26 August 1999 thru 21 JULY 1999

(These are national news stories that I have found and clipped to post here for your information. Follow the "next" image thru the archives to 11 June 1999)

26 August 1999

Relatives Say Reservation Assault Fueled by Liquor, Not Racism

MARTIN, S.D. (AP) -- The brutal beating of a white man was the result of alcohol and an argument, not racial animosity, according to relatives of the victim and one of the three American Indian suspects.

Brad Young, 21, remained in critical condition today. He was beaten, kicked in the head and left for dead with a rope around his neck early Saturday on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwest South Dakota.

The FBI and federal prosecutors said it was too early to term the assault a hate crime, though they're not ruling it out.

Louis Means and Byron Bissonette, both 18, pleaded innocent Wednesday to federal charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The charges are federal because the incident happened on the reservation.

A 17-year-old juvenile also was taken into custody.

Young's aunt, Nancy Neuharth, said she doubts the assault was race related.

"Brad was well-liked by Indians and whites," she said. "They were out doing things they shouldn't have been doing. It's the times. Kids are out doing things they shouldn't do."

The three had been drinking and got into an argument, said Bissonette's uncle, Arthur Has No Horses, who said he talked to his nephew.

"He said it all started from an argument over Brad's wife," he said.

The four had driven to an abandoned house to party, according to a statement by William Grode, an FBI special agent in Minneapolis.

Means told tribal police that he, Bissonette and the juvenile had beaten Young, "dragged him across a field, thrown him into a house crawlspace, dragged him out and then kicked him numerous times in the head," according to the FBI statement.

Young's mother, Carol Bucholz of Lexington, Neb., said her son's left ear was almost torn off and his right ear badly damaged. She said that he suffered head injuries but that there was no sign of brain damage.

Local newspapers and TV reported that Sheriff Russel Waterbury said the crime was racially motivated.

However, he told a radio station he had been misunderstood.

"I've got a lot of calls on that, and that was my opinion, to do something that horrible to somebody else," he told KWSN on Wednesday. "I didn't mean the actual hate crime, so I don't know where they come up with where I was quoted as saying that. But that was my opinion."

Waterbury did not return calls Wednesday to The Associated Press.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

25 August 1999

Suspects Plead Innocent in Attack that Leaves Man in Critical Condition

(Martin, South Dakota-AP) -- A sheriff says he was misunderstood when he was quoted as calling the beating of a white man, allegedly by American Indians, a hate crime.

Sheriff Russel Waterbury tells Sioux Falls, South Dakota, radio station K-W-S-N he was expressing his opinion that a "horrible" crime had been committed -- without saying it actually fit the hate crime statute.

Brad Young is in critical condition. He was found early Saturday, several hours after he was beaten on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Three suspects, including a juvenile, were taken into custody. The two older suspects have pleaded innocent to federal charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

The F-B-I and federal prosecutors say it's too early to call the assault a hate crime. Relatives of the victim and one of the suspects are blaming alcohol, not race.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

Police: Man Beaten, Dragged, Left for Dead in South Dakota

MARTIN, S.D. (AP) -- A white man beaten and left for dead with a rope around his neck was found on an Indian reservation in what the sheriff described as a hate crime.

The FBI was investigating but stopped short of labeling the attack a hate crime.

Brad Young, 21, of Martin was in critical condition early today at Rapid City Regional Hospital. He was found early Saturday, about seven hours after he was beaten, near Allen on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Bennett County Sheriff Russel Waterbury said Young's attackers were American Indians and the crime was racially motivated. He identified the suspects as Louis Means and Byron Bissonette, both 18, and a juvenile.

He said Young had been pulled about a field by the rope around his neck, and was severely cut and barely recognizable because he had been kicked in the face by people wearing steel-toe boots.

Mark Vargo, an assistant U.S. attorney in Rapid City, said the adults -- both members of the Oglala Sioux tribe -- were to be arraigned this afternoon on federal charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

He said the charge doesn't indicate the attack is a hate crime because the investigation is incomplete.

An affidavit from one suspect said Young was beaten, physically dragged across a field, thrown under a house crawl space, removed, kicked in the head and then abandoned, according to Coleen Rowley, an FBI special agent in Minneapolis.

The sheriff said the three suspects had been partying with Young the night of the attack and Young had bought them alcohol.

Young's mother, Carol Bucholz of Lexington, Neb., said her son's left ear was almost torn off and his right ear was badly damaged, but a plastic surgeon said both can be repaired.

