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| Hi Everyone. I'm back.
Just a recommendation: The other day driving home I heard the top requested program for 2006 on Focus on the Family (family.org, 1800afamily). The person who spoke was called Sheri Rose Shepard and if anyone gets a chance I would recommend looking her up at http://www.hisprincess.com. I'd like to use one of her books with the teen girls in my church, and pick up a copy of the broadcast.
Recent news: I moved nearer the church and my new job. My son is nearly 3 months old, and his daddy is getting much more adept at caring for him! They are quite a pair. Christmas went well, New Years was good too. Mr. Geeting stayed up till 3 am playing Lord of the Rings Monopoly with the neighbors and won.
All for today.
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What do we believe? Many years ago when the first Europeans came to
America to "Christianize" our people, many came with their
religious bias and not with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their gospel
message was based on the premise that there must be a cultural – or
outward – change before a person could come to the Father in Heaven. The
results were - and continue to be – devastating, as very few of our
Indian people have come to Christ. In contrast, our message is simply that
God loves you just as He created you. He loves me, as a Lipan Apache man,
and does not require that I change my culture before I can receive the
free gift of His salvation through Jesus Christ. Our message, based on the
gospel of Jesus Christ, does not demand a change of culture, but a change
of heart through the receiving of Christ’s forgiveness and the work of
the Holy Spirit. So we focus not on our denominational differences but on
our similarities.
We believe that God the Father sent God the Son (Jesus) to die on the
cross for our sins; that He rose from the dead on the third day, and that
He offers us eternal life and a home in heaven with Him, when we put our
faith and trust in Him. We believe that God the Holy Spirit comes into the
hearts of believers to guide them in life and change their hearts within.
We believe that we are co-partners with the church or organization that
has invited us. We share the gospel, and depend on the church to follow-up
and disciple those who respond to the gospel message.
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An Update from Pastor Robert Soto - Eagle Feathers
Dear Friends:
I want to thank you for all the prayers and all the support you have
sent, and for all your e-mails; they have brought such encouragement to
our hearts. I also want to thank you for all your advice and research
results you have sent us.
Today we, my brother-in-law and I, met with our lawyer and he
explained in detail to us all that he had found. In reality, it sounded
more technical than my mind could handle. I have learned a lot during
my journey down this path that God the Creator has allowed me to go
through. So I will tell you what we have to do, and what I have learned
through this experience.
WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO?
Our lawyer tried everything to help us keep our feathers but at the
end, he could find no route to accomplish that. He carefully studied
all the court cases that I sent to him that were sent to me by a lot of
you, and also found several himself. While the cases I was sent seemed
to work to our favor, he also found many others that did not.
His concern, which is a valid concern, was that if we fought the
federal government in this issue it would backfire on us with a big
possibility of losing, resulting in an even greater battle for my
freedom in the future, which he stated would affect a lot of areas of
my life.
So we decided to accept the federal agent’s proposal. This does not
mean they have won the war, just one little battle. We will continue to
fight, but I will explain that later.
Unless the federal agent changes his mind, we are looking at the
following penalties: first of all, I will receive a verbal warning and
not be charged any fines, but will have to give him my two roach
feathers. For my brother-in-law, he will receive a reduced fine of $500
and all the feathers I loaned him will be taken away. The original fine
was $5,000.
So after much prayer, by both of us and our lawyer, we decided that
this could not be fought in the court system and that the whole
situation was a no-win effort in our area.
By the way, the two roach feathers that I have to turn in will not be
turned in to the federal agent in his office. I told the lawyer that I
would turn in my feathers in a neutral place like the lawyer’s office,
and that as we turned in our feathers, we would have a mourning
ceremony and sing a mourning song for our great loss. I will be taking
four elders to our ceremony to witness the surrendering of our feathers
to the United States Government.
WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?
What have I learned from this situation?
First of all, I have learned that if you are not a
federal-recognized Indian, according to federal law, you are not an
Indian. Because the United States government defines a Native American
as a person belonging to a federally recognized tribe.
Secondly, if you do not belong to a federally recognized tribe, you do
not have the same religious and ceremonial rights as those who are
federally recognized.
Thirdly, since we do not have the same rights as those who are
federally recognized, we cannot even call ourselves Native Americans
according to federal law.
Fourthly, this means that anything we produce that is Native in character cannot be called Native American art or crafts.
Fifth, I have learned that the only legal feather is a feather issued
to you by the depository set aside by the federal government. That
means that even if you are carrying a BIA card, you are not entitled to
carry those feathers unless you have a permit from the federal
government. That also means that if you are gifted a feather and you do
not belong to a federally recognized tribe, that gift is against the
law.
