[PEN-L:9694] FW: FW: Res-school Genocide = $ for lawyers

["Craven, Jim" <jcraven@xxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Long Standing Bear Chief [mailto:blkfoot4@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 1999 11:12 PM
To: Craven, Jim; 'lnp3@xxxxxxxxx'; 'robertward@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: Re: FW: Res-school Genocide = $ for lawyers


James I just sent you a copy of an e-mail I sent to Miller Exploration
which is the other half of the oilmen who have a giant oil lease on our
land. I cited you as a source because the boys at Miller Exploration have
to know that we are seriously looking into their activities.



At 07:35 AM 3/5/99 -0800, Craven, Jim wrote:
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: sisis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sisis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
>Sent: Thursday, March 04, 1999 9:26 PM
>To: jcraven@xxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Res-school Genocide = $ for lawyers
>
>
>OTTAWA, CHURCHES FLOODED WITH NEW NATIVE LAWSUITS
>The Globe & Mail, March 2, 1999 by Alanna Mitchell
>
>[S.I.S.I.S. note:  The following mainstream news article may contain biased
>or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context.
>It is provided for reference only.]
>
>  Calgary -- More than 1,000 native Canadians who were forced to attend
>residential schools as children have launched multimillion-dollar lawsuits
>against the federal government and churches over the past several days,
>spurred on by fears that a new Alberta law will cut off their chances to
>make claims.
>
>  The new Limitations Act came into effect yesterday. It gives a person 10
>years to file a civil claim once it is realized that damage has been done.
>Other provinces allow a limit of 30 years for civil cases. Some lawyers
>believe Alberta's new law leaves a two-year window for people to file
>lawsuits about residential schools, but most who handle such claims have
>flooded the courts with them over the past several days to make sure they
>won't be disqualified later.
>
>  The firm Ruston Marshall Barristers in Lethbridge, for example, filed
>civil suits on behalf of 362 members of the Blood tribe last Friday. They
>claim a minimum of $500,000 apiece as compensation for mental distress,
>loss of education and earning opportunities, and loss of culture. "These
>are serious claims born of a system designed to marginalize the first
>nations people of Canada," said Vaughn Marshall, a Lethbridge lawyer who
>has spent more than a year putting the lawsuits together.
>
>  In the past few days, the number of civil suits against the government
>and against churches that ran residential schools has risen from about
>2,200 to at least 3,500, the Assembly of First Nations said.
>
>  Only a tiny fraction of the allegations have been the subject of criminal
>charges. Most are being dealt with solely through the civil system. Some of
>the new suits catalogue a litany of sexual and physical abuse and claim the
>schools robbed the children of their rights to education. They accuse the
>government of stealing the children's cultural heritage and forcing them to
>live in squalor.
>
>  The plaintiffs range in age from their late 20s to their 90s. At the
>schools' peak, in 1946, there were 76 in Canada. Most were closed in the
>1970s. The government estimates that about 200,000 pupils went through the
>residential school system.
>
>  The Merchant Law Group, which handles a huge volume of residential-school
>civil suits, has filed 700 claims in recent weeks. Its lawyers, unlike
>those of several other firms, believe any suit not filed by yesterday will
>lose out under the new act. Tom Stepper said his firm believes the act may
>be unconstitutional because it limits the rights of aboriginal Canadians to
>file civil claims.
>
>  The suits have raised concern among native leaders who fear that, in the
>rush to sign up complainants, some lawyers may not be dealing adequately
>with the emotional trauma that often accompanies such claims. In some
>cases, the lawyers were simply telling their clients to fill out
>questionnaires detailing the abuse and then sending them home, a
>spokeswoman for the Assembly of First Nations said. Others rented halls and
>advertised their intent to sue the government on behalf of
>residential-school survivors.
>
>  The situation became so knotty that Phil Fontaine, the Assembly's
>national chief, sent letters to law societies across the country objecting
>to the heavy-handed nature of some of the marketing. He himself attended a
>residential school. He noted that some survivors of the residential-school
>system who had filed suits had subsequently committed suicide, and he
>pleaded for lawyers to be sensitive.
>
>LAWYERS REBUKED
>
>  From a letter Phil Fontaine sent to law societies across Canada in
>October, 1998
>
>  "First Nations members have drawn attention to three elements which
>concern me. The first is the aggressive solicitation of clients in some
>jurisdictions.
>
>  "We have heard complaints from survivors that lawyers have rented halls
>and advertised their services to sue the government or the churches on a
>contingency basis. Some lawyers have approached band members who attended
>the residential schools.
>
>  "We have been informed that this tests the boundaries of taste and
>ethics, even though it may not be illegal. We suggest that while it may be
>within the letter of the law, this behaviour may be exploiting a situation
>that requires the utmost sensitivity.
>
>  "The choice of some counsel to hold town hall meetings or to send out
>questionnaires which may require potential plaintiffs to write about
>painful experiences may place some people at risk.
>
>  "There have been residential school plaintiffs who have committed suicide
>and there are complainants who were questioned by police in regard to
>criminal investigations into residential schools who have committed
>suicide.
>
>  "The care required to ensure that our people are not re-victimized by
>processes without counselling support cannot be stressed enough."
>
>:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
>CANADA - A COUNTRY BUILT UPON USURPATION AND INDIGENOUS GENOCIDE!
>
>"Our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian that has not
>been absorbed into the body politic of Canada and there is no more Indian
>Question. That is the whole purpose of our legislation."
> --  Duncan Campbell Scott, Indian Affairs, 1920
>
>More information on Residential Schools atrocities:
>   http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/resschool/main.html
>
>Letters to the Globe and Mail - mailto:letters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
>distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed
>a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
>research and educational purposes only.
>
>
>:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
>    S.I.S.I.S.   Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
>        P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2
>
>        EMAIL : <sisis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>        WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html
>
>    SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous
>    sovereigntist struggles around the world.  To subscribe, send
>    "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to
>                     <majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>          For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S.
>:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
>

