[Allison]

I was over at the WTA offices today working on de magazine and Dan told me that Gale Norton has shut down ALL of the Department of the Interior websites and access. That includes Fish and Wildlife and National Parks for two. The FS is part of the USDA so it is not being affected. I am really bad about reading the paper and even NPR's a little Bin-heavy for me at the moment. Is this old news? Methinks it is just awful and stupid. Anyone know where I can get mo'info on this?

[Allison]

http://www.doi.gov/news/grilesmemo.htm Here's a link I found on the Department's website quoting the court order. The judge decided to shut down the entire DOI website system because of what is going on at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, apparently there's some alleged misappropriation of funds going on there, and the stupid judge (yes I am name calling, dagnabbit!!) decided it made more sense to punish anyone who's ever heard of the BIA than take more proportional countermeasures. %^$&#!!!

[polarbear]

The link doesn't tell the public much about the problem. Was the misappropriation of funds paying state employees to surf the internet Why did they have to disable the whoe thing?

[Brian Curtis]

Here's an article that explains the situation http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,48980,00.html

[salish]

Allison (and others), as an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes in Montana (Flathead) I can tell you the adversarial relationship between Indian people and the BIA goes way back. I cannot speak for my tribe, but I can speak for my family. I for one am tickled pink to see all the hubub over this "alledged misappropriation of funds". There is a long history of mismanagement and outright theft of Indian royalties and land, water, and timber royalties involving many tribes, and the BIA (again, in my opinion). Unfortunately, there have always been many truely dedicated BIA employees whose hard work was overshadowed by the inept and questionable tactics of BIA mangement. Well, I don't usually get involved in political things. In fact, I avoid it, usually, so I'll close this now. Regards, Salish

[Tsolo]

As Salish states, the BIA problems go way way back, so Gale Norton cannot by any means be accused of primary blame here. I'm certainly not among her fans, but maybe all this recent visibility will get the problems addressed at last. In which case, I'll be happy to give her credit. In the meantime, it wouldn't hurt to compose our thread titles with a little more objectivity until all the facts are in.

[Newt]

$614 m and not even a firewall? NN

[Allison]

Well, Salish, I think THAT problem may go back a few generations to when my ancestors told your ancestors to move your butts. Not unlike the UN creating Israel out of Palestine, the poor adversarial relationship between the US Gummint and tribes across this great land is inherent in how the situation was created. Now there's not much we can to to undo the mess. I've put some thought into this, and there don't seem to be any simple solutions available. It's not like we can just give the country back and move "home" to Europe. Going beyond the simple, what do you see that could be done to make some reparations between the tribes and the rest of us? Sorry about the thread drift.

[salish]

Allison, I really don't know how to respond. At 48, I think I'm probably all talked out on that issue. Again, I can only speak for myself. I don't think I've ever felt that reparations are in order. What happened to native people from 1492 until the middle of this century was nothing short of a holocaust, but in a sense, old history is just that, old history. I don't think it's healthy to remain angry and bitter over things in the distant (or not so distant) past. I think most americans would be surprised to find out just how often Indian people and tribes still have to fight to retain what is theirs. The battlefield is now the courtroom and the Indian Lawyer is now Warrior. I'm not so sure anything can or should be "done" in order to make reparations between tribes and non Indians. Enough has been done already (how's that for mistrust of anglo government?). I think maybe things should emerge as they emerging. Karma, if you will. So there, today I've broken one of my cardinal rules - I discussed politics. I hardly ever do that, even with my best friends. One more thing - the most important thing in life is having a sense of humor. Salish

[Rich Baldwin]