October 2013 - Page 11 of 19

Controversial Sports Mascots Not New; Released More Than a Decade Ago, NCAI Says

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

A poster image that went viral because of its controversial references to sports mascots: New York Jews, San Francisco Chinamen and Cleveland Indians, has caused some media confusion.

According to Slate, news media reported that the poster was “new” and was released recently by the National Congress of American Indians because of the Redskins name change controversy.

But an NCAI source told ICTMN that those reports are inaccurate. The poster, shown above, is not a new one. It was originally published and distributed by the NCAI more than a decade ago. The organization said that what’s “new” is that people are finally paying attention to the Redskins controversy and have merely “stumbled upon” the image during their reporting.

The image, as seen above, shows that there is a double standard between the stereotypical Native American mascots like the Cleveland Indians and other racial epithets. The quote on the poster reads, ”No race, creed or religion should endure the ridicule faced by the Native Americans today.”

The NCAI says that they have been working to shed light on offensive and racist sports team mascots for decades. Jacqueline Pata, Executive Director for the NCAI, pointed out that the original poster was developed in the 1990s, but published by the advertising firm Devito/Verdi in 2001.

Pata told Slate magazine, which has denounced the so-called ‘R’ word that “Those kinds of racial images aren’t even acceptable today.” In other words, the ‘racial equality ad” is not something that the organization would have put out recently because of its tendency to offend and be misconstrued as their response to the current name change controversy.

The organization has instead asked the public to focus on its 29-page report called “Ending the Legacy of Racism in Sports & the Era of Harmful ‘Indian’ Sports Mascots.” ICTMN reported that the report was released last week.

Jefferson Keel, the president of the NCAI, has publicly stated that the word Redskins is a racial slur to the Native American community as is very offensive.

“[That name] originated in the bounty paid for Native body parts and human flesh. It does not honor Native people in any way, and has no place in modern American society,” he explained in a news release.

Top adult and children Halloween costumes not scary this year

Goodwill costume trending poll: 29 stores, 15 counties, 1,500 costumes sample thru last weekend (Oct 1 – 13)

George White, Tacoma Goodwill

TACOMA, WA (October 15, 2013) – After 13 days of costume sales at 29 Goodwill stores in Tacoma Goodwill’s 15 county region, non-scary costumes are topping the list for adults and children this year.

*Adults (684)*	%	*Children (821)*	%
Fairy – traditional (33)	4.8	Animals (86)	10.5
Witch – sexy (32)	4.7	Princess (55)	6.7
Vamp (29)	4.2	Fairy – traditional (49)	6.0
Hick (26)	3.8	Angel	5.4
Witch – scary (25)	3.7	Ninja (43)	5.2
Zombie (24)	3.5	Vampire (35)	4.3
Cheerleader (23)	3.4	Tinkerbell Fairy (31)	3.8
Devil – sexy (23)	3.4	Witch – scary (27)	3.3
Vampire (21)	3.1	Witch – hip (25)	3.1
Army brat, Flapper, Go Go Girl, Nurse-Sexy, Soldier	2.3	Police Officer (24)	2.9

In a straw poll of 1,500 costume purchases from Oct 1 – 13 where cashiers asked customers their costume choice(s):

A majority of the top 10 are non-scary: seven top adult and eight top children’s costumes are traditional, fun or sexy this year
More kids costumes are selling (821) than adults (684)
Top children costumes are trending unisex (gender neutral) such as animals, ninja, vampire and police officer
The impact of merchandising is apparent as adult and children fairy costumes were a featured item in our store imagination station wall displays

The poll reflects the imagination of Washington residents this year as the vast majority of Goodwill costumes are assembled from a non-Halloween base product that is accessorized. (For example, a fairy would be centered around tights, a leotard, a tutu and slippers accessorized with wings, a wand and make up. A “ghost bride” would consist of a real wedding dress with a white hat, parasol and makeup for accessories – and all for 20% of original cost).

“By culling through 8,000 truckloads of household, estate and community donations each year, we create a Halloween shopping experience similar to visiting a wardrobe department in a movie studio,” said John Nadeau, Director of Retail Sales for Tacoma Goodwill.

“Pirate coats, boots and belts are real. And the same for pilot, soldier, fireman, doctor and nurse attire. Now a “She Devil” can wear that fantastic red dress AND Prada,” said Nadea.