Sixthly, if you are gifted a feather, when you receive that feather you
have to report to the feather depository with all the information they
ask for - like who gave you the feather, his permit number, etc, and
register it with the federal government and wait for a special permit
that states that this feather has been given to you by someone who
legally received the feather through the United States government.
This means that if any of your Indian friends who have the proper
credentials give you a feather and you do not have a BIA card or your
tribe is not federally recognized, that feather is illegal and cannot
be used under federal law. I could bore you with more logistics, but
these are the ones I remember.
So what I have learned through all this is that if you are not a
card-carrying Indian with a number issued to you by your tribe which
has been federally recognized, you are not an Indian according to
federal law. These are laws; many of them given to the United States
government by federally recognized tribes to protect the rights of
those who are federally recognized. And sad to say, the law is the law.
So, who am I? is my question. This is where you have to make a decision
in your heart. As I told my lawyer, "I am a Lipan Apache Indian. I was
brought up a Lipan Apache Indian. We have been practicing our culture
ever since I can remember. We have a history, and ancestors who made us
who we are. Because of all this, I have convictions in my heart for the
right to use what I feel are my God-given rights as a Lipan Apache. The
law might tell me otherwise, but that does not change who I am and who
God has created me."
Our lawyer told me that if things are going to change, it will not
be in the court system but through our governmental officials.
He said that we have to unite ourselves and let our politicians know what is happening, and that laws need to be changed.
Now our lawyer did tell me one thing of great interest to all who are
not federally recognized. That within the next year or two, a case is
getting ready to go to the Supreme Court over this issue, feathers and
the those who are not federally recognized.
He said there is a big possibility that the laws will change because
eagles are no longer an endangered species. So keep an eye open for
that, and see what we can do to help them decide for all of us who do
not carry a BIA card.
WHAT DO I PLAN TO DO?
I do not know about you and your tribe, but we did not survive all
these years in the deserts by hiding and running away. As soon as this
is over, I need your help to inform the following representatives about
what has happened. Not so much about the feathers, but of what I feel
are still violations of our religious rights as Native Americans and
how our circle was violated when the officer came in with no regard to
who we are as Indian people.
I have a letter ready to go from our tribal chairman which I will
e-mail to all who have written to me the last week and a half. If you
really care and want to do something to correct what has happened, I
encourage you to invest $1.56 in four stamps and write to the four
political representatives whose names I will provide as soon as this is
over.
Many of you have said to me, "What else can I do besides pray?” Well,
here will be your opportunity to do something. Can you imagine what
would happen if four or five thousand letters poured into the offices
of our political officials? At least the voice of our Indian people
will be heard.
I am praying that more than four or five thousand letters come in. I am
praying that with your help, you can get the word around and thousands
more will come in. This will at least give them a little idea of the
gravity of the issue and that this is not just Robert Soto in South
Texas speaking, but the whole world.
WHAT CAN YOU PRAY FOR?
All this time we have been asking you to pray for Mike and me. By
the way, Mike is my brother-in-law. But there are some spiritual issues
I need you to pray for.
This issue has affected our children. Many of our children are afraid
of the federal government now and see them as the bad people because
they will not allow us to be who we are, Indians. As Dillon, one of my
nephews said to his mother, "Why should we dance if we cannot wear our
feathers?" I know the feathers do not make the Indian, but at the same
time, they are a symbol of who we are and who God the Creator made us.
In 1847, the state of Texas passed a law outlawing not just the Lipan
Apaches, but all Indian tribes from within its borders. It was at this
time that we went underground with our ceremonies and language and
dances. If our ancestors were captured as Indians they were either sent
to the Mescalero Reservation in New Mexico, or imprisoned, or killed
and scalped because the scalp of a Lipan Apache brought 100 pesos for a
man's scalp, 75 pesos for a woman's scalp and 50 pesos for our child's
scalp by the Mexican government.
This is our history; maybe you are wondering, "Why are you telling us this and what does this have to do with eagle feathers?"
I tell you this because we will never be able to have a family
traditional gathering again without the worry of a federal official
deciding to make a name for himself and deciding to come and take our
feathers or the feathers of anyone attending our celebration. So once
again, we will have to take our ceremonies and pow wows underground and
not invite the public or advertise for others to come.
Pray for us, the Lipan Apaches. This will take a long time to recover.
I will write more after the turning over of our feathers. It will be a very emotional event.
Keep us in prayer.
Robert Soto Lipan Apache Warrior for Jesus
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Prayer Request - Pastor Robert Soto (Lipan Apache)
Here
is an update re: Pastor Robert Soto (for those that have not seen it
yet, the original prayer request and a description of the situation
follows this update):
Pastor Soto has a lawyer who has taken his case at no charge. He is a
born-again Christian. He has to do research to see if he can find any
provision in the law to help Pastor Soto keep his feathers.
