Southeastern Native American Alliance

Vol. 1; No. 3 2 November 1995

MEETING SCHEDULE

Next Executive Council Meeting: Thursday, 23 November 1995; to be held
                                 at 1314 Wildwood Lake Road
                                    Cleveland, Tennessee
First Quarterly Business Meeting: Thursday, 7 December 1995; to be held
                                   at 1314 Wildwood Lake Road
                                      Cleveland, Tennessee

POWWOW IN DALTON, GEORGIA

A powwow is scheduled to be held   current project can give the items
at the Dalton, Georgia, fairgrounds   to Al or Steve Swilling, or to
9-12 November 1995.   The event is   Jackie or Virginia Johnson.
sponsored by the Harvest Outreach     Items of Native American design
homeless   shelter,   operated   by   are not a necessity. Anything that
Ms. Sheila Reid.                      can be sold will be appreciated.
SENAA members who wish to donate     Items should be submitted by
any items that can be raffled off   Wednesday, 8 November.
or sold to help raise money for our       *            *           *

FIRST SENAA SOCIAL PLANNED FOR DECEMBER

SENAA's first social event will   or her favorite food(s) to share
take place on Saturday, 16 December   with fellow members.
1995, at 1314 Wildwood Lake Road,   SENAA's   Social   Committee will
Cleveland, Tennessee; beginning at   furnish soft drinks, tea, etc.
12:30 p.m.                                Thanks for your support.
The luncheon will be pot-luck, so         *        *        *
everyone is urged to prepare his

2 November 1995 SENAA Newsletter 2

TRIBAL DISPUTE ERUPTS IN GUNPLAY

Clearlake Oaks, Calif. (AP) --     Eight deputies were caught in
    Sunday, 15 October 1995:          the crossfire between the factions
                                      Wednesday, but escaped injury.
                                        A federal grand jury is investi-
The small Lake County Pomo Indian    gating Brown's management of the
tribe is divided by Old West-style    Pomo   Palace   casino. Opponents
gunfire as members fight among    accuse him of diverting profits,
themselves   over control of the    committing   election fraud   and
reservation and its casino.           other wrongdoing. Brown denies the
"The cowards are even shooting at    allegations.
little kids," Betty Thomas said    Last week, the tribe turned over
Friday, pointing to bullet holes    50 boxes of financial records sub-
in her home at Elem Indian Colony.    poenaed by the grand jury. Federal
Ten of her neighbors have been    officials have said   they were
wounded in gunfights in the past    moving to suspend the   tribe's
week. Four   people   have   been    gaming license.
arrested on various charges, and      Shots aimed   at   transformers
about   half of the   200 tribe    knocked   out   electricity,   and
members have fled the reservation.    Pacific Gas & Electric supervisor
"It's been like the Old West,"    Stephen Martinez said he would not
said    Lake   County    Sheriff's    send in a repair crew until the
Captain Gary Buchholz. "These are    area is safe.
criminals who are fighting over      Residents said the two armed
money; shooting at each other in    bands each have about a dozen men.
ambush. This is not an honorable    Some have semiautomatic weapons.
thing."                                 However,   Martha Morinda   said
Both sides agreed to a temporary    Friday   she is not joining the
truce Friday night after a 3-hour    exodus from the reservation.
meeting with outside mediators.         "It's been like hell," Morinda
The dispute centers on control of    said, "but I'm staying, because
the reservation's casino,   Pomo    this is my house. This is where I
Palace, which opened two years ago    was born and raised."
on the   52-acre reservation 90      California Attorney General Dan
miles north of San Francisco. It    Lungren said the feud demonstrates
has been closed for a week because    a need for regulation of Indian
of the violence.                      gaming.
The feud turned violent in recent      "These are not just a few rounds
months when the tribe's executive    that have been shot off. We're
council filed suit against its    talking about multiple rounds,"
chairman, Thomas Brown.               Lungren said. "I hope we don't
Last weekend, one faction of the    have to have any more bloodshed
200-member tribe sought to oust    before people start to take this
another from its leadership role    seriously."
in a disputed election.                The dispute can be heard by resi-
That led to a fistfight 8 Oct.,    dents of Clearlake Oaks, about a
which led to gunfire. Authorities    mile from the reservation.
have since counted more than 100      "I sit here every night and
bullet holes in homes.                listen to the automatic rifles
Police called on four neighboring    at the reservation," Mike Pearson
sheriff's departments for help and    said.
are patrolling the area by air.           *         *         *

