wanted if I was to work [on the New York Times race series]. [The editor]
wanted me to look somewhere in the southern United States because that's
sort of where a lot of things started in this country. I went to a lot of
places. I went to Tennessee, Mississippi, Virginia, South Carolina, North
Carolina, six or seven states. All roads kind of lead to Rome, you know?
It's the biggest slaughterhouse in the world. You hear about it. I get to
the town. I was looking at chicken plants, you know. I was seeing about
cattle plants in the Plains even though it wasn't the South. I got to this
town and there were a lot of Natives there and that was good. A lot of
Lumbee Indians. Race would make it about one-third white, one-third black,
one-third red. When you go into town, you see a lot of brown faces. At the
courthouse there, there's a plaque that lists the fallen vets of World War
I. Whites on top, Indian in the middle, and colored on the bottom in the
color red. It sort of struck me as "wow, there is stuff going on here." And
that's ultimately how I ended up in that part of the country.

(clip)

JournalismJobs.com: Did the New York Times' race series do a good job of
covering all races? 

Charlie LeDuff: In my opinion, no. At times like this, I feel like I'm a
corporate face. At the beginning, I felt immigration is a big deal. But it
was black and white, and I still don't understand why. That's the main
construct by which we all live. But we've got to talk about brown. We've
got to talk about red. We've got to talk about yellow. Like Indians, east
Indians, southeast Asians, they're like the fifth stuff, what are they? You
know what I mean? Okay, race, what does that mean? No we didn't, but it's
only 15 stories of six and half thousand words so I understand why. But I
would like to see more on Native Americans. But what are you gonna do? I
think the New York Times signaled, we're ready to talk about it just
because it is. We don't have to wait for a march. It's there. I think it's
a grand move forward. 

JournalismJobs.com: Some say the New York Times race series could win a
Pulitzer. Do you think it's worthy of a Pulitzer? 

Charlie LeDuff: I don't give a fuck. If it does, that's great. You know,
this business is funny. For who it's important to, I hope we do. That would
be nice. Is it important to me? Nah. You know what I mean? 

JournalismJobs.com: How does being part Native American affect your work as
a journalist? 

Charlie LeDuff: Either you are or you aren't. I've got white blood, yes,
but am I Indian, yeah. How does it affect my work? Well, who I am affects
my work. How I approach people. How I approach elders. Being honest. Trying
to stand up if someone isn't happy with you, you know, face to face. I went
down there for another reason. I was attracted to it because it was Indian
country. I'm looking to write about Native people, but it's hard when
you're in metro New York. It gives me an outlook. It's me, the person and
the way I'm raised. It just affects me because that's the way that I am. 

full: http://www.journalismjobs.com/interview_leduff.cfm

Louis Proyect
Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org



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