HELP !!!

I have a number of items that I need to sale to get my truck out of impound this week, items like a Big TV, digital DVD players and a HD DVD player too, Large Crystals......and more

HELP PLEASE- urgent! Freedom of Press In Danger

HELP PLEASE- urgent! Freedom of Press In Danger
Body: ----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: wicahcala
Date: Apr 19, 2008 8:50 PM


This sister is one of our REAL fighters... stand behind her in everyway you can .
wanbli
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: SAVE THE SACRED SITES
Date: Apr 19, 2008 8:37 PM


HELP PLEASE- urgent! Freedom of Press In Danger
My friends,
Our friend Bluejay has helped on countless issues. Those of you in the media or who have media contacts, this is the Bush Admin. trying to terrorize a US citizen who just happens to be Lakota/ Creek. But I wouldn't care what he race is. If this can happen to one of us, it can happen to any of us. The only reason that this is happening is that Bluejay is getting the word out about the Bush Admin. illegally putting a hog processing plant on the Rez of the Lakota. This is what it's all about. We need to support our friend right now and get the word out so she can get the word out for all of us. Freedom of The Press is supposed to be for us all. And Bluejay is a journalist that gets the word out that you don't see on FOX or CNN.

She has fought for all our issues. Let's stand up for her also.

We have lost enough of our constitutional rights to Bush & Company. Let's make a stand for Free Press. Please get the word out about Bluejay to all our Media friends. Please put it on all radio and cable programs about harassing the press.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bluejay Pierce ..
Date: Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 6:25 PM
Subject: HELP PLEASE- urgent!
To: Undisclosed-Recipient



Ok, I need some help from my friends,

I know you are VERY busy, but I am in a critical situation up here and need some help. I have had some MAJOR problems with "Fed-friends" before and it all started when I was working with Six Nations events. (even had my very own Black Tahoe with satellite dishes and Homeland Security lic. plates on it, sitting here on top of my remote mountain for over two weeks straight.

They sat at the end of my driveway!)

But, today...out of no where, I am BLOCKED from even getting onto MySpace, Yahoo or any of my other sites that I use for my work. I can't even get these sites to load on my browser. Every other thing I go to online? No problems. Now... if you actually GET this message, can you PLEASE reply to it so I know that YOU got it. Then, when you get a chance, try to log in to MySpace or Yahoo... whatever you might be a member of and see if you can got into that site.
If this is just happening to ME? Then the Fed-friends are trying to shut me down AGAIN.

Please, let me know ok?

Also, if for some reason you don't get a reply from me in the next couple of days? PLEASE put a message out to our mutual friends and let folks know that I have NOT just "bailed out.

Nope... guess my most recent phone calls to the Yankton or something or another has brought the big-time Fed-heat down on my head. Worst it has ever been so far to date....
thank you for helping,

Bluejay

Action Alert! Bear Butte ~ Letters of appeal needed by April 23rd!

Action Alert! Bear Butte ~ Letters of appeal needed by April 23rd!
1 message
Bluejay Pierce .. Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 1:55 PM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient

Please forward to your lists in it's entirety, do not modify or edit.

Thank-you!

*begin

ACTION ALERT!

Please send this sample letter that I wrote, or create your own letter highlighting the points stated, to the Meade County Commissioners, in regards to Jay Allen's bar Sturgis County Line at Bear Butte. Letters must be received by April 23rd, 5:00pm MTN Time.



For more information, or updates about the Bear Butte issue, please visit our website(s).



If you have any questions, please feel to email me directly at Tamra@ProtectSacredSites.org.



In peace & solidarity,
Tamra Brennan
Founder/Director
Protect Sacred Sites Indigenous People, One Nation
www. protectsacredsites. org
http://bearbutte. blogspot. com/

"Our sacred lands are all that remain keeping us connected to our place on Mother Earth, to our spirituality, our heritage and our lands; what’s left of them.

If they take it all away, what will remain except a vague memory of a past so forgotten?"


Copy and paste this letter into a separate email.

Please don't forget to sign your legal name at the bottom!

