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From: "tj snow" <tj_snow@hotmail.com>
To: kolahq@skynet.be
Subject: Fwd: Bands push for borders
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 00:02:01 MST

Wednesday, February 23, 2000
Bands push for borders
Special tribal crossing

By AP
GREAT FALLS, Mont. --  Members of the Blackfeet and Peigan Nations say they
may ask for a special Natives-only border crossing to help unite their
tribes, now divided by the U.S.-Canadian border.

More than 40 leaders from the Blackfeet Nation in the U.S. and the Peigan
Nation met in Great Falls on Monday to discuss ways to overcome the border
dividing them.

In the 1700s, the Blackfeet Nation and the Peigan Nation was a confederacy
of three distinct tribes commanding land from north of Edmonton, to as far
south as Yellowstone National Park in the U.S., said Ken Talks About, a
member of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council.

The tribes -- known by different names in the two countries -- still exist,
but their dealings are hampered at the border by vehicle searches and other
interference by customs officials, they said.

"We are segregated by a line," said Peter Strikes With a Gun, chief of the
Peigan Nation. "It has taken away our relationship."

William Old Chief, chairman of the Blackfeet Council in Montana, said he
hopes to unite the tribes behind creation of some kind of a restricted
border crossing, available only for tribal members.

The Mohawk Tribe in New York State now has such a crossing, he said.

The special station would reduce delays and cultural mishaps, such as female
customs inspectors handling religious items that Blackfeet tradition says
may be handled only by men.

"A lot of the tribes in Canada are really advanced in their economic
development," Old Chief said.

"We want to tap into that."

http://www.canoe.ca/CalgaryNews/cs.cs-02-23-0032.html
 

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