Every Saturday, Buffalo Post features stories from Native Sun News, published in Rapid City, S.D.

By Talli Nauman
Native Sun News Correspondent

PINE RIDGE – The Oglala Sioux Tribe has “grave concerns” about AT&T’s bid for the cell phone service on the reservation, it told the Federal Communications Commission in a filing Sept. 10.

AT&T petitioned the FCC on July 30 for authorization to take charge of the cell phone service on Pine Ridge Reservation, which is controlled by Verizon.

The officials of the Oglala Sioux Tribe “wish to take this opportunity to advise the commission that they still harbor grave concerns about the provision of service on Pine Ridge by AT&T,” the tribal government says in its most recent filing with the FCC.

The statement comes in the midst of contract negotiations between the tribe and AT&T, which seeks FCC approval to assume Verizon’s status as the Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) on the reservation.

The tribe complained to the commission in an earlier filing on May 24, that transferring authorization to AT&T would void the OST’s contract rights in the Tate Woglaka Service Agreement (TWSA).

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Tags: Alltel, AT&T, buffalo post, Eligible Telecommunications Carrier, FCC, Jonathan Canis, Justice Department, Native American news, Native Sun News, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Talli Nauman, Tate Woglaka Service Agreement, Verizon, Western Wireless

Every Saturday, Buffalo Post features stories from Native Sun News, published in Rapid City, S.D.

By Randall Howell
Native Sun News Correspondent

RAPID CITY – Sometimes, political candidates do everything right and still lose the general election.

That’s the situation that the only American Indian on this year’s South Dakota statewide ballot has found himself in more than once during his political career.

However, Ron Volesky, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, doesn’t see himself as a loser at all. If anything, he’s a self-confident “this year” candidate.

“I intend to win the state attorney general’s race on Nov. 2,” Volesky, a Huron-based attorney, told Native Sun News.

“It’s shaping up to be a tough race,” said Volesky, who faces the state’s incumbent attorney general, Marty Jackley, a Republican running in a state that has been dominated by GOP officeholders at the statewide level for decades.

“We’ve got to get the vote out, particularly in places such as the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, Standing Rock – all nine reservations across the state,” said Volesky, who is the Democratic Party’s candidate for the office of the state’s attorney general.

“I’ve got the experience to meet the challenges in that office,” said Volesky, a Harvard graduate. “But I need help from the Indian vote. I ask South Dakota’s Native Americans to empower themselves so that we get a good vote on Nov. 2.”

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Tags: Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, Harvard, Huron City Commission, Marty Jackley, Native American voting, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Ron Volesky, Rosebud Indian Reservation, Shannon County, South Dakota State University, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Tribal Relations Commission

Tuesday’s chat with South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson – hosted Kevin Woster of the Rapid City, S.D., Journal – begins at 9 a.m. on the Mount Blogmore site.

As the Journal‘s Andrea J. Cook reported earlier, voters in Shannon County, S.D. – which encompasses most of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation – cannot cast an early ballot without traveling to Hot Springs in Fall River County or applying by mail for an absentee ballot.

All early voting in South Dakota is done by absentee ballot, her story explains. Nelson told Cook he’s sure voters in Shannon County won’t be disenfranchised. The live chat will give people an opportunity to quiz Nelson further on that question.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Chris Nelson, Gwen Florio, Mount Blogmore, Native American news, Native American voting, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Rapid City Journal, Shannon County, voting rights

New regulation takes aim at fake Native American arts and crafts
“Falsely suggesting goods are Indian- or Alaska Native-made could be harder to get away with now that Congress has approved changes to the 1990 Indian Arts and Crafts Act,” Associated Press reporter Sue Major Homes writes. The revisions are part of the Tribal Law and Order Act, and expand the number of agencies that can investigate suspected violations.