Deadline is Wednesday April 23, 2008 by 5:00 MTN Time

Subject line: Appeal Judge Bastan's decision




To Meade County Commissioners

Lisa Schieffer
Meade County Auditor
1425 Sherman Street
Sturgis, SD 57785

Phone: 605-347-2360
Fax: 605-347-5925
Email: meade@meadecounty.org

Dear Meade County Commissioners,

Please stand by your decision on December 5th to revoke Jay Allen's liquor license for Sturgis County Line. The recent ruling of Judge Bastian to remand the decision back to the Meade County Commissioners, was shocking. This decision sets a precedence for anyone in South Dakota, if they loose their liquor license, the simple solution is, sell to a partnership and your liquor license will be restored.

What message does this send to license holders to abide by the law!

The denial was based upon Jay Allen's character, that he was not a suitable person to hold the liquor license. As of the court hearing date on April 14, 2008, Jay Allen IS STILL the current owner and President of Bear Butte Sunsets LLC/ Sturgis County Line. This recent maneuver of Jay Allen is a very clear ploy to get his license re-instated illegally. As of the court hearing the only change has been new management, since the "sale agreement" will not be final until May 3, 2008.



"SDCL 35-2-6.2 defines the character requirements for licensee which demands good moral character and that the licensee have no felony convictions. These requirements apply to managing officers if the licensee is a corporation.

"

Has there been an investigation and background checks for the new management, David Shue and "potential new owners" Target Logistics Company, President Joe Murphy, that they are "suitable" to acquire the liquor license?

Please require Bear Butte Sunsets LLC & Sturgis County Line to follow the law as it is written.

Do not allow them to control our court systems and have legislation written at the bench, on their behalf!

Jay Allen has proven repeatedly, to be of bad character with his development of Sturgis County Line.



Please do the right thing, appeal Judge Bastan's decision.



Thank you for your consideration,

Sign your legal name and address here

I am in Portland now

And mostly have been hanging out in the SE~NE~NW areas,getting to know the town,but were do you hang out? I am looking for real good food too, oh ya my truck was impounded 5 min. after I got here ~ yes with all my crystals and my landscaping tools (FUN Times) So this was my welcome to Portland week ~ and all in all ~ it's a nice place ~ feels like if your not pluged in to a click it is not much fun ? but hay I just got here......oh and would't ya know it just days befor I left Eugene ...I met a native woman that spon my head around ,she bought my drum and we spent most of last week talking and hanging out.....but it goes to show ya , ya get all in to NOT being with some one..ya know, and bame !

But I am in Portland, and so fare it has been ........difrent it is bigger thin I had thought.....after I get my truck out and can star working....I am going to the beach!

Well hugs and Kiss from Portland !
exodus

Standing with our brothers

Amazon’s ‘Forest Peoples’ Seek a Role in Striking Global Climate Agreements

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: April 6, 2008

MANAUS, Brazil — Some wore traditional headdresses, and some traveled by riverboat or canoe. But the dozens of “forest peoples” who descended on this capital of Amazonas State last week had a common goal of becoming bigger players in global climate talks.




Brazil has set aside swaths of the Amazon for native groups.



A conference here that ended last Friday drew leaders of hundreds of indigenous groups in 11 Latin American countries and observers from Indonesia and Congo, the largest gathering of its kind, organizers said. They came to build a consensus for a plan in which wealthier countries would compensate developing countries for conserving tropical forests like the Amazon.




Such an international carbon-trading plan has been gaining momentum and was a central topic last December at a climate conference in Bali, Indonesia. Scientists generally agree that tropical deforestation accounts for 20 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.




“There is a real sense that this potentially represents a huge opportunity for forest peoples to influence climate change negotiations and create larger-scale incentives to stop deforestation and improve their living conditions,” said Stephan Schwartzman of the Environmental Defense Fund in New York, who attended the discussions here.




On Friday, representatives from the 11 Latin American countries signed a declaration establishing the International Alliance of Forest Peoples and vowed to continue to push for a place at the table of climate change talks.




