Background Information and research:
Rudy James has been involved with various tribunals and various Nations from Alaska to Round Valley and now is working with the Grassroots Oyate.  He works closely with UN observers in assisting nations toward self governance, insuring that referendums meet international standards and are recognized as binding on an international level.  He was present, assisting and observing for the recent referendum held mid April for The Round Valley Nation in Mendocino County California (Covina City).
A meeting was announced last fall in California and is web posted at United Native Nations:
http://www.nativeun.org/

Yesterday afternoon, I spoke with Steve Brown of Round Valley who spoke very enthusiastically about Rudy James assistance in their recent referendum and strides toward self governance.  He tells me, he has also been in contact with Antoinette Red Woman concerning the referendum and other matters.

The process towards self governance is a long one.  Many voices have been heard from here on the net representing different aspects of this process.

I would like to thank Cleveland AIM and Antoinette RedWoman for the following verified report
Ishgooda
Managing Editor, Native News

From: ClevAIM@aol.com
Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 15:36:47 EDT
Subject: PRESS RELEASE

Press Release
4-29-00

    The most recent materials appearing on the website of the Grass Roots
Oyate from Pine Ridge S. Dakota are giving  rise to grave concern among those
who have been watching their struggle. Their latest actions have degenerated
into an apparent personal vendetta against a single individual, Mr. Rudy Al
James, and his associates with Mr. James receiving the brunt or their
invective.
    Without explanation condemnations concerning the Self-Governance Office
and program of the Department of the Interior also are included. The
Self-Governance initiative has been used successfully by close to 100 Native
American Nations to achieve real control of their governments and responsible
management of their economic structures. It was designed to actually work
independently of the entire Bureau of Indian affairs bureaucracy and it has
been successful. The Cherokee Nation with membership of approximately 100,000
people is the largest of the nations to choose self-governance. Why the Grass
Roots Oyate spokespeople are condemning such a real and successful program
cannot be understood.
    The personal attack on Mr. James is illogical and inappropriate. He
presented the tribal members inside the Red Cloud building with information
concerning self-governance. Tribal members individually and together talked
at length with him over the course o several days. Interest in
self-governance grew. He has continued to work with the elders of the
reservation and speak on KILI radio about the details of self-governance,
what it will mean for the tribe and what is necessary to achieve it. Now
those same tribal members are meeting and working on the reservation to
achieve self-governance. The reality is that they are simply seeking to give
the entire people of the Nation the opportunity to choose for themselves,
through a legal, fair and open vote if they want to be self-governed and if
they want to live according to traditional tribal practices. Mr. James and
the tribal members are working to let the people choose for themselves so the
sudden "official" opposition showing up on the website raises serious
questions.
    Mr. James appeared at the Red Cloud building at the invitation of the
Grass Roots Oyate which he received in an invitation from Chief Red Cloud
which was openly and widely shown to everyone in the building. Two events
transpired which he has chosen not to reveal until now but which may shed
some light on the latest attack. Simply stated, in two separate and
semi-private events inside the building, seen by those near what happened but
occurring outside the view of the elders meeting in the tribal chamber in
front of the sacred Chanupa Mr. Floyd and first and then Mr. Dale Looks
Twice a day later tried to literally throw out Mr. James and his associates
from the building so they could not do the work the tribal elders had asked
them to do. A more detailed description of these attacks is follows this
release.
    At the time Mr. James sought the will of the elders, never imposing any
personal agenda on them. He offered to leave or stay at their decision. Both
times he was asked to remain and continue his work. The result of the entire
presentation was the submission of documents seeking to notify the Office Of
Self-Governance of the intent of 8 separate Tioshpaies to seek
self-governance. These filings were done by each Tiosphaie with the necessary
supporting  tribal signatures. Because the tribal financial records are
currently under a fraud investigation and those that are still on the
reservation are in the control of the BIA/IRA tribal council the decision was
made by the Tiosphaies to file separate rather as the entire single tribal
unit.
    The separate filing was deliberate and while it did not meet the
technical requirement of each tiosphaie having 3 years of valid financial
record it did prevent the
BIA/IRA tribal council from being able to claim that it had initiated the
filing and take over control of the self-governance process. The separate
filings met the notice requirement and protected the traditional people as
well. All that remains to be done is to educate the people on the details of
self-governance and allow them to freely choose their own form of government.
Mr. James continues his work fighting for the rights of Nations seeking to
return to traditional tribal law. He assisted the Round Valley Nation located
within Covino County, California, through this same process and over weekend
of April 14, 15, and 16, 2000 their reservation-wide vote was held on the
same issues. The voter turnout was the largest in tribal history and the
self-governance choice and the traditional tribal law based constitution were
passed by more than 95% of the voters. This election was supervised by Mr.
James and UNN staff. The fact that so many tribal members were willing to
participate in the election shows the freedom which surrounded the election
their overwhelming desire to rid themselves of the BIA/IRA system and the
very reality of the Self-Governance program.