2 November 1995 SENAA Newsletter 3

OUR NATIVE TONGUE

Syllabary Pronunciation English

Du-ya Doo-yah Bean

Di-gu-nu (E.) Dee-goo-noo
or Du-ya Ga-du or Doo-yah Gah-doo Bean Bread

Wo-gv-li Woe-guh-lee Beer

Ga-du Gah-doo Bread

Go-ka-s-ta Goak-stah Cigarette

Se-lu Say-loo Corn

Go-we Ko-wee Coffee

U-nv-di Oo-nuh-dee Milk

Tso-lv (E.) So-luh
Tsa-lu (W.) Jah(Chah)-loo Tobacco

A-ma Ah-mah Water

              A-qwa-du-li     (E.) Ah-gwa-doo-lee
          or A-qwa-du-li-ha (E.) Ah-gwa-doo-lee-ha        I want
          (State what you want first, then that you want it)

Examples:
                         A-ma a-qwa-du-li (I want water)
                         Di-gu-nu a-qwa-do-li (I want bean bread)
                     or Di-gu-nu a-qwa-do-li-ha (I want bean bread)

              Tsa-du-li        (E.) Sah-doo-lee
           or Tsa-du-li-ha-tsu (E.) Sah-doo-lee-ha-soo       Do you want
          (Again, say the item first, then ask if they want it)

Examples:
                          Go-we Tsa-du-li (Do you want coffee?)
                          Se-lu Tsa-du-li (Do you want bead bread?)
                      or Tso-lv Tsa-du-li-ha-soo (Do you want tobacco?)

Ha-wa-sa Hah-was-zah Please

O-s-da O-stah Good

2 November 1995 SENAA Newsletter 4

NARF UPDATE

Final negotiations between the    statewide entity under the TIC's
Hamilton County Sheriff's Depart-    guidance.
ment and the   Tennessee Indian      At   this   writing, the final
Commission (TIC) were completed    agreement is being retyped, and is
at an October meeting,   making    unavailable, but sources indicate
official the TIC's adoption of    that future NARF applicants may
the Native American Reserve Force.    have to meet the same requirements
TIC official Harley Grant has    as any other TIC member.
also expressed a desire to undergo      On another front, research has
training and become a commissioned    revealed that the rumor that the
NARF officer.                         Tennessee River Gorge Trust (TRGT)
NARF will still operate under    will sell Williams' Island is an
and be trained by the HCSD, and    unfounded one. The Trust couldn't
will continue to protect Moccasin    sell the island if it wanted to.
Bend   and   other local   Native      Sources say that major contribu-
American   burial and historical    tors have indicated that, should
sites; but a reliable source has    the TRGT choose not to renew its
indicated that there is a strong    lease, they would personally see
probability that other Tennessee    that Williams' Island is preserved
counties   may   follow   Hamilton    and protected.   Also, it is their
County's lead and form other NARF    wish that NARF be the island's
teams, eventually making NARF a    protecting force.
                                           *          *          *

REDBIRD'S DILEMMA
by, A-wo-ha-li U-ne-ga

As Yo-na U-dan-ti, a Tsa-La-Gi      "Is there nothing, then, that
di-da-nv-wi-sgi,   sat meditating    you love?" asked Yo-na.
one day, a young woman approached      "Oh, yes. I love my baby and my
him and stood quietly by.             husband with all my heart," she
"Si-yo, Do-tsu-wa*(Redbird)," he    replied.
greeted her, noticing her troubled      "Then there," said Yo-na, "is
face. "Why are you so sad?   What    your love for the Creator; in
can I do to help?"                    in the love and care you give to
"I am so worried," said Do-tsu-wa    your family."
"I have searched my heart, and to         *           *           *
my shame, I do not find that I    *Pronounced "Doe-soo-wah"
love the Creator," whereupon she    © 1995; Thomas A. Swilling
wept bitterly.                          All Rights Reserved