"They dragged him all over that field and left him to die," said Lila York, Young's cousin. "It's out of hateness. Why else would anybody do that?"

Bucholz said she didn't believe her son knew the suspects, "so why he was with them we're not sure at this time."

County Commissioner James Slattery disagreed with the hate crime theory.

"I didn't hear it was racial," he said. "I heard it was alcohol and dope."

In June 1998, a black man was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to death along a road in Jasper, Texas. Three white men were charged with killing James Byrd Jr.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

FBI Probes Indian Beating, Dragging of White Man

RAPID CITY, S.D. (Reuters) - Two members of the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe were scheduled to appear in federal court on Wednesday on charges that they brutally beat and dragged a white man before leaving him to die in a patch of bloody weeds on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The FBI is investigating whether Saturday's attack may have been racially motivated, but at this point they have not identified a motive.

Last year, a black man was dragged to his death in Texas and three white men were charged with his murder.

"The possibility that it may have been a hate crime is something we are looking at," assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Vargo told Reuters.

Over the last few months, the vast Pine Ridge reservation has been a flashpoint for tensions between whites and tribal members after two Sioux men were found murdered just outside the reservation in June.

Since then, Indian leaders have alleged widespread mistreatment at the hands of whites, and have held weekly protest marches into the nearby town of Whiteclay, Nebraska.

The victim of Saturday's attack, 22-year-old Brad Young, of Martin, South Dakota, was found unconscious and severely injured near an abandoned house, law enforcement officials said.

"It is alleged that he was dragged and kicked several times," said FBI spokeswoman Coleen Rowley. "It was a very, very serious attack."

Young has not regained consciousness and was listed in critical condition on life support equipment in a Rapid City hospital on Wednesday.

Louis Means and Byron Bissonette, both 18 years old, have been charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. A juvenile has also been arrested, but Vargo would not provide any information about him.

Oglala Sioux tribal police arrested the suspects shortly after the attack and they were taken into federal custody on Tuesday.

The FBI's Rowley said that in an interview with law enforcement officials, Means alleged that Bissonette beat Young, dragged him around a field, threw him into a crawl space in an abandoned house, then dragged him back outside and kicked him numerous times in the head. Young was then left in the field, Rowley said.

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which spreads across two million acres of desolate prairie land, is one of the most poverty-stricken areas of the nation. President Clinton visited Indian leaders and toured the reservation in July as part of an effort to spur economic development in poor areas of the country.

Copyright 1999 Reuters.

Hate Crime Suspected in Beating

(Sioux Falls-AP) -- The mother of a badly beaten man in South Dakota says it looks like a hate crime. And a sheriff agrees.

Brad Young is in critical condition today at a hospital in Rapid City. He was found over the weekend, about seven hours after apparently being beaten and left for dead.

His mother says one ear was almost torn off, and the other was badly damaged. Carol Bucholz says she can't imagine how any human could hurt another person that way.

Three suspects are in custody. All are American Indians. The victim is white. The sheriff says they and the victim had apparently been partying together the night of the beating.

But Sheriff Russel Waterbury says it appears to be a hate crime -- and that he knows of no other reason this could have happened.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

Relatives Say Reservation Assault Fueled by Liquor, Not Racism

MARTIN, S.D. (AP) -- The brutal beating of a white man was the result of alcohol and an argument, not racial animosity, according to relatives of the victim and one of the three American Indian suspects.

Brad Young, 21, remained in critical condition today. He was beaten, kicked in the head and left for dead with a rope around his neck early Saturday on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwest South Dakota.

The FBI and federal prosecutors said it was too early to term the assault a hate crime, though they're not ruling it out.

Louis Means and Byron Bissonette, both 18, pleaded innocent Wednesday to federal charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The charges are federal because the incident happened on the reservation.

A 17-year-old juvenile also was taken into custody.

Young's aunt, Nancy Neuharth, said she doubts the assault was race related.

"Brad was well-liked by Indians and whites," she said. "They were out doing things they shouldn't have been doing. It's the times. Kids are out doing things they shouldn't do."

The three had been drinking and got into an argument, said Bissonette's uncle, Arthur Has No Horses, who said he talked to his nephew.

&uqot;He said it all started from an argument over Brad's wife," he said.

The four had driven to an abandoned house to party, according to a statement by William Grode, an FBI special agent in Minneapolis.