The Indonesian government has been promoting the idea of carbon trading at climate talks. But environmentalists see South America, where native populations have stronger legal claims to the land, as a major staging ground for building support for the concept.




Unlike Southeast Asia, where land is more tightly controlled by national governments, Brazil has set aside huge swaths of the Amazon for native groups, who now have permanent rights to 12 percent of the country’s territory and 21 percent of the Amazon. Some 49 million acres of “extractive reserves” were set aside for the rubber tappers, Brazil nut gatherers and river communities that live there.




Brazil’s government has also recently shown a willingness to crack down on rampant logging. Deforestation rates in the country, despite a spike last year, had been declining for several years. But little value has been assigned to the role of native peoples in sustaining the Amazon.




Large-scale clearing of the Amazon forest — for wood, cattle-grazing and agricultural products like soybeans — is threatening the native people’s traditional way of life. “The climate changes are a reality,” said Manoel Cunha, chairman of Brazil’s National Council of Rubber Tappers. “We have rivers that are unnavigable” and trees that no longer bear fruit, he added.




The plan, formally known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or REDD, would involve payments by wealthy countries, principally the United States and European nations, to developing countries for every hectare, or 2.47 acres, of forest they do not cut down.




Some doubt it will be possible to measure how much carbon is being conserved, and question whether the forest lands involved can be protected from illegal logging and government corruption.




Calculating what fair compensation for forest conservation would amount to is no easy task. The Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts recently estimated that indigenous groups should receive $10 per square kilometer for “perimeter defense.


”

The total cost of paying private landholders and governments to conserve the Amazon would be $531.6 million a year by the 10th year of the program, the center calculated. Several indigenous leaders here expressed concern that such a system would ultimately be devised to compensate governments with the carbon credits, but not indigenous communities.




“The challenge is to pay the native peoples, not the governments,” said Elisa Canqui, a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. “They need to be direct beneficiaries in this process.

For to Day

Yellowstone / Greater Rockies
Help Protect the Path of the Pronghorn

Spring is here and the Grand Teton pronghorn herd is preparing for its annual migration across Wyoming from the Upper Green River Valley to Grand Teton National Park. The herd will make its way through dense forests, rivers and mountains, following the same winding path it has used for 6,000 years. Tens of thousands of mule deer, elk, moose, and big-horned sheep also rely on this migration route, but none travel as far as the pronghorn -- some 300 miles roundtrip. Without this critical pathway, the Grand Teton pronghorn herd would not survive. Over the past decade, a dramatic surge in oil and gas drilling activities, along with mounting real estate sprawl and fencing, has rendered the route increasingly narrow and treacherous. But the U.S. Forest Service is now proposing to protect the vital stretch of the corridor under its management. With the Bush administration poised to approve a plan to put thousands more natural gas wells in the region, this Forest Service proposal is an important first step to safeguarding the entire migration route. Please speak out now and show your support for this urgently needed action.

» Tell the Forest Service to designate a pronghorn migration corridor within the Bridger-Teton National Forest and to permanently protect the Path of the Pronghorn: www.nrdconline.org/campaign/b...stone_0308b

» Visit our new Path of the Pronghorn feature for little-known facts about pronghorns and a map of the Upper Green River Valley migration route: www.nrdconline.org/ct/ApN1aJ91_qRR/





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[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.]

Due to (U.S.) Presidential Executive Orders, the National Security Agency may have read this email, post, blog or message without warning, warrant, or notice, in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Tibetans have exploded onto the streets in frustration -

Dear friends,



call on China to respect human rights and enter dialogue with the Dalai Lama now:
Sign the Petition!



After decades of repression under Chinese rule, the Tibetan people’s frustrations have burst onto the streets in protests and riots. With the spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games now on China, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change.

After decades of repression under Chinese rule, the Tibetan people’s frustrations have burst onto the streets in protests and riots. With the spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games now on China, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change.

The Chinese government has said that the protesters who have not yet surrendered "will be punished". Its leaders are right now considering a crucial choice between escalating brutality or dialogue that could determine the future of Tibet, and China.

