Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 09:51:56 -0600
From: <freeberg-AT-bilbo.bio.purdue.edu> (Todd M. Freeberg)
Subject: M-I: Issue related to U. of Illinois' "Chief Illiniwek"


Someone posted a message about a run-in with the president of CNN,
an alumni, like me, of the University of Illinois.  The issue
was over the continuing use of the mascot for the university --
"Chief Illiniwek".  I, for one, have been against the "Chief"
since I first heard the arguments against it (they make a hell
of a lot of sense to me, and I'm just a white-boy from the
midwest).  Anyway, below is a bit from News From Indiana Country,
found on Workers World News Service.  A woman interviewed here
sums up the whole argument for me regarding these issues --
if the "mascot" demeans the people/s it is supposed to honor,
then get rid of it, plain and simple.  If, say, Irish-Americans
were to wake up tomorrow and decide that they didn't think
the term "Fighting Irish" was very helpful to their collective
feelings and consciousness about themselves as a people
or very illustrative of their contributions to this country's
heritage, then Notre Dame should be made to change their
mascot as well.  And so on down the line.....And if I am ever
asked to give some sort of talk at my old high school, I will
do so under the condition that they change their name from
the Huntley "Redskins" to something like the Huntley
"Ravens".  Ahh, but then I shall be branded a speciesist,
I suppose........................  

I hope this message finds you well, and hope the post below
is of interest.

In solidarity,

todd





NEWS FROM INDIAN COUNTRY

By Mahtowin

CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE "S" WORD 



Increasing numbers of Native women are campaigning against 
the use of the word "squaw" in names of towns or geographic 
sites.

In Minnesota this has led to legislation eliminating the 
racist word from place names in that state. In Arizona over 
the past year, Native high school students began a statewide 
struggle against the use of the "s" word. 

Now the "Squaw" Name Change Project of the Northern 
California Chapter of the American Indian Movement has 
issued a call to all Indian women to take this on throughout 
Indian Country. California alone has 105 sites using the 
word "squaw." 

Too often, non-Native people have attempted to sidetrack 
these campaigns with learned debates over the origins of the 
word. Some say it originates from an Algonquin word meaning 
woman. Others say it refers in a negative way to female 
genitalia. 

The recently-issued call says, "The arguments have been 
heard about ... the origin of this word ... and if it does 
or does not mean female genitalia. Why should we continue to 
argue about this? It is a fact that nine times out of 10 
this word is thought of as being offensive and/or derogatory 
to Indian women. 

"Besides, don't we Indian women have the right to object 
to a term that has been used continuously in a demeaning, 
degrading and derogatory manner towards us? Isn't it us that 
would know if we were being honored or not? The use of this 
word ... is not regarded by our grandmothers, mothers, 
aunties and daughters as a term of respect." 

MOHAWKS STOP ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND 

The Mohawk people of Kahnawake have stopped the leasing of 
24 acres of waterfront land to food giant Archer Daniels 
Midland. ADM had secretly negotiated a permit from the 
tribal band council leasing the land to build a grain-
storage facility next to the Kahnawake Survival School. 

>From the start, the people of this Mohawk territory near 
Montreal in Quebec overwhelmingly said "no" to ADM. The 
staff, students and parents of the Survival School launched 
a community awareness project. They were convinced that the 
stored grain would pollute the school with dust and 
pesticides, invite hordes of rats and sea-
gulls, and put them in danger of explosions and dangerous 
truck traffic. 

Residents organized a march from the school to the band 
council office, launched a petition campaign, and held a 
community meeting where every person stood up and spoke 
against the project. The Women's Council of the Longhouse 
was unanimous in opposing the project, and the Warrior 
Society said it would support and enforce the women's 
decision. 

On Oct. 30, the band council said in a press release that 
the project was "on hold." In the meantime, an opposition 
group is still occupying the entrance to the ADM site until 
trailers, equipment and staff are physically removed.

The band council backed down amid revelations about ADM's 
questionable past and its shadowy development adviser, 
Apikan Consultants. ADM may have chosen Kahnawake because 
the territory is not subject to federal or provincial 
environmental, shipping and storage regulations. 

ADM recently plea bargained and paid a $100-million fine 
in the U.S. for fraud and price fixing. That deal was 
brokered by none other than ADM director and former Canadian 
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney--who in 1990 sent the Army 
into Kahnawake and Kahnesatake to attack the Mohawks. 

ADM's past and its secret deal with the band council 
touched a deep nerve in Kahnawake, made worse by the 
involvement of Pat Apikan, a First Nations development 
consultant who acted as ADM's liaison. 

Apikan Indigenous Network has a troubled past, including 
involvement in questionable mining, agriculture and forestry 
projects in Central and South America. Apikan has carried 
out work for the Inter-American Development Bank, a division 
of the World Bank, taking a lead role in opening up 
Indigenous territories and economies to foreign interests. 

The World Bank and foreign corporations have frequently 
taken over Native lands to exploit their oil, forests and 
other resources. In the process, Indigenous people are 
removed and even killed. An organization such as Apikan can 
be hired to put the cover of a brown face over these 
destructive projects. 

Apikan facilitated the Highway Seven construction project 
in Belize. The road passes through Mayan lands rich in 
minerals. Once completed, it will serve as a vital artery to 
transport goods out of the area to foreign markets, as well 
as allow the military to enter into once forbidden 
territory. 

In Panama, Apikan has worked with the Canadian mining firm 
Rio Tinto Zinc to exploit Indigenous resources. Since the 
late 1980s, Indigenous groups such as the Ngobes have tried 
to stop the Panamanian government from giving away their 
land to foreign interests. Their protests have been met with 
jail and sometimes death at the hands of the police.

                         - END -

(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint
granted if source is cited. For more information contact
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
ww-AT-workers.org. For subscription info send message to:
info-AT-workers.org. Web: http://workers.org)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Todd M. Freeberg            
Department of Biological Sciences
Lilly Hall
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907    
(765)494-9654


"...language is both a living thing and a museum
of fossils of life and past civilizations."
                -- Antonio Gramsci

"La porta si apre di dentro"
                -- Sicilian proverb




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