Means told tribal police that he, Bissonette and the juvenile had beaten Young, "dragged him across a field, thrown him into a house crawlspace, dragged him out and then kicked him numerous times in the head," according to the FBI statement.

Young's mother, Carol Bucholz of Lexington, Neb., said her son's left ear was almost torn off and his right ear badly damaged. She said that he suffered head injuries but that there was no sign of brain damage.

Local newspapers and TV reported that Sheriff Russel Waterbury said the crime was racially motivated.

However, he told a radio station he had been misunderstood.

"I've got a lot of calls on that, and that was my opinion, to do something that horrible to somebody else," he told KWSN on Wednesday. "I didn't mean the actual hate crime, so I don't know where they come up with where I was quoted as saying that. But that was my opinion."

Waterbury did not return calls Wednesday to The Associated Press.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

White Man Beaten and Left for Dead on Indian Reservation

MARTIN, S.D. (AP) -- A white man was beaten, kicked in the head and left for dead with a rope around his neck on an Indian reservation. Three Indians were arrested.

The FBI and federal prosecutors said it was too early to label the assault a hate crime, though they're not ruling it out. Relatives of the victim and one of the suspects blamed alcohol, not race.

Brad Young, 21, lay in critical condition Wednesday. He was found early Saturday, about seven hours after he was beaten on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Louis Means and Byron Bissonette, both 18, pleaded innocent Wednesday to federal charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The charges are federal because the crime happened on the reservation.

A 17-year-old juvenile was also taken into custody.

Local newspapers and TV reported that Sheriff Russel Waterbury said the crime was racially motivated.

However, he told a radio station he had been misunderstood.

"I've got a lot of calls on that, and that was my opinion, to do something that horrible to somebody else," he told KWSN on Wednesday. "I didn't mean the actual hate crime crime, so I don't know where they come up with where I was quoted as saying that. But that was my opinion."

Waterbury did not return calls Wednesday to The Associated Press.

According to Waterbury, Young had been pulled around a field by the rope around his neck, and was severely cut and barely recognizable because he had been kicked in the face by people wearing steel-toe boots.

The sheriff said the three suspects had been partying with Young the night of the attack and Young had bought them alcohol.

Young's mother, Carol Bucholz of Lexington, Neb., said her son's left ear was almost torn off and his right ear badly damaged. She said that he suffered head injuries but that there was no sign of brain damage.

"They dragged him all over that field and left him to die," said Lila York, Young's cousin. "It's out of hateness. Why else would anybody do that?"

But Young's aunt, Nancy Neuharth, said she doubts the assault was race related.

"Brad was well-liked by Indians and whites," she said. "They were out doing things they shouldn't have been doing. It's the times. Kids are out doing things they shouldn't do."

The three had been drinking and got into an argument, said Bissonette's uncle, Arthur Has No Horses, who said he talked to his nephew. "He said it all started from an argument over Brad's wife," he said.

In 1998, a black man was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to death along a road in Jasper, Texas. Three white men were charged with killing James Byrd Jr.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

Suspects Plead Innocent in Attack that Leaves Man in Critical Condition

(Martin, South Dakota-AP) -- A sheriff says he was misunderstood when he was quoted as calling the beating of a white man, allegedly by American Indians, a hate crime.

Sheriff Russel Waterbury tells Sioux Falls, South Dakota, radio station K-W-S-N he was expressing his opinion that a "horrible" crime had been committed -- without saying it actually fit the hate crime statute.

Brad Young is in critical condition. He was found early Saturday, several hours after he was beaten on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Three suspects, including a juvenile, were taken into custody. The two older suspects have pleaded innocent to federal charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

The F-B-I and federal prosecutors say it's too early to call the assault a hate crime. Relatives of the victim and one of the suspects are blaming alcohol, not race.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

Suspects Plead Innocent in Attack

(Martin, South Dakota-AP) -- Three suspects in the beating of a white man on an Indian reservation in South Dakota have pleaded innocent to federal assault charges.

The man was beaten, kicked in the head and left for dead with a rope around his neck.

A local sheriff describes the attack as a hate crime. The three suspects are American Indians.

However, the F-B-I and federal prosecutors say it's too early to call it a hate crime, though they're not ruling it out. Relatives of the victim and one of the suspects blame alcohol, not race.

