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Big Pine Tribe launches farmers market, demo garden

This is the beginnings of Big Pine Paiute Tribe’s new community garden permaculture demonstration garden swale that is planted with fruit trees, berries and shrubs and will “create an edible food forest in a couple of years,” states a news release. The garden is part of a newly-funded Sustainable Food System Development Project which also includes a tool-lending shed, seed bank and farmers market. Photo courtesy Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley

July 8, 2013

Marilyn Blake Philip / The Inyo Register Staff

The Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley’s newly-awarded sustainable food system grant is already sprouting a demonstration garden, farmers market and seed bank as well as fortifying a tool-lending shed and community garden greenhouse.

According to a Big Pine Tribe press release, the tribe recently received a $37,500 grant from the First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colo. to support the tribe’s new Sustainable Food System Development Project “with the purpose of increasing availability of locally-grown food as well as knowledge of sustainable gardening practices and native plants.”
For one thing, the grant will enable the tribe to create a permaculture demonstration garden – permaculture refers to an agricultural ecosystem that is intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient. The demo garden will be tended in the greenhouse that tribal members set up in February, Tribal Administrator Gloriana Bailey said.
(Read more in the Tuesday, July 9, 2013 edition of The Inyo Register.)

Governor, tribal president talk for just 2 minutes

By KEVIN ABOUREZK / Lincoln Journal Star

July 8^th 2013

Not many problems can be solved in two minutes.

And that includes the situation in Whiteclay.

Oglala Sioux Tribe President Bryan Brewer of South Dakota and Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman had planned for weeks to get together Monday morning to try to address alcohol sales in Whiteclay and alcoholism on the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

But the meeting ended after fewer than three minutes, and the governor’s office and Brewer later traded barbs over whose fault that was.

“I feel very bad that I came down here to talk with him for a couple minutes,” Brewer said. “He didn’t want to talk to me.”

The tribal leader said he walked out because Heineman was aggressive and said Brewer violated the governor’s request to meet without media involvement. He said the governor had asked him

Bryan Brewer, president of South Dakota's Oglala Sioux Tribe, speaks Monday after meeting with Gov. Dave Heineman to discuss his concerns about alcohol sales in the Nebraska town of Whiteclay that borders South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.NATI HARNIK/The Associated Press — Bryan Brewer, president of South Dakota’s Oglala Sioux Tribe, speaks Monday after meeting with Gov. Dave Heineman to discuss his concerns about alcohol sales in the Nebraska town of Whiteclay that borders South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
NATI HARNIK/The Associated Press

to not speak to the media before their meeting.

However, both Brewer and Heineman spoke to reporters in the days and hours leading up to their meeting. Heineman spokeswoman Jen Rae Wang said Brewer was the one who originally had requested a closed meeting with no media present.

“The governor was happy to accommodate that,” she said.

Brewer said the governor was especially angry about a news release that appeared Sunday saying the governor had received $96,000 in contributions from the liquor industry and charged that illegal alcohol activity and bootlegging in Whiteclay have not been stopped because of financial contributions to him and other Nebraska politicians from Anheuser-Busch, distributors and alcohol trade associations.

A spokesman for Alcohol Justice — a California-based, self-described watchdog of the liquor industry — cited the National Institute on Money in State Politics as its source. The institute describes itself as a nonpartisan nonprofit that seeks to reveal the influence of campaign money on politicians.

“He verbally attacked me,” Brewer said. “I didn’t write that article. I don’t know why he’s mad at me.”

Wang said the governor has not been influenced by any campaign contributions from liquor industry representatives.

“That’s absolutely false, and it’s completely inappropriate,” she said.

She said the governor had set aside an hour to spend with Brewer and had invited Lt. Gov. Lavon Heidemann, Nebraska State Patrol Superintendent Col. David Sankey, Chief of Staff Larry Bare and the governor’s policy adviser to attend.

Wang said Brewer made it clear he didn’t plan to stay long and have a serious conversation about the problem of alcoholism on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

At a news conference Monday morning before the meeting, Heineman said the state of Nebraska has no legal way to shut down beer stores in Whiteclay as long as those stores follow the law. And, he said, it is Brewer’s responsibility to address the underlying problem that has led to rampant alcohol sales there.

“As the leader of his tribe, he’s got to put a focus on treatment and education relative to alcohol abuse,” Heineman said.

Brewer refused to take responsibility for his people’s actions, Wang said.

“The governor remained at the table and was hopeful to have an open and honest conversation about some of the difficulties surrounding this issue,” Wang said. “I would just call it an unfortunate situation.”

The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council voted last month to hold a reservation-wide referendum this fall on whether to legalize alcohol on the Pine Ridge. Asked whether he supports that, Heineman declined to offer an opinion.

“I think that’s up to them to decide,” he said.

Brewer said he doesn’t want to see his tribe legalize alcohol but that he would do his best to regulate alcohol sales if tribal members vote yes.

He said he met earlier Monday with Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, who offered to assist the Oglala Sioux Tribe address alcohol sales in Whiteclay.

Brewer said he had hoped to talk to Heineman about re-creating an alcohol-free buffer zone south of the reservation that existed for more than 20 years until 1904. He said he also hoped to discuss making Whiteclay a national historic place to honor a massive sun dance that occurred there decades ago. Such a designation could force the beer stores to close, he said.