The Pikanii Sun

P.O. Box 430, Browning, Montana USA 594l7
telephone: 406-338-2882
Email: blkfoot4@xxxxxxxxxxx
 
	The Pikanii Sun is a publication for the people of the Blackfoot Confederacy, their relatives and friends throughout the world. It is dedicated to the truth of good new and bad news, while giving particular attention to understanding and repecting the human family.

	But the focus of the Pikanii Sun is the Indian people and their culture. . . . the traditional laws; art and artisans; book, video and movie reviews; music; the use of plants for food, shelter, medicine and ceremony. Profiles of significant people. Places to visit in Indian country. And of course, The Pikanii Sun will be publishingthose stories that reflect the beauty and dignity of the human spirit and the sacred. 

The Pikanii Sun is an educational and entertaining publication. 

Cost: 50 Cents a copy. Ad a dollar if you want it mailed to someone you wish to honor. 

Distribution: You will find the Pikanii Sun in stores, restuarants and all manner of public places throughout the 4 directions. 

Submissions: are accepted anytime. Send your stories, pictures, art and photos to us via the mail, FAX, telephone, or e-mail to the address above. 

Advertising: Display ads sell for $10 a column inch (1" x 2"). Classified ads are $7 for 20 words. Each additional word is 10 cents per word. 

Thank you for your patronage. 100% Indian owned. 

	Long Standing Bear Chief
		Editor/publisher/janitor

	blkfoot4@xxxxxxxxxxx 

To: LISN <lisn2000@xxxxxxxx>
From: Long Standing Bear Chief <blkfoot4@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Blackfoot Confederacy Meeting
Cc: 
Bcc: 
In-Reply-To: <36DF7EC8.B2DB844@xxxxxxxx>
References: 

The Blackfoot Confederacy will meet on Friday March 12, 1999 starting at 1:00 p.m. and again on Saturday March 13, 1999 starting at 9:00 a.m. The meeting will be held in the conference room of the Boys and Girls Club in Browning, Montana to decide  the issues it  will be pursuing for the coming year and the new millenium. 
Also, actions that will be taken to get recognition in the United Nations. 

Some of the issues of concern are:
 1. Canadian and American authorities stopping the free flow of gifts for Sun Dance Ceremonies 
2. Rights of native people to pass unmolested through the "borders" of Canada and the US when the Blackfoot Confederacy never gave its consent to allow the whites to  set up boarders separating their people. 
3. Setting up of tribunals to gather evidence of child abuse in the residential schools of  Canada and the boarding schools of the US. 
4. Submission of articles to the Pikanii Sun, a news and culture jounrnal for the Blackfoot Confederacy. 
5. Public relations inititatives with Siksika, Akainaiwa, and Pikanii members, the other allies and the general public.  
6. Education effort to inform members regarding the fraudulent nature of Treaty 7 in Canada  
8. Legal action regarding the illegal imposition of Glacier and Pondera Counties on the Blackfoot Nation in 1919 when Blackfoot were not citizens of the US.