Brad Young is in critical condition. He was found early Saturday, about seven hours after he was beaten on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

Police: Man Beaten, Dragged, Left for Dead in South Dakota

MARTIN, S.D. (AP) -- A white man beaten and left for dead with a rope around his neck was found on an Indian reservation in what the sheriff described as a hate crime.

The FBI was investigating but stopped short of labeling the attack a hate crime.

Brad Young, 21, of Martin was in critical condition early today at Rapid City Regional Hospital. He was found early Saturday, about seven hours after he was beaten, near Allen on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Bennett County Sheriff Russel Waterbury said Young's attackers were American Indians and the crime was racially motivated. He identified the suspects as Louis Means and Byron Bissonette, both 18, and a juvenile.

He said Young had been pulled about a field by the rope around his neck, and was severely cut and barely recognizable because he had been kicked in the face by people wearing steel-toe boots.

Mark Vargo, an assistant U.S. attorney in Rapid City, said the adults -- both members of the Oglala Sioux tribe -- were to be arraigned this afternoon on federal charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

He said the charge doesn't indicate the attack is a hate crime because the investigation is incomplete.

An affidavit from one suspect said Young was beaten, physically dragged across a field, thrown under a house crawl space, removed, kicked in the head and then abandoned, according to Coleen Rowley, an FBI special agent in Minneapolis.

The sheriff said the three suspects had been partying with Young the night of the attack and Young had bought them alcohol.

Young's mother, Carol Bucholz of Lexington, Neb., said her son's left ear was almost torn off and his right ear was badly damaged, but a plastic surgeon said both can be repaired.

"They dragged him all over that field and left him to die," said Lila York, Young's cousin. "It's out of hateness. Why else would anybody do that?"

Bucholz said she didn't believe her son knew the suspects, "so why he was with them we're not sure at this time."

County Commissioner James Slattery disagreed with the hate crime theory.

"I didn't hear it was racial," he said. "I heard it was alcohol and dope."

In June 1998, a black man was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to death along a road in Jasper, Texas. Three white men were charged with killing James Byrd Jr.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

FBI Probes Indian Beating, Dragging of White Man

RAPID CITY, S.D. (Reuters) - Two members of the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe were scheduled to appear in federal court on Wednesday on charges that they brutally beat and dragged a white man before leaving him to die in a patch of bloody weeds on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The FBI is investigating whether Saturday's attack may have been racially motivated, but at this point they have not identified a motive.

Last year, a black man was dragged to his death in Texas and three white men were charged with his murder.

"The possibility that it may have been a hate crime is something we are looking at," assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Vargo told Reuters.

Over the last few months, the vast Pine Ridge reservation has been a flashpoint for tensions between whites and tribal members after two Sioux men were found murdered just outside the reservation in June.

Since then, Indian leaders have alleged widespread mistreatment at the hands of whites, and have held weekly protest marches into the nearby town of Whiteclay, Nebraska.

The victim of Saturday's attack, 22-year-old Brad Young, of Martin, South Dakota, was found unconscious and severely injured near an abandoned house, law enforcement officials said.

"It is alleged that he was dragged and kicked several times," said FBI spokeswoman Coleen Rowley. "It was a very, very serious attack."

Young has not regained consciousness and was listed in critical condition on life support equipment in a Rapid City hospital on Wednesday.

Louis Means and Byron Bissonette, both 18 years old, have been charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. A juvenile has also been arrested, but Vargo would not provide any information about him.

Oglala Sioux tribal police arrested the suspects shortly after the attack and they were taken into federal custody on Tuesday.

The FBI's Rowley said that in an interview with law enforcement officials, Means alleged that Bissonette beat Young, dragged him around a field, threw him into a crawl space in an abandoned house, then dragged him back outside and kicked him numerous times in the head. Young was then left in the field, Rowley said.

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which spreads across two million acres of desolate prairie land, is one of the most poverty-stricken areas of the nation. President Clinton visited Indian leaders and toured the reservation in July as part of an effort to spur economic development in poor areas of the country.

Copyright 1999 Reuters.

24 August 1999

Police: Man Beaten, Dragged Then Left for Dead in South Dakota

MARTIN, S.D. (AP) -- A man beaten and left for dead was found with a rope around his neck and his ears missing in what authorities described as a hate crime.

Brad Young, 21, of Martin was in critical condition early today at Rapid City Regional Hospital. He was found early Saturday, about seven hours after the alleged beating, amid tall weeds on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Three suspects were in custody.