We can affect this historic choice -- China does care about its international reputation. China’s President Hu Jintao needs to hear that the ’Made in China’ brand and the upcoming Olympics in Beijing can succeed only if he makes the right choice. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get his attention -- and we need it in the next 48 hours.

The Tibetan Nobel peace prize winner and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has called for restraint and dialogue: he needs the world’s people to support him. Click below now to sign the petition -- and tell absolutely everyone you can right away -- our goal is 1 million voices united for Tibet:

www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_...violence/6.php

China’s economy is totally dependent on "Made in China" exports that we all buy, and the government is keen to make the Olympics in Beijing this summer a celebration of a new China, respected as a leading world power. China is also a very diverse country with a brutal past and has reason to be concerned about its stability -- some of Tibet’s rioters killed innocent people. But President Hu must recognize that the greatest danger to Chinese stability and development comes from hardliners who advocate escalating repression, not from Tibetans who seek dialogue and reform.

We will deliver our petition directly to Chinese officials in London, New York, and Beijing, but it must be a massive number before we deliver the petition. Please forward this email to your address book with a note explaining to your friends why this is important, or use our tell-a-friend tool to email your address book -- it will come up after you sign the petition.

The Tibetan people have suffered quietly for decades. It is finally their moment to speak -- we must help them be heard.


With hope and respect,

Ricken, Iain, Graziela, Paul, Galit, Pascal, Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team

PS - It has been suggested that the Chinese government may block the Avaaz website as a result of this email, and thousands of Avaaz members in China will no longer be able to participate in our community. A poll of Avaaz members over the weekend showed that over 80% of us believed it was still important to act on Tibet despite this terrible potential loss to our community, if we thought we could make a difference. If we are blocked, Avaaz will help maintain the campaign for internet freedom for all Chinese people, so that our members in China can one day rejoin our community.


Here are some links with more information on the Tibetan protests and the Chinese response:
BBC News: UN Calls for Restraint in Tibet - news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-...7301912.stm
Human Rights Watch: China Restrain from Violently Attacking Protesters - hrw.org/english/docs/2.../china18291.htm
Associated Press: Tibet Unrest Sparks Global Reaction - ap.google.com/article/ALe...XBQD8VFDD680
New York Times: China Takes Steps to Thwart Reporting on Tibet Protests - www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18...access.html

--------------------------------------------

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace pages!


To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to info@avaaz.org. You can also send postal mail to our New York office: 260 Fifth Avenue, 9th floor, New York, NY 10001 U.S.A.

www.avaaz.org



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[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.]

Due to (U.S.) Presidential Executive Orders, the National Security Agency may have read this email, post, blog or message without warning, warrant, or notice, in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Sentence for man who called Indians 'subhuman'

A Washington man who referred to Indians as "subhuman" was sentenced to 21 years in prison for murdering a man from the Yakama Nation.


Kevin Jory Braa, 47, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the death of Simeon Whitney, 35. Braa shot Whitney after Whitney and an Indian friend complained about Braa's racial comments.


The incident occurred on November 11, 2006. Whitney was from Wapato, on the Yakama Reservation.



By Jim Haley, Herald Writer

EVERETT -- A Marysville man who picked a fight in a tavern and then shot his opponent to death was sentenced to nearly 21 years in prison Thursday.

Kevin Jory Braa, 47, told a jury in February that he acted in self-defense when he killed Simeon Whitney, 35, of Wapato. The jurors didn't believe him.

The jury found that Braa acted recklessly. The shooting was not justifiable and he was guilty of first-degree manslaughter, the jury found. He was being tried on a charge of second-degree murder.

Braa on Thursday told the judge he was sorry that Whitney had to die.

"I do take issue with your statement that it was too bad Simeon had to die," Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair said. "He didn't have to die."

She gave him nearly a year more in prison than the 20 years deputy prosecutor John Stansell recommended. Marybeth Dingledy asked for her client to be sentenced at the low end of the sentencing range, about 17 years.