When it comes to possessing eagle feathers, the only legitimate feather
is one issued by the federal government to Indians who are BIA
card-carrying. Having a status card is not enough. One must possess a
piece of paper that states that the feather or feathers in your
possession have been issued to you by the federal government.
Pastor Soto's tribe (Lipan Apache) is not federally recognized, but he
does have a status card. His tribe is in its fourth step out of seven,
before they can be federally recognized.
What will eventually happen is that more than likely Pastor Soto and
his brother-in-law will not have to spend any prison time for the
feathers, but they may have to pay a fine that averages about $3,000
each, and give up all the feathers that were taken from them at the pow
wow.
So pray for the following.
Pray that the fine may be reduced and that God will provide for the
need. They do not have the money and it will have to come from above.
The second thing is that Pastor Soto still feels that his civil rights
and religious freedoms were violated when the federal agent stormed
into their pow wow and started harassing people. He said the event
stopped being a sacred gathering the moment that they advertised and
invited the public. (Pastor Soto reminds us that churches advertise
their meetings, also, but does that cause the church service to be less
of a sacred gathering?)
Pray for wisdom as to what course of action Pastor Soto should take
against this violation of our right to assemble as Native people in our
circle, which is sacred. And pray also for the wisdom of the attorney
that helps them.
The next meeting with this attorney will be either Friday or Monday.
For those that have not seen it yet, here is the original prayer
request from Pastor Robert Soto explaining how this situation began:
Now comes the urgent prayer request. As you know, there are many things
in our Native culture that are sacred to us. One is the circle we form
when we do a pow wow. The things we do within the circle are done with
great respect and reverence. Some of the objects we wear in our outfits
are treated with great respect and honor and we cherish the honor of
having them. One such object is the eagle feathers that have been
passed on to us as a reminder of who we are as Native people. We treat
our Eagle Feathers with great respect and take care of them. Well, this
has been a battle from the beginning. Today, the federal government
controls who may have and who may not have Eagle Feathers. It has set
its rules and regulations that restrict us as Native Americans from
using them in a good and sacred way. Well, in spite of a good pow wow,
we have a big problem. On Saturday afternoon, my
brother-in-law was called outside the circle by what he thought was a
tourist with a question. It was a federal agent who started to harass
him and who eventually took his bustle away. As this was happening, I
came out and he started harassing me about my roach feathers and told
me - without showing proof - that he was a federal agent, and to take
my feathers off and give them to him. I asked him four times to show me
proof that he was a federal agent but in the process he continued to
harass me and threaten me. He told me 'I could do this the easy way or
the hard way'. He threatened to arrest me if I did not give him my
roach feathers. After the fourth request, he showed me proof that he
was a federal agent and then demanded I give him my roach feathers. I
told him no and that as a Native American I had the right to wear these
feathers. He then demanded I prove I was Native
American, which I did. Then he proceeded to take away my
brother-in-law's bustles. I turned to him and said he could not take
them because those were my feathers, which they were, and that I had
loaned them to him, which I had. He told me that I did not have the
right to lend my feathers to anyone and that I was the only one who
could legally use the feathers. The argument continued and at the end
he took the feathers with him and then proceeded to enter the circle to
harass other people. I tried to stop him with the argument that this
was our sacred gathering but by this time he was out to prove a point
and he barged into the pow wow and started to harass some of the
dancers and vendors. He eventually left but with a set of bustles and
roach feathers that I had loaned to my brother in law. We will be
meeting with him on Tuesday to argue the point.
So I am asking you now to pray for me. I need to know you are behind
me. I am one man who will be facing the federal government on Tuesday
or Wednesday. I have a feeling that unless the Lord intervenes, this
will be a long, drawn-out battle. Our tribal chairman will be sending
an official complaint to the federal office on Monday, and I have been
advised to take this to the local news as personal harassment and
discrimination against our legal right to use these feathers. Pray that
the Lord gives me wisdom to say and do the right thing when we do meet.
If ever I needed your prayers and support it is now. I will keep you
updated as things develop. This has not been the first time we have
been harassed, but this is the first time they have taken feathers away
from me. The bustle that was taken was made out of feathers that were
given to me back in 1970, and the roach feathers were
given to me by an Indian lady who I helped through the dying process of
cancer about ten years ago.
God bless.
Robert Soto Lipan Apache Warrior for Jesus
Son Tree Native Path
1913 Camellia
McAllen Texas 78501
http://sontree.org | | |
| So who wants to suggest names for the little peanut??
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