Bennett County Sheriff Russel Waterbury said Young was kicked in the face by people wearing steel-toe boots. He said it was nearly impossible to identify Young, who also had severe cuts and rope burns on his neck.

The sheriff said the suspects -- Louis Means and Byron Bissonette, both 18, and a juvenile -- had been partying with Young the night of the alleged beating and Young had bought them alcohol.

Waterbury called the incident a hate crime -- Young is white, the suspects are American Indians.

He said Young was pulled around by the rope tied around his neck.

"They dragged him all over that field and left him to die," said Lila York, Young's cousin. "It's out of hateness. Why else would anybody do that?"

County Commissioner James Slattery disagreed.

"I didn't hear it was racial," he said. "I heard it was alcohol and dope."

The FBI is investigating because the incident happened on an Indian reservation.

In June 1998, a black man was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to death along a road in Jasper, Texas. Three white men were charged with killing James Byrd Jr.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

First Americans Mortgage Corp Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Realty World America

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Dustan R. Shepherd president of First Americans Mortgage Corporation, an AmeriResource Technologies, Inc. subsidiary (OTC Bulletin Board: ARET) and Bonnie Mays, Vice President National Sales and Services of Realty World America, Newport Beach, CA. announced today that the companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Realty World America ( www.realtyworld.com ) is a national real estate firm with over 400 brokers located throughout the United States.

The MOU focused on three priorities:

* Through their existing Realty World Broker Network, Real World America will provide real estate marketing services to FAMC's Native American customers. The initial focus will be on off reservation Native American customers with discussion to continue in respect to establishing real estate brokerage operations on reservations.

* FAMC will proceed expeditiously to finalize an agreement to purchase the exclusive marketing rights to Realty World Broker Networks located in strategic states and throughout Indian Country.

* FAMC and Realty World America will explore combining their expertise and customer base to provide mortgage financing to non-Native Americans through the Internet, video conferencing and other state of the art e-commerce technologies. "Once again FAMC is proud to announce another nationally known partner with the stability and vision of Realty World America," commented Shepherd. "The company's presences in each of our primary markets will allow us to utilize their existing network immediately while moving expeditiously to solidifying FAMC's future in the real estate brokerage industry. We are also excited about the abundant possibilities that exist between both companies concerning non-Native American home buyers and their need for mortgage financing."

Ms. May commented, "We see the future being in building relationships for network marketing and servicing. Our position as leaders in innovative technology in the real estate industry make this affiliation a win-win for both companies, but especially for the consumers we will serve jointly. The virtual home tour on www.realtyworld.com and our interactive CD-ROM are both integral tools for the implementation of this project."

The release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties, including without limitations, continued acceptance of the company's products and services, increased levels of competition, new products and technological changes, The Company's dependency on financing third party supplies and intellectual property rights, and other risks detailed from time- to-time in the company's federal filings, annual reports, offering memorandums or prospectus. SOURCE AmeriResource Technologies, Inc.

Web site: http://www.nativeamericanlender.com

July 30, 1999

Conservation groups presented almost 200,000 signed petitions in favor of keeping gray wolves in Yellowstone.

Yellowstone wolves get their day in court

The 10th district Appeals Court on Thursday heard oral arguments regarding a longstanding dispute over the fate of Wolf Recovery in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

The case stems from a December 1997 ruling by Wyoming District Court Judge William Downes that the wolf reintroduction program in Yellowstone and central Idaho is illegal and that all wolves in the park must be removed. The American Farm Bureau Federation and others had challenged the legality of the reintroduction program in the lawsuit.

Environmentalists and the Department of the Interior filed a joint appeal in response to Judge Downes' ruling in 1998. The federal Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit is expected to rule on the appeal within the next month. Downes' ruling does not go into effect until the appeals process has been completed.

Arguing at Thursday's hearing that the reintroduction program has been successful and is legal, legitimate and necessary, Brian O'Neill represented the plaintiffs, which include the Defenders of Wildlife, the National Wildlife Federation and its Wyoming and Idaho affiliates, and the National Audubon Society.

Rami, an ambassador wolf that has traveled across the United States to educate the public about wolves and the reintroduction program, courted reporters on the courthouse steps following the argument. The groups also presented almost 200,000 signed petitions in favor of keeping the wolves in Yellowstone.

"Wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone has been the most popular and most environmentally justified endangered species reintroduction effort," said O'Neill who also served as a lead attorney in the Exxon Valdez lawsuit. "Opposition to wolves in Yellowstone has been extremely mean-spirited. However, once the appeals court has reviewed the law and the reintroduction effort, we are confident that it will permit the wolves to stay. They are the capstone to the Yellowstone ecosystem."

The conservation groups maintain that the present legal struggle symbolizes a larger battle over the government's commitment to protect and restore large carnivores.

The American Farm Bureau argued in the initial suit that the wolf introduction program failed to address the concerns of farmers and ranchers, and represented overzealous regulation by the government.

"Let's not let the Farm Bureau ruin a good thing," said Bob Ferris, Species Conservation Director for the Defenders of Wildlife. "The wolves are doing great. They're staying away from livestock except in a few cases where Defenders compensates for any losses. The ecosystem is returning to a more healthy, natural state. Tourism is up and the wolves are adding to the region's economy. Why negate 20-some years of work and lots of money just to start over?"

Sixty-two wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995 and 1996 as part of an experimental reintroduction program. If the lower court ruling stands, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would be charged with physically removing all reintroduced wolves and their offspring from Yellowstone. The problem is that this would not only undermine years of conservation efforts, but it will be difficult to find a new home for the wolves.

Canada will not take the wolves back, there is little room in zoos, and there is no appropriate wild space in the United States that could handle a population of wolves such as the one in Yellowstone.

Copyright 1999, Environmental News Network,

First Americans Signs Origination Agreement with Fort Berthold Housing Authority

28-JUL-99

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Dustan R. Shepherd, president of First Americans Mortgage Corporation, an AmeriResource Technologies, Inc. subsidiary (OTC Bulletin Board: ARET), announced today from North Dakota that the company has signed a Loan Origination Agreement with Fort Berthold Housing Authority, based in New Town, N.D. This agreement will allow the Housing Authority to become the initial point of contact for Fort Berthold home buyers interested in utilizing FAMC products.

Members of The Three Affiliated Tribes live on the Fort Berthold reservation located in west central North Dakota. The reservation comprises 1,320 square miles surrounding Lake Sakakawea. As the largest tribe located in North Dakota the nation services more than 8,000 members. The nation derives revenue from a diversified menu of sources, including gaming, a retail lumber yard, farm leases and other economic development. In 1998, Mr. Shepherd assisted the Housing Authority in developing its one and five year Indian Housing plans.

Mr. Shepherd commented, "This agreement is our first origination contract outside of Oklahoma and the first with a nation located predominately on trust land. I have stated before that FAMC's goal is not to have loan origination offices located throughout Indian Country, but rather to develop a structure that would allow a borrower local access to a Native American loan specialist who is familiar with and participates in daily community tribal activities. The Housing Authority has been originating home loans for the past two years which will allow the partnership to hit the ground running. After the initial startup period the two organizations will begin working toward establishing a loan delivery system that will include the other tribes located in the region."

Shepherd continued, "As part of this agreement FAMC will begin to explore the possible use of video conferencing on the reservation. Fort Berthold Community College has video conferencing facilities available and the reservation has recently gained Internet access through a local provider."

The release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties, including without limitations, continued acceptance of the company's products and services, increased levels of competition, new products and technological changes, The Company's dependency on financing third party supplies and intellectual property rights, and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the company's federal filings, annual reports, offering memorandums or prospectus. SOURCE AmeriResource Technologies, Inc.

/CONTACT: Dustan Shepherd or Delmar Janovec, 913-385-FAMC or 913-341-ARET, both of AmeriResource Technologies, Inc./

/Web site: http://www.nativeamericanlender.com /

(ARET) CO: AmeriResource Technologies, Inc.; First Americans Mortgage Corporation;

Fort Berthold Housing Authority ST: Kansas, North Dakota IN: FIN RLT SU:

On the Impoverished Pine Ridge, Help from Afar

27-JUL-99

WAKPAMNI, S.D. (AP) -- Emily Has No Horse struggles to make ends meet with her $513-a-month Social Security check and the few dollars she earns sewing clothes.

Yet the 80-year-old widow's income doesn't provide enough for her family's needs in this small village on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, part of a county that has been labeled the nation's poorest.

That's where the Adopt A Grandparent Program comes in. Mrs. Has No Horse and other elderly Oglala Sioux have received money, clothing and other supplies from across the nation from people who have chosen to become their adopted grandchildren.