First Nations leaders heading for Washington, D.C., to protest tar sands development
Tomorrow, a number of First Nations leaders from Canada will meet with officials in Washington, D.C., “to persuade officials to reject a pipeline project they say would pump more ‘dirty oil’ from Alberta into the United States,” the Canadian Press reports. “Francois Paulette, of the Smith’s Landing Treaty 8 First Nation, says he wants to talk to U.S. politicians about pollutants from the oilsands.”

One of original Navajo Code Talkers dies
Indian Country today has an Associated Press story reporting the death of Allen Dale June, one of the 29 original Navajo code talkers who confounded the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in their native language, has died. He was 91, and died of natural causes at a veterans hospital on Sept. 8, according to the story.

Thousands take part in annual Trail of Tears Motorcycle Ride
Actually, make that tens of thousands, according to Trevor Stokes of the Times Daily in Alabama’s Tennessee Valley. The ride memorializes the forced, deadly relocation of Cherokee people who lived east of the Mississippi River in 1838.

Early voting on Pine Ridge Reservation faces roadblocks
The issue actually involves Shannon County, S.D., but of course that’s where the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is located. The Rapid City Journal reports that voters cannot cast an early ballot without traveling to Hot Springs in Fall River County or applying by mail for an absentee ballot. Voting in Shannon County has been the focus of controversy in recent years, especially after 2002, when Democrat Tim Johnson wrestled a Senate race away from Republican John Thune by just over 500 votes – with Shannon County votes being the last counted, prompting allegations of fraud.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Allen Dale June, First Nations, Indian Arts and Crafts Act, Navajo Code Talkers, oil sands, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Shannon County, Smith's Landing Treaty 8 First Nation, tar sands, Trail of Tears, Trail of Tears Motorcycle Ride, Tribal Law and Orer Act, voting rights

Every Saturday, Buffalo Post features stories from Native Sun News, published in Rapid City, S.D.

PINE RIDGE –– The list for the office of OST tribal president and vice president are lengthy for the October 5 Primary Election.

For President the candidates are: Donald Steele Jr., Lloyd Goings, incumbent Theresa Two Bulls, Garfield Steele, Denver American Horse, John Yellow Bird Steele, Darla Black, Elvyn Doug Bissonette, incumbent Vice President William “Shorty” Brewer and former OST Chairman, Harold Dean Salway.

For Vice President the candidates are: Tom Poor Bear, Melanie Two Eagle, Alvin Slow Bear, Myron Pourier, Henny Cleone Whalen, Pete Swift Bird, and Phyllis Wilcox.

(For districts and chief judge, click more)

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Tags: buffalo post, Election, Native Sun News, Ogala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Primary election

Every Saturday, Buffalo Post features stories from Native Sun News, published in Rapid City, S.D.

By Randall Howell
Native Sun News Correspondent

PINE RIDGE – Twostripes, you’re out: Out chewing on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation’s vegetation – cheat grass, mostly. But this year’s infestation – reported to be the largest in nearly a quarter of a century – is likely to be nothing compared to next year’s prospects.

Of course, that too depends on so many things, according to Bruce Helvig, South Dakota state plant health director. For one, it depends on the number of eggs that survive the first hard frost to await next spring’s hopper hatch.

“This is the worst I’ve seen it in the 24 years I’ve been in the state,” Helvig said, noting that 1985-86 also climbed the charts of hopper invasion history. From there, he backed up into the history of grasshopper plagues in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Nonetheless, Helvig was on the reservation “about two weeks ago” to check out reports that already had predicted a hopper infestation for Western South Dakota this summer.

And, of course, what’s in the middle of Western South Dakota – none other than the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s nearly 4,000 square miles of trust and non-trust reservation land.

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Tags: Bruce Helvig, gnugnuska, grasshopper, Melanoplus bivittautus, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

Each Saturday, Buffalo Post runs a selection of stories from Native Sun News.

Photo and story by Evelyn Broecher
Native Sun News Correspondent

PART 1

RAPID CITY – Thelma Conroy-Rios, an American Indian activist, has been accused as an accessory in the 1975 murder of Anna Mae Aquash. She blames her situation on an “irresponsible media addicted to sensationalism.” She said, “To me, these people abuse me when they print lies.”