“I will continue working with the state of Nebraska,” he said. “I’ll refuse to deal with (Heineman) in the future.”

Brewer said he would like to be able to offer more treatment services to tribal members, but the tribe lacks the funding to do so. It has one treatment center with only seven beds, he said.

“I have to come up with the money somehow,” he said. “Our people are dying up there.”

During a news conference outside the State Office Building by activists after the meeting between Heineman and Brewer, Winnebago activist Frank LaMere said the governor clearly failed to show Brewer the respect he deserved as the leader of a sovereign nation.

“President, I apologize for our Nebraska governor,” he said. “I apologize for the way you were treated today.

“That to me is shameful.”

Reach Kevin Abourezk at 402-473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.

U.S. House committee invites Crow Tribe chair to discuss production expansion

Jul 8, 2013 4:46 PM by Q2 News Staff

BILLINGS- The U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee will meet Tuesday to discuss the expansion of coal production on public lands in the United States.

Montana Congressman Steve Daines, who serves as a committee member, revealed that Crow Indian Tribe Chairman Darrin Old Coyote will be testifying during the hearing regarding a recent agreement with Cloud Peak Energy and the hopes the tribe has for that partnership.

Committee members in favor of coal production expansion, such as Daines, plan on using testimonials to tout the benefits of coal production in the western part of the country.

An expansion could mean a change for Montana and Wyoming, as the Powder River Basin accounts for 40% o U.S. coal production.

Opponents say an increase in production might be detrimental to tax payers, as they say coal is currently undervalued.

The hearing kicks off at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, D.C..

If you would like to watch the hearing, you can find a live stream at that time by clicking here.

Father, other Oklahoma relatives file to adopt Baby Veronica as James Island couple seek adoption OK

Andrew Knapp The Post and Courier

Tuesday, July 9, 2013 6:42 a.m.

Baby Veronica’s biological father, stepmother and paternal grandparents have filed court papers in Oklahoma to adopt the 3-year-old girl, a move that dissenting U.S. Supreme Court justices warned could happen and will likely complicate the custody dispute.

Attorneys for Matt and Melanie Capobianco of James Island and for Veronica’s biological mother said Monday that the action defies the high court justices, who asked South Carolina judges to determine where Veronica should live.

The toddler’s mother found the Capobiancos through an adoption agency and, when the girl was born in September 2009, gave custody to them.

Lori Alvino McGill, the Washington attorney for Veronica’s biological mother, said her client, Christinna Maldonado, has not agreed to allow the adoption by anyone other than the Capobiancos and will fight the termination of her parental rights if the couple’s adoption doesn’t go through.

“We believe these frivolous filings in other jurisdictions are designed to further delay the proceedings,” McGill said, “in the hope that it will make it harder for South Carolina to finalize the (Capobiancos’) adoption.”

A Charleston attorney for Veronica’s father said Dusten Brown simply wants to continue raising his daughter.

“We are just trying to follow the direction and guidance of the majority opinion,” Shannon Jones said, “and let the court decide what is in the child’s best interest at this point.”

Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, challenged Veronica’s adoption through the Indian Child Welfare Act, arguing that their shared American Indian heritage gave him preference as a parent.

The Supreme Court ruled late last month that ICWA didn’t apply to the dispute the way a South Carolina judge thought it did. Brown’s parental rights could have been terminated because he never had custody of the girl and never supported her, the justices said.

Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, tossed the case back to the S.C. Supreme Court and ordered that it be expedited so that Veronica’s custody status could be determined.

But in documents filed with the South Carolina’s top court Wednesday, Brown’s attorneys used portions of the ruling that went against them in Washington to their own advantage.

Veronica has lived with Brown in Oklahoma since he was awarded custody in late 2011, and removing her from the “continued custody” of a loving home wouldn’t be in her best interests, Brown’s filing stated.

His attorneys asked that the case be sent back to Family Court in Charleston so that judges could consider “fresh” evidence. Because 18 months have passed since the custody switch, they argued, much of the information ferreted out during the Family Court trial is stale and wouldn’t serve as a legitimate basis for a custody ruling.

They said she should stay with the “fit and loving father” she’s with now. The girl also has matured emotionally and physically and has developed social skills with her new family, they said.

Veronica “has been extremely well cared for and loved by her father and has thrived,” the document stated.

But if Brown’s parental rights are terminated, his attorneys have a backup plan.

In disagreeing with Alito’s opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling could mean that Brown’s relatives could be considered as adoptive parents and that ICWA would give them preference.

Brown and his wife, Robin Brown, both filed adoption petitions in the District Court of Nowata County, where they lived. Veronica’s stepmother would be a logical choice to raise the girl because they already live in the same home, Brown’s attorneys argued.

But Brown’s parents, Tommy and Alice Brown, also asked the District Court of the Cherokee Nation for a chance to adopt Veronica under ICWA. They have been a certified placement family for the Cherokee Nation since 2011, the court filings stated.

Such petitions could require that the case be transferred from South Carolina to Oklahoma courts.

But those arguments are “absurd” and “offensive to