One reason the sentencing range was high for Braa is that he also pleaded guilty to five counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Felons are not supposed to have guns unless a judge has restored that civil right. Braa was convicted in 1994 of drug possession.

Fair pointed out that Whitney would still be alive if Braa had not taken a loaded 9 mm pistol to Kuhnle's Tavern in downtown Marysville on Nov. 11, 2006.

The fight started after Braa made racist remarks about American Indians. Whitney, an American Indian, took exception.

Braa was told to leave the bar and Whitney followed him outside to the parking lot, where the shooting happened. Mortally wounded, Whitney stumbled back into the bar, collapsed and died.



Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.



Being Indian is an attitude a state of mind a way of being in harmony with all things and all beings It is allowing the heart to be the distributor of energy on this planet to allow feelings and sensitivities to determine where energy goes bringing aliveness up from the Earth and down from the Sky putting it in and giving it out from the heart

The 23rd annual RES 2009 plans to shift the focus to the global marketplace.

The 23rd annual RES 2009 plans to shift the focus to the global marketplace.
Category: Blogging

A posting from my MySpace Blogg site,posting it here to pass the word on to others feel free to repost any item that I have put out here.

Arvel Bird, Southern Paiute/Metis, of One Nation performed at the 22nd annual Reservation Economic Summit & American Indian Business Trade Fair welcome reception March 3. RES 2008 was held at the Las Vegas Hilton March 3 - 6. Margo Gray-Proctor, Osage, president, Horizon Companies (NCAIED board of directors); Miriam Jorgensen, associate director for research, Native Nations Institute; Steve Stallings, Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians, senior vice president/director, Native American Banking, Wells Fargo; Lori Nalley, Muscogee, president, Tiger Natural Gas; and Lance Morgan, Winnebago, president/CEO, Ho-Chunk Inc., attended the 22nd annual Reservation Economic Summit & American Indian Business Trade Fair in Las Vegas. RES 2008 ice sculpture.
LAS VEGAS - The 22nd annual Reservation Economic Summit & American Indian Business Trade Fair kicked off March 3 at the Las Vegas Hilton. Early that morning, those with a penchant for golf and a competitive heart attended the 20th Annual National Center Golf Classic at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort.

That same evening, the welcoming evening reception offered attendees a lavish array of appetizers. The band One Nation, featuring NAMMY award-winning artist Arvel Bird, provided a synergistic performance.

While attendees enjoyed the ease of the opening day, behind the scenes, employees of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, the nonprofit group that spearheads the event, scrambled to prepare conference rooms for sessions the following day.

Meanwhile, the registration process went smoothly as employees handed out packets at the pre-registration counter. And behind the counter of the on-site registration area, nearly a dozen employees and volunteers processed registration packets on computers lined up against the wall. Technology has streamlined the process.

Employees and volunteers seemed calm and smiled even when a few attendees had problems registering. Some had to wait for 15 minutes to a half-hour before their registration packets were processed.

Tom Mike works in registration and has been employed by NCAIED for 29 years. He has watched the event grow from a small two-day event into one of the most highly recognized four-day Native business conference and tradeshows in the country. ’’To me, we progressed quite quickly,’’ he said.

Mike, Tohono O’odham, started working for the company just six months out of high school. He was hired on as an assistant bookkeeper and now serves as the acting CFO. Soft-spoken and respectful, he smiled as he helped attendees complete their registration.

’’RES is a learning experience for all the people gathering here to do business with each other,’’ he said. ’’We expand knowledge within ourselves and throughout the Indian nations.’’

The organization has grown from 24 employees to more than 60 today, with each worker and board member rolling up their sleeves to help make the event flow as smoothly as possible. Hilton employees and businesses participating in the tradeshow set up and tore down their own booths.

NCAIED was founded in 1969 with the sole purpose to help develop small Native-owned businesses and tribal developments. They also provide consulting services and technical assistance, and they work with federal government agencies, foundations and corporations to help develop business with Native enterprises.