"When the program came on, it really helped a lot of us. I know it really helped me," she says. "That's the only help we do get from the outside world."

The outside world often seems a long way from the sprawling, 5,000-square-mile reservation in southern South Dakota. Wounded Knee is here. So are the Badlands. Diabetes, alcohol and traffic accidents are prolific killers in this windswept region where summers are hot and the winters savagely cold.

President Clinton called attention to the reservation's 75 percent unemployment rate and lack of adequate housing during his visit earlier this month, the first by a president to Indian country in 60 years.

Shannon County, which includes the Pine Ridge, was the nation's most impoverished, according to 1994 Census Bureau data. A more recent report said 57 percent of the reservation's children lived in poverty in 1995.

The Adopt A Grandparent Program was started in 1987 by a free-lance photojournalist, Gail Russell, who had visited the reservation while on assignment for a magazine.

"I was appalled," says Russell, who lives in Taos, N.M. "I had no idea that living conditions were like that."

During one visit, she learned that three elderly people had recently frozen to death, and Russell discussed the problem with Nellie Red Owl, who has since died.

"I was nagged into it by a 73-year-old grandma," Russell says. "One time as I was leaving, she said: 'Don't you think somebody down your way would like to adopt a grandparent?"'

Today, about 350 members from around the nation and abroad provide aid and letters to some 230 elderly reservation residents as part of the program. In exchange, sponsors get a chance to make a new friend and learn about the culture, tradition and history of the Oglala Sioux.

"I know everybody in her family," says Barbara Whitestone of Glen Ellen, Calif., who sponsors Mrs. Has No Horse and visits her adopted grandmother almost every year. "It's an amazing experience."

Last year the nonprofit program spent $83,000 for salaries, rent and other operating expenses. An additional $63,000 paid for propane, wood, electrical bills and groceries for elders who needed quick help.

Members also sent an estimated $125,000 worth of clothes, food and other items directly to their adopted grandparents, Russell says. Cash is usually sent directly to a store or utility company.

Sponsors can choose to adopt grandparents from a list.

Sue Gerome, a school counselor in Guilderland, N.Y., has enlisted the help of students and staff at the Northeast Parent and Child Society Grout Park School to support Pine Ridge elders.

The students have held bake sales, sold flowers and put on a talent show to raise money. "For the students, they are learning a lot of history and culture, that there are people in this country who need their help," Gerome says.

Gerome recently sent flannel sheets to elderly people in the Wakpamni community to help them stay warm in the winter. One woman cried because she had never before had new sheets.

"It can be discouraging. You can feel like you could spend every dime you had within that community for many years and it wouldn't make a dent," Gerome says.

"I'm hoping over time through our school we can raise the standard of living in that community," she says.

Russell says she often makes the 12-hour drive from her home in Taos to deliver food and other supplies to the reservation. And she organizes a get-together for grandparents and sponsors during the Oglala Sioux's annual meeting.

"So much of the things that happen with this program are things that are not measurable in dollars," Russell says.

Ben and Alvina Conquering Bear would like to have someone adopt them. The retired couple raised 10 children and now have 35 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

"It's a struggle and a half for my family," Mrs. Conquering Bear says. "Sometimes I have four families here."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE -- The Adopt A Grandparent Program can be reached by telephone at (505) 776-8474 or on the Internet at http://www.adoptagrandparent.com.

Copyright 1999& The Associated Press.

Groundbreaking Set for National Museum of the American Indian

21-JUL-99

WASHINGTON (AP) -- After 10 years of planning, fund raising and fighting over architecture, groundbreaking for the National Museum of the American Indian is set to begin Sept. 28.

The five-story structure will occupy a 4.3 acre site between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. It will be the last available spot on the Mall -- right next to the Air and Space Museum, the most popular showplace of the Smithsonian Institution's 17 facilities. Last year museum officials there counted 28 million visitors.

Douglas J. Cardinal, a Canadian of Blackfoot Indian ancestry, designed the unusual curving structure with an overhanging roof and undulating walls of rough-hewn limestone. It recalls the cliffs where native Americans built multistory houses in the Southwest. Windows are positioned to catch the sunlight during the solstices.

"It would have been silly to build an American Indian museum with a lot of Greek columns," said J. Carter Brown, chairman of the capital's Commission on Fine Arts.