Chile indigenous groups mark Columbus Day with protests

Some of the protesters threw rocks and other objects at police after the main, peaceful march earlier Saturday. Photo: Luis Hidalgo/AP

13 October, 2013. Source: Al Jazeera

Protesters clashed with police in Chile’s capital Saturday during an anti-Columbus Day march organized by Indigenous groups, with activists calling for the return of ancestral lands and the right to self-determination on the 521-year anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas.

Demonstrators in Santiago threw rocks and other objects at police who responded with water cannons. At least 10 protesters were detained by police, local media reported.

More than 15,000 people participated in the march, organized by the country’s largest indigenous group, the Mapuches, who have been in a long struggle with the government over ancestral land taken from them during colonization.

While Columbus Day celebrations took place across Latin America, the Mapuche affirmed, “we have nothing to celebrate”, according to the Santiago Times.

A press release by the group complained of mistreatment by the state, particularly against Mapuche political prisoners, and on-going land disputes in the south.

On Wednesday, a major police operation cleared indigenous occupants from disputed land in Ercilla, in southern Chile, and eight Mapuche activists were arrested. Witnesses said the police response was aggressive and unprovoked, the Santiago Times reported.

The Mapuche people have been fighting to accelerate the process of repatriation of traditional lands. The government has said it will return some of the land, but the process has been slow and the perceived inaction has been met with demonstrations and occasional violence.

Mapuche protesters have been treated as ‘terrorists’ by the Chilean government — which uses an anti-terrorism law against them. Thousands of Mapuche and their supporters demanded an end to the application of this law on Mapuche land activists in peaceful marches Saturday.

The U.N. urged Chile to stop applying the anti-terrorism law against the Mapuche in July.

“The anti-terrorism law has been used in a manner that discriminates against the Mapuche,” U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism Ben Emmerson said in a press release. “It has been applied in a confused and arbitrary fashion that has resulted in real injustice, has undermined the right to a fair trial, and has been perceived as stigmatizing and de-legitimizing the Mapuche land claims and protests.”

Though the Mapuche resisted Spanish conquest for 300 years and wish to be autonomous, in the late 19^th century they were defeated militarily and forced into Araucania, south of the Bio-Bio river — about 350 miles south of Santiago. Most live in poverty on the fringes of timber companies or ranches owned by the descendants of those who arrived to the region in the late 1800s from Europe.

Another anti-Columbus Day protest took place Saturday in Mexico City, where people from various indigenous groups marched peacefully to observe “Dia de la Raza,” or Indigenous People’s Day, as Columbus Day is called in Mexico.

“Indigenous people are in resistance because we are survivors after 500 years of the European invasion,” Leonico Macuixle, a demonstrator, told The Associated Press. “They came to take from us our culture, our language, they built Catholic churches in our sacred places.”

Global ‘March Against Monsanto’ rallies activists

People hold signs during one of many worldwide “March Against Monsanto” protests against Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and agro-chemicals, in Los Angeles, California Saturday. Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

By Renee Lewis, 12 October, 2013. Source: Al Jazeera

Activists from around the globe participated in a global ‘March Against Monsanto’ Saturday, calling for the permanent boycott of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This was the second global, anti-Monsanto protest — the first took place on May 25 with over 2 million participants, organizers said.

Photos appear to show hundreds of marchers taking to the streets in cities around the world including Vienna, London, Chennai and Sydney. Rallies have kicked off in U.S. cities as well including Los Angeles and Denver.

Critics of Monsanto, a multi-national biotech corporation, say its seeds destroy the soil and are designed to make constant repurchase necessary because the seeds last only one generation. The seeds must also be used with a variety of the company’s other products like fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides, which have been linked to mass bee deaths.

Monsanto, which touts itself as a “sustainable agriculture company” and is worth over $55 billion, says it produces high-yield conventional and biotech seeds that enable more nutritious and durable crops and “safe and effective crop protection solutions.” The U.S. government also says Monsanto’s products are safe.

March Against Monsanto (MAM), however, says GMOs are not properly monitored to ensure public safety and that no long-term, independent studies were carried out on GMOs before they were introduced for human consumption.

“In the U.S., the revolving door between Monsanto employees, government positions and regulatory authorities has led to key Monsanto figures occupying positions of power at the FDA and EPA. Monsanto has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to obstruct all labeling attempts; they also suppress any research containing results not in their favor,” MAM said in a press release.

GMOs have been banned to varying degrees in Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Madeira, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, France, Switzerland and Costa Rica.

GMOs are labeled in 62 countries, but not the U.S. despite several attempts. Last fall, Californian voters narrowly rejected an initiative to label GMOs, and a similar initiative is on the Nov. 5 Washington state ballot.