HISTORY

    It is possible that some additional facts will hold the key to the latest
attacks.
·   The people inside the Red Cloud building never saw the "Official"
releases on the website until outside supporters sent actual downloaded  hard
copies from the website to the elders and others.
·   The people inside the Red Cloud building did not know of Dean Cycon's
January, 2000 letter posted on the site claiming their commitment to the IRA
form of government.
·   The First National Bank of Gordon Nebraska handles the BIA/IRA council
tribal funds. The practices and policies of this bank are under investigation
by various federal agencies. Allegations of mismanagement and blatant
corruption are and have been widespread. If the current BIA/IRA structure
continues it is very likely that the same people and institutions outside
Pine Ridge that supervise the current financial system will also continue
handling the funds.
·   The people inside the Red Cloud building were prevented from accessing
the website from inside the building by Floyd Hand's wife Natalie who
continually maintained strict control of the one computer in the open area
and kept all but a very few individuals away from the machine itself(The
self-governance filings were done on equipment brought into the building by
UNN staff and most offices inside the building remain locked and undisturbed
and any computers they contain remain untouched.)
·   Dale Looks-Twice worked for the previous BIA/IRA tribal counsel in the
central public relations office.
·   The mailing address posted on the "official" site for support is Floyd
Hand's personal box.
·   Floyd Hand was the bank signatory for the "donation" account while such
an account was posted on the site. He closed the account and withdrew the
monies when this fact became known throughout Pine Ridge. Until the
downloaded materials from the website reached the people they did not even
know of the account and there has never been a public accounting with
supporting bank records for the funds received, deposited into or paid out of
the account.
·   Floyd Hand has publicly stated many times that tribal membership must
require fullblood status. He has also has also supported the position that
tribal leadership must be male and that women must be submissive. His tirades
in the Red Cloud Building tribal meeting chamber, in front of the sacred
altar have reduced more than one tribal grandmother to tears and led them to
leave the room on more than one occasion.
·   Floyd Hand was heard, while seated on the stage in the Red Cloud Building
to threaten to remove "his" altar and sacred pipes while Mr. James was
speaking. Mr. James was present at  the request of the elders and he was
describing the Self-Governance option and the creation of a traditional
tribal law based constitution. Floyd Hand has also has made many allegations,
both public and private, attacking Mr. James but he has never been able to
offer any materials supporting his charges although he has been asked to
provide the evidence.
·   Mr. James and all the UNN people have received no money for their work
and anyone making any other claim has been warned that they will be
immediately charged with slander and/or libel, international and federal
sanctions for interfering with indigenous self-determination(including prison
sentences and financial penalties) and required to prove their charges.
·   The "new" tribal council was not created according to traditional tribal
law as it claims. It was devised by Floyd Hand and Dale Looks Twice at a
meeting held at Bill Mills Hall in the last ten days where the approval of
the BIA/IRA tribal court was asked for its approval. This continues the
process started in January of submitting the people to BIA/IRA jurisdiction
and ignoring the sovereignty rights affirmed in Self-Governance.
·   Self-Governance is legal and within its provision it recognizes
government to government status for the nations. All legal rights, treaties
and monies due to the tribes remain unchanged. The rumors spread  claiming
that self-governance somehow threatens treaties and sovereignty are wrong.
Any  other claim can be quickly disproved with public documents.
Self-Governance is fully explained on the DOI website on the internet, in the
U.S. Congressional record, and contained the federal Code.
·   Copies of the U.S. federal Code with explanations were offered to Natalie
Hand and refused by her. Copies of the same were  made available to other
tribal elders and are being discussed on Pine Ridge.
·   The people and institutions having the greatest interest in maintaining
the current system are the non-tribal bankers, lawyers and accountants being
used by the BIA/IRA tribal council to handle tribal money. There has been no
legitimate oversight of their activities until the recent investigation was
begun. These non-tribal members have been charged with extensive and
longstanding illegal activities. Details of their activities have been made
public in a book by a former tribal accountant who was removed from office
for efforts to expose their actions. This book and other materials have been
distributed to several investigative arms of the federal government. As their
investigations are ongoing no disclosure of specifics  beyond those detailed
in the book is possible at this time. The agencies involved operate beyond
the scope of  BIA influence.

Possibilities

    The facts outlined above raise a very interesting possibility: Do Floyd
Hand and Dale Looks twice only want to remove the current BIA/IRA tribal
government officials so that they may put themselves and their supporters
into positions of power in what would be the same corrupt system but operate
under a different name?  It cannot be ignored that while Hand and Looks Twice
have much to personally gain from keeping the current system there are those
with far more to lose should it be completely removed. With many millions of
dollars at stake it defies logic to assume that those who control  that money
will remain idle while their control and influence are challenged.

    The non-tribal people and institutions managing tribal business currently
do not have any legitimate influence over tribal events. They present
themselves as independent financial professionals operating according to
appropriate professional standards.
To maintain their power they must work through tribal members who are
willing, for any reason, to continue the current system. Their efforts can
only perhaps become visible through looking at the actions and their effects
of various tribal members. The question must always be: who makes the
decisions about who deals with the money?

A pattern emerges when the activities of both Floyd Hand and Dale Looks Twice
are examined in this light. At first, through Cycon, they confirmed their
intention to remain IRA based. They even said it was the will of the people
at a time when the people did not even know the statement had been made. Now,
realizing that the BIA/IRA system has finally been discredited they may be
seeking to hide their intentions behind the words "self-governance".

The submission of the "new" council to the jurisdiction of the BIA/IRA tribal
court cannot be explained away. It would allow the current system to
continue, no matter what name it would work under. There can be no valid
reason to deny the people of Pine Ridge the opportunity to freely, openly,
safely and legally make the official choice a referendum would give them. The
efforts and motives of those who oppose this opportunity deserve the closest
examination and strongest suspicion. Finally, when the current crisis is
resolved one of the strongest indicators of the success or failure of the
people of Pine Ridge will be the names of the people and institutions
overseeing the tribal monies.

The standards of any official referendum vote to revamp the government  must
be of the highest order. There must be accurate record keeping, thoroughly
monitored pre and post election activities of all involved to assure that no
intimidation, coercion, threats or other illegal events take place, media
coverage to bring the results to the world and assurances that basic safety
will continue for all involved.. The Nation of Round Valley, along with all
the other tribes operating self-governed, has proven that it can be done.