The Smithsonian has invited 554 leaders of recognized tribes to the ceremonial space, named the Potomac -- like the nearby river _ where some will bless the building and grounds. Landscaping will reflect a variety of American Indian territories including some wetland, said Leonda Levchuk of the museum's public affairs office.

The 250,000 square foot building is scheduled to open in late 2002.

The Indian museum was long a landmark in uptown Manhattan. In 1989 it became part of the Smithsonian and five years later moved to its present spot in the old Customs House near New York's Battery district.

Congress approved the project for Washington and has appropriated $39 million. Originally estimated at $110 million, the total cost is now expected to run higher. Some $36.7 million from private sources has been raised, Ms. Levchuk said. Moving is under way for more than 800,000 artifacts and other pieces -- the world's most comprehensive collection of Indian materials -- to the Smithsonian's Cultural Resources Center in suburban Suitland, Md.

Groundbreaking was delayed a year by the firing of Cardinal in a contract dispute.

Though Cardinal's basic design will be used, a new architectural firm added a large, thick column to hold up the roof. But then that column was eliminated in the model the commission unanimously approved last month.


Copyright 1999& The Associated Press.

Clinton challenges lawyers to fight racism, poverty

July 20, 1999

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, July 20) -- Echoing a call first made by President John F. Kennedy 36 years ago, President Bill Clinton Tuesday urged America's legal community to diversify its ranks and allot more time to pro bono work to battle the continuing problems of racism and poverty.

"Just as your predecessors, with the Constitution as their shield, stared down the sheriffs of segregation, you must step forward to dismantle our time's most stubborn obstacles to equal justice: poverty, unemployment, and yes, continuing discrimination," Clinton told leaders from various areas of law, including bar association executives, corporation counsels, major law firm partners and civil rights attorneys.


President Clinton spoke to a group of lawyers Tuesday
Clinton said it was up to law schools and law firms to "set the best possible example" by recruiting, training and hiring more minorities.

"How are we going to build one America if the legal profession, which is fighting for it, doesn't reflect it? We can't do it," said the president.

The White House East Room event was patterned after a June 21, 1963 gathering in the same room, where Kennedy issued a similar challenge to 200 lawyers to condemn Alabama Gov. George Wallace's stand against allowing black students to enroll in the state's public universities. Kennedy cast it as a call to action for Americans to take up the battle for racial equality.

Kennedy was joined by his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy following his assassination and implemented the "Great Society" programs that sought to address entrenched poverty, especially among minorities.

Clinton's event was part of his administration's ongoing initiative to promote racial dialogue. He also drew on his "New Markets" trip earlier this month to America's most economically depressed areas, saying lawyers could make a difference in such pockets with increased pro bono work.

Clinton cited a 1993 American Bar Association (ABA) survey that showed half of all low-income households had at least one serious legal problem each year, though three-quarters could not afford access to a lawyer.

"Now we can fill that gap," Clinton said, and thanks to the booming economy, "now America's lawyers can afford to fill that gap. And I would argue, if we really believe in equal justice, we cannot afford not to fill that gap."

Clinton announced a series of commitments from several legal organizations, worked out among the White House, Justice Department, bar associations, law schools and private sector attorneys over the past year.

Under those commitments:


The ABA will expand programs for corporations to hire more minority law firms, encourage more lawyers to provide free legal services to the poor and provide financial and mentoring assistance to minority law students.


The American Corporate Counsel Association (ACCA) will promote corporate pro bono services and provide resources so that corporate counsels can implement diversity and pro bono services on the local level.


Hundreds of law firms have agreed to have their attorneys commit to spending 50 hours per year, or 3 percent of billable time, performing pro bono services for nonwhites or working in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Clinton urged more firms to joint that pledge. "I hope every American firm will meet the ABA standard. Just imagine this. If every lawyer in America, about 800,000, dedicated just 50 hours a year to pro bono work, that would be 40 million hours of legal help. That's a lot of personal problems solved, of a lot of headaches gone away, a lot of hurdles overcome, a lot of businesses started. Think of what we could do," he said.


The American Association of Law Schools will promote lessons in racial justice and public service and encourage students to volunteer in minority communities.

To follow up on the effort, the ABA, ACCA will join the National Bar Association, Hispanic National Bar Association, Native American Bar Association, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and the San Francisco and New York City bars in monthly meetings.

"A year from now we'll gather again and see where we've succeeded and where we need to do more. I don't want to wait another 36 years to ask you to work on this. I want it to be steady work for America's lawyers," Clinton said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.