’’Our goal is to help American Indian-owned businesses succeed,’’ said Maria Dadgar, director of development for NCAIED. ’’We stay in tune with the cultural aspect, and that is one of the things that makes us unique and keeps us here.’’

Dadgar, Piscataway, has worked for the organization for four years. Her position keeps her at the forefront of the pre-planning, set-up and break down stages of the event. ’’It’s been a lot of hard work, but we support each other,’’ she said.

In order to manifest a successful event and help it to stay on the cutting edge, they ask their sponsors and long-time attendees for suggestions on how to make the conference and tradeshow a positive experience for as many people as possible.

’’Doing this for 22 years, you get to know the people that sponsor the event and the business owners,’’ she said. ’’You have to pay attention to detail and not to promise anything you can’t deliver.’’

Conference-goers get the opportunity to offer their feedback on the breakout session tracks by filling out a response form to explain what they liked about each of the sessions they attend. This process helps organizers to improve any shortcomings.

In addition to the employees working the conference cycle, about 30 volunteers - mostly from the Las Vegas area - worked at this year’s event. ’’It’s just amazing and they are so dedicated,’’ Dadgar said.

And speaking of dedication, speakers and moderators not employed by the organization pay their own travel expenses to share their experience, strength and hope to attendees.

When the event first started in 1986, it drew fewer than 400 people. In the early years, registration included a brown bag lunch. Over the years, it has turned into an event that draws nearly 3,000 attendees and features a lavish networking breakfast and lunch for three days.

Dadgar said the success stories make all the hard work pay off. She often hears of new businesses landing contracts from their participation at the tradeshow. ’’We are recording our success stories,’’ she said. ’’Recognition and honor happens here, and we give businesses the opportunity to receive support from the Native community.’’

Ron Solimon, chairman of the board of directors, said at the evening welcome reception that they ’’expect to have more than $1 billion in contracts awarded’’ as a result of RES 2008.

The 23rd annual RES 2009 plans to shift the focus to the global marketplace. It will take place at the Las Vegas Hilton, March 9 - 12, 2009. NCAIED headquarters is located in Mesa, Ariz., and they have 11 offices nationwide to serve the interests of Native owned businesses. For more information, call (800) 4NCAIED or visit www. ncaied. org.


Being Indian is an attitude a state of mind a way of being in harmony with all things and all beings It is allowing the heart to be the distributor of energy on this planet to allow feelings and sensitivities to determine where energy goes bringing aliveness up from the Earth and down from the Sky putting it in and giving it out from the heart

Iroquois:The Girl Who Was Not Satisfied With Simple Things

A NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN FACTOID: The Iroquois Confederacy, made up of six Nations, was formed in about 1575. The Iroquois Nation includes the Onondaga, the Oneida, the Senecca, the Mohawk, the Cayuga, and the Tuscarora.

Iroquois:The Girl Who Was Not Satisfied With Simple Things

There once was a girl who was not satisfied with simple things. Her parents despaired of ever finding her a husband she would accept. Each man who came was not good enough. "That one was too fat; he will never do." Or "Did you see how shabby his moccasins were?" Or "I didn't like the way he spoke." Such were the things she would say.

One night, as the fire flickered low, a strange young warrior came to their door. "Dahjoh," said the mother. "come inside," but the visitor stood a the edge of the light and pointed his hand at the girl.

"I have come to take you as my wife," he said. Now this young man was very handsome. His face shone in the firelight. Above his waist was a fine, wide belt of black and yellow wampum that glittered like water. On his head he wore two tall feathers and he moved with the grace of a willow tree in the wind.

But the mother was worried. "My daughter," she said, "you would not take any of the men in our village. Would you marry a stranger whose clan you don't know?"

It was no use, for at last the daughter was satisfied. She packed her belongings and walked into the night, following the handsome stranger.

The girl walked for some time through the darkness with him when she began to feel afraid. Why had she left her mother's lodge to come with this man she had never seen?

Just then her husband grasped her arm. "Do not fear," he said, whispering in the darkness. "We will soon come to the place of my people."

"But my husband," said the girl, "how can that be? It seems we must be close to the river."