Prominent environmentalist Vandana Shiva has been outspoken against Monsanto, particularly in light of the corporation’s link to hundreds of thousands of Indian farmer suicides.

More than 250,000 farmers have committed suicide in India after Monsanto’s Bt cotton seeds largely failed. Many farmers left in desperate poverty decided to drink Monsanto pesticide, ending their lives.

“The creation of seed monopolies, the destruction of alternatives, the collection of superprofits in the form of royalties and the increasing vulnerability of monocultures has created a context for debt, suicides and agrarian distress,” Shiva wrote.

Josh Castro, organizer for the Quito, Ecuador march said in a press release that he hopes to stop the “destructive practices of multinational corporations like Monsanto.”

“Biotechnology is not the solution to world hunger … Monsanto’s harmful practices are causing soil infertility, mono-cropping, loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction and contributing to beehive collapse.

Lagoons filled with toxic water coming to Ohio’s fracklands

John Upton, Grist

Where frackers go, lagoons filled with toxic wastewater follow.

Fracking wastewater impoundment lots as big as football fields already dot heavily fracked landscapes in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The lagoons are built to help the industry manage and reuse the vast volumes of wastewater that it produces.

Ohio lawmakers looked admiringly to their neighboring Marcellus Shale states and decided to draw up their own rules for wastewater lagoons. From The Columbus Dispatch:

“We are putting in a process to outline their standards of construction and their length of use,” said Mark Bruce, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

A provision in the most-recent state budget requires Natural Resources officials to create rules and permits for them. …

Tom Stewart, vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, said the lagoons would be built with plastic liners to prevent leaks. He said treatment operations would strip out harmful pollutants.

“They want to clean it up and use it again,” Stewart said. “That means getting the water back to as fresh a state as possible.”

But environmentalists worry the wastewater pits will pose threats to streams and groundwater. Trent Dougherty, a lawyer with the Ohio Environmental Council, also warned that they could be used as long-term storage for tainted water: “There is a point in time when temporary storage can become long-term storage,” he said.

Source

Big lagoons could hold Ohio fracking waste, The Columbus Dispatch

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Yum! Climate change means more mercury in fish

By Holly Richmond, Grist

Climate change is ruining beer, maple syrup, chocolate — even your favorite Cosby sweater. Now we can add fish to the list. SWELL.

Basically, warming waters make killifish hungrier, according to new research. Then these bitty fish at the bottom of the food chain eat more mercury-tainted food than usual, storing lots of metal in their tissue as a present for everyone up the food chain, from tuna to humans. Mercury: the gift that keeps on giving! (Did we mention it’s increasingly in bird eggs too?)

Quoth the Washington Post:

[K]illifish at the bottom of the food chain will probably absorb higher levels of methylmercury in an era of global warming and pass it on to larger predator fish, such as the tuna stacked in shiny little cans in the cupboards of Americans and other people the world over.

“The implication is this could play out in larger fish…because their metabolic rate is also increasing,” said Celia Chen, a professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and one of six authors of the study. “Methylmercury isn’t easily excreted, so it stays. It suggests that there will be higher methylmercury concentrations in the fish humans eat as well.”

Lest you think the Minamata Convention on Mercury last week was just scientists in lab coats breaking open thermometers and cackling wildly, that’s where this research was discussed. Oh yeah, they also signed a massively important treaty:

Delegates from 130 nations at the three-day convention that ended Friday met to sign a treaty that seeks to greatly limit emissions from coal-fired power plants from industrial nations, mining operations in Africa and other sources that pollute oceans.

Good thing no Americans were there because of the government shutdown! (Le sigh.) Who wants a tuna sandwich?

Source

Study links warmer water temperatures to greater levels of mercury in fish, Washington Post

Holly Richmond (hollyrichmond.com) writes and edits things for fun and money. She worked for Grist in the 1890s. Please follow her on Twitter because that is the entire basis of her self-esteem.

Native students ready satellite for space

Jenna Cederberg, Buffalo Post

Salish Kootenai College students are a part of a team that will soon launch the first “CubeSat” satellite into space.

Physics student Cory Drowatsky tests CubeSat in what he describes as “moment of inertia” with assistance from computer engineering student Zach DuMontier. (Photo by Lailani Upham/Char-Koosta News)

Char-Koosta News reporter Lailani Upham reports about the work the students are doing at SKC’s Division of Sciences.

CubeSats are small “low cost” satellites in the shape of a cube 10 centimeters in size used by universities, government agencies, and private businesses to orbit the earth to produce images utilizing solar power.

The SKC CubeSat selection is one to be proud of as the tribal college’s satellite design matches building and design along with big name colleges such as Cal-Berkeley, Notre Dam, Texas, MIT, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

CubeSats are effective opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in space flight missions and NASA recognized the importance of the next generation of space scientist and engineers through build and design of the mini-satellites at their higher education institutions.

The CubeSat is set to go to space sometime in 2014.

The design is complete and the SKC team is working on the stages of testing equipment.

The aim of the project is to motivate and prepare Native students to go into careers at NASA centers, as NASA contactors, or attend universities performing NASA-sponsored research.

American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association Sets a Full Board of Directors

Source: Native News Network

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, AIANTA. secured a full Board of Directors at the 15th Annual American Indian Tourism Conference held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa last month.

AIANTA Pacific Region Board Member Leslie Johnson and At Large Rep James Surveyor

The AIANTA Board of Directors (AIANTA Board) is composed of two representatives from each of the six cultural tourism regions of the country: Alaska, Eastern, Midwest, Pacific, Plains, Southwest and two At Large positions to represent all of Indian country. Each representative is elected by their respective region to serve a three year term and At Large representatives are elected by the entire AIANTA membership. Each member of the AIANTA Board brings a multitude of varied expertise and resources to the national nonprofit organization.

New to the AIANTA Board, James Surveyor, Marketing and Special Events Manager for Moenkopi Legacy Inn & Suites will represent Indian country At Large. Surveyor is of the Hopi Tribe of northeast Arizona and the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. In addition to this role at Moenkopi Legacy Inn & Suites, Surveyor continues to support the Moenkopi Developers Corporation vision of a better, sustainable, economic future for the Upper Village of Moenkopi and the Hopi reservation.

Leslie Johnson, Squaxin Island Tourism Director was appointed to represent AIANTA’s Pacific Region, a role she previously held. Johnson is a member of the Puyallup Tribe. Additionally, she is the co-chair of Northwest Tribal Tourism, a consortium of 10 tribes along the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas, and tribal representative for the Washington Tourism Alliance.

Also at AITC, Aimee D. Awonohopay was reelected to serve the AIANTA Midwest Region for another term. She is currently an elected official of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin as a St. Croix Tribal Council Member, and is the previous executive director of Native American Tourism of Wisconsin.

AIANTA Board veteran Janeé Doxtator was appointed to serve as the new Eastern Region representative alongside AIANTA President Mary Jane Ferguson. Doxtator previously served as an AIANTA Midwest Region representative and most recently, she served as an AIANTA At Large representative.

AIANTA Vice President Sherry Rupert was reelected to the AIANTA Board as a Southwest Region representative; AIANTA Treasurer Jackie Yellowtail was reelected to the AIANTA Board as a Plains representative; and LaDonna Brave Bull Allard was elected to serve a full three-year term as an AIANTA At Large representative.

AIANTA Board of Directors:

Mary Jane Ferguson, President – Eastern Region
Sherry Rupert, Vice President – Southwest Region
Rachel Moreno, Secretary – Alaska Region
Jackie Yellowtail, Treasurer – Plains Region
Rowena Akana – Pacific Region
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard – At Large
Aimee Awonohopay – Midwest Region
Tony Azure – Alaska Region
Michele Crank – Southwest Region
Janeé Doxtator – Eastern Region
Leslie Johnson – Pacific Region
William Lowe – Plains Region
Kirby Metoxen – Midwest Region
James Surveyor – At Large

What or Who Is an Indian Giver? A History of the Offensive Term

1910-fruitgum-company-indian-giver-1969 — The 1910 Fruitgum Company’s song “Indian Giver” went on to No. 5 on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 and was on the charts for 13 weeks.

By Vincent Schilling, ICTMN

To many of us, such phrases as “Teacher, Billy gave me the ball, now he wants it back! He’s being an Indian giver!” are too often heard in school. But where did the term come from? The literal history of where the word originates is a bit murky, but perhaps this article can shed a some light on some pre-conceived notions.

First, some modern-day definitions. Merriam-Webster’s defines an Indian giver as “sometimes offensive: a person who gives something to another and then takes it back or expects an equivalent in return.” The Urban Dictionary defines the term as “a person, who gives someone something, then wants it back!”

The original concept of the terms “Indian gift” or an “Indian giver” are mentioned in Thomas Hutchinson’s 1765 publication History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. In the book, Hutchinson defined an Indian gift as something “for which an equivalent return is expected.”

Another such reference to the concept of Indian bartering or gift giving is in Thomas P. Slaughter’s book on the travels of Lewis and Clark in 1804. The book, entitled Exploring Lewis and Clark: Reflections on Men and Wilderness, Slaughter writes the following passage and describes Lewis and Clarks reactions when dealing with Indians from the Wahkiacum village.

“… These last began by offering us some roots; but as we had now learned that they always expect three or four times as much in return as the real value of the articles, and are even dissatisfied with that, we declined such dangerous presents.”

When Lewis and Clark later in the passage also traded with the Shoshone Indians who they thought were more agreeable, they then labeled the Wahkiacums “intrusive, thievish and impertinent.”

The journals of the Lewis and Clark expeditions set a tone for the thievish identity of Indians and the effects were long lasting. By 1848, the phrase “Indian giver” had made its way into the vernacular of non-Indians so much that it made its way into linguist John Russell Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms.

The entry on page 214 of the 1848 book says:

“INDIAN GIVER: When an Indian gives any thing (sic), he expects to receive an equivalent, or to have his gift returned. This term is applied by children to a child who, after having given away a thing, wishes to have it back again.”

In 1969, the popular music group 1910 Fruitgum Company and country artist Roger Miller both coincidentally released songs entitled “Indian Giver.” The 1910 Fruitgum Company’s song went on to No. 5 on The Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 and was on the charts for 13 weeks.

Although the term largely faded from mainstream media use it retained popularity on school playgrounds. Indian giver got a serious mainstream plug when Kris Jenner told Good Morning America that her ex son-in-law should not ask for his $2 million engagement ring back from Kim Kardashian.

Jenner told GMA, she “…hates an Indian-giver” and that her daughter should have been able to keep the gift. The backlash against Jenner’s use of the term was seen around the world and she later issued an apology.

The term could just as easily have come from the fact that white settlers and the government designated land for the Indians and then took it back after it was discovered to be valuable. Like the Black Hills, which were given to the Oglala Lakota then were taken back after gold was discovered.

Considering there is merit to this claim, it is not necessarily proven in print and thus must remain a strong speculation.

In response to whether or not the term “Indian giver” is pro or con Indian, perhaps the sentiment expressed on The Word Detective website by Evan Morris is a valuable assertion.

“While it’s true that the European settlers had a far worse reputation when it came to trustworthiness than the Indians did, the victors in history usually get to make up the idioms, so it’s doubtful that ‘Indian giver’ refers to the manner in which the settlers treated the Indians. It would be quite a stretch to credit 19th century European settlers with the honesty to have recognized that they, and not the Indians, were the ‘Indian givers’ in most cases.”

Marysville All-City Food Drive returns Nov. 2

From left, Sean Overcash, Alwyn Galang, Vicki Steffen, Elaine Ferri and China Zugish represented the Marysville Kiwanis and Key clubs at the Marysville Albertsons during last year’s All-City Food Drive.— image credit: File Photo — From left, Sean Overcash, Alwyn Galang, Vicki Steffen, Elaine Ferri and China Zugish represented the Marysville Kiwanis and Key clubs at the Marysville Albertsons during last year’s All-City Food Drive.
— image credit: File Photo

Source: Marysville Globe

MARYSVILLE — With the holidays just around the corner, volunteers from several organizations will kick off the Marysville All-City Food Drive on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., to help neighbors in need this season by collecting donations of money, food and unused toys.

Volunteers from the Kiwanis, the Lakewood High School Leadership Class, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, city of Marysville staff, Soroptimist International, HomeStreet Bank, the Lions Club, the local Junior ROTC, the Marysville Fire District and local youth groups will be collecting donations at various participating local grocers and retail stores.

“You can make a real difference in lives of children and families, knowing that your donations and gifts will go directly to families in the community,” Marysville Community Food Bank Director Dell Deierling said.

Year-to-date food and financial donations are down, while the number of families coming to the Food Bank is up 6 percent, making the need all the more real.

Volunteers will be collecting donations at the Marysville Fred Meyer, Grocery Outlet, Haggen, Albertsons, Walmart in Quil Ceda Village and east Marysville, and the Safeway stores in Marysville and Smokey Point.

Red barrels will be located throughout the Marysville community starting Nov. 2, and will continue to collect food and toys throughout the holiday season.

Donations can also be dropped off at the Marysville Community Food Bank, located at 4150 88th St. NE, behind St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

For more information about the All-City Food Drive, contact Tara Mizell by phone at 360-363-8404, or via email at tmizell@marysvillewa.gov.