But, who is Thelma Rios and, how did this Allen country girl get from the reservation to infamous AIM extremist on trial for accessory to murder?

Rios appears to be as confused as anyone about the charges against her. “Everyone knew my house was safe and clean. Alcohol was never allowed in my home. My home was open to all people in need, including people of all races, religions, and ages.” She said she opened her home to the homeless, and domestic violence victims, kids off the street, and elders in need.

“I have lived this way for 40 years, Rios said. “I was even a licensed foster parent. The Department of Social Services would bring me Indian children no one could handle. Even the police department would bring people who needed help to my home.”

“That’s why I don’t understand how anyone could even think I could stand by and watch any woman be kidnapped, abused, or tied-up,” Rios said, referring to prior testimony of events leading to the murder of Aquash.

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Tags: American Indian Movement, Anna Mae Aquash, Annie Mae Aquash, buffalo post, Native American news, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Thelma Rios, Wounded Knee

Today, Buffalo Post introduces a new component we find really exciting – a selection of stories from Native Sun News. Each week, Native Sun publishes a newspaper – yes, a real newspaper that you can hold in your hands, take down to the cafe, swat the puppy with. The only thing you can’t do with it is read it online. So each week, Native Sun News e-mails its stories to certain news organizations. We’re thrilled to be included. We’ll run them on Saturdays, starting today with this story about KILI Radio station’s new format. If you’ve ever driven through the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, you know KILI. It’s how you keep up with everything that’s going on – or, at least, it was.

By Randall Howell
Native Sun News Correspondent

PORCUPINE –– Hunger for more local news and less entertainment is part of what’s driving a possible change in the broadcasting board of directors at KILI-FM.

That’s the upshot of the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Treaty Committee meeting last week. In fact, those attending the Aug. 31 session, showed their intentions with an overwhelmingly positive vote on what perhaps could best be described as a “sense of the committee” proposal to construct an ordinance that, if passed, would significantly change the radio board.
“The current board … it does nothing,” said Cecilia Martin of Evergreen, a 90-year-old tribal elder. “We also need the news back. It’s been gone for three, maybe four, months. That’s how I find out what’s going on. We need to take our radio station back.”

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Tags: buffalo post, KILI, KILI radio, Native American news, Native Sun News, Oglala Lakota College, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

The Lakota Cafe sounds like just the right place to wind up at the end of the long holiday weekend. Especially if you’ve got car trouble.

That’s because the cafe’s owner, Patty Bourne, also owns the Peabody Body Shop, also in the town of Pine Ridge on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

On this Labor Day, the Rapid City Journal’s Steve Miller describes a recent work day for Bourne:

The Lakota Cafe on the Pine Ridge Reservation (Flickr photo from JustifyMyWar)

A bundle of energy, she was wearing a ball cap, gray sweatshirt and black sweatpants the day I stopped at the Lakota Cafe for lunch. She had just come from the auto body shop, where she was putting a windshield in a pickup.

It wasn’t a typical day for Bourne because she usually arrives at the cafe at 7 a.m. and doesn’t leave for the body shop until 4. If she has a car to work on, she’ll generally work until 7 p.m. before going home to Rushville, Neb., to take care of her two kids, dogs, cats and fish.

Bourne, who is 37, came to her twin businesses from the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Department of Public Safety, as well as a second job at the tribe’s Prairie Wind casino.

Miller says the food is good, the staff is friendly, the place is spotless – and then there’s Bourne herself.

“If people walk in and they are crabby because somebody just yelled at them, I hope I could help make them feel better by being polite and courteous,” Bourne said. “When I hire my employees, I make sure they have a positive attitude.”

Sounds like a great business plan.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Lakota Cafe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, Patty Bourne, Peabody Body Shop, Pine Ridge, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Prairie Wind Casino