Her husband grasped her arm again. "Follow me," he whispered "just down this hill. We have almost come to the place of my people."

The two of them walked down a steep bank and came to a lodge which had a pair of horns, like those of a giant elk, fastened above the door. "This is our home," the husband said. "Tomorrow you will meet my people."

The rest of the night the girl was afraid. She heard strange noises outside. She noticed that the lodge had a smell like that of a fish. She held her blankets tightly about her and waited, wide-eyed, for the morning.

When the next day came, the sun did not shine. The grey sky was filled with hazy light. Her husband gave her a new dress, covered just like his with wampum. "You must put this on," he said to the girl, "before you are ready to meet my people."

But the frightened girl would not touch the dress.

"It smells like fish," she said. "I will not put it on."

Her husband looked angry but he said no more. Before long, he walked to the door of the lodge. "I must go away for a time," he whispered. "Do not leave this place and do not be afraid of anything you see." And he was gone.

The girl sat there wondering about her fate. Why had she come with this strange man? She saw that if she had been satisfied with simple things this would not have happened. She thought of the fire in her mother's lodge. She thought of the simple, good-hearted men who had asked her to marry them. Just then a great horned serpent crawled in through the door of the lodge. As she sat there, stiff with fear, it came up to her and stared a long time into her eyes. Around its body were glittering bands of yellow and black. Then it turned and crawled out of the door.



The girl followed slowly and peered outside. All around, there were serpents, some lying on rocks, some crawling out of caves. Then she knew that her husband was not what he seemed, not a human being, but a serpent disguised in human form.

Now this girl who had been foolish was a girl who was not without courage. She knew that she would never agree to put on her husband's magical dress and become a great serpent herself. But how could she escape? She thought and thought and finally, for she had gone the whole night without sleep, she closed her eyes and slept.

Then, as she slept, it seemed to her an old man appeared in her dream. "My granddaughter," said the old man in a clear deep voice, "let me help you."

"But what can I do, Grandfather?" she asked.

"You must do as I say," the old man answered "You must leave this place at once and run to the edge of the village. There you will see a tall steep cliff. You must climb that cliff and not turn back or your husband's people will stop you. When you have reached the top, I shall help you."

When the girl awoke, she realized she had to follow the old man's words. She looked outside the lodge and saw her husband coming, dressed again in the form of a beautiful man. She knew she had to go at once or be caught in this place forever. So, quick as a partridge flying up, she burst from the door of her husband's lodge and dashed toward the cliffs.

"Come back!" she heard her husband shout but she did not look back. The cliffs were very far away. She ran as swiftly as she could. Then she began to hear a sound, a rustling noise like the wind rushing through the reeds but she did not look back. The cliffs were closer now. Then once more she heard her husband's voice close to her whispering, whispering, "Come back, my wife, come join my people." But now she had come to the cliffs and began to climb.

She climbed and she climbed, using all of her strength, remembering the old man's promise, as her hands grew painful and tired. Ahead of her was the top of the cliff and as she reached it she felt the hand of the old man lifting her to her feet.

She looked back and saw that she had just climbed up out of the river. Behind her were many great horned serpents. Then, as she watched, the old man began to hurl bolts of lightning which struck the monsters. And she knew that the old man was Heno, the Thunderer.

The lightning flashed and the thunder drums rolled across the sky. In the river the serpents tried to escape but the bolts of Heno struck them all. Then the storm ended and the girl stood there, a gentle rain washing over her face as the Thunderer looked down on her.

"You're very brave, my child," he said. "You have helped me rid the earth of those monsters. Perhaps I may call on you again, for your deed has given you power."

Then the old man raised his hand and a single cloud drifted down to earth. He and the girl stepped into the cloud which carried them back to her village.

It is said that the girl later married a man whose heart was good. Between them they raised many fine children. It is also said that her grandfather, Heno, came back to visit her many times. Often she would fly with him to help rid the earth of evil creatures.

And when she was old, she always told her grandchildren these words: "Be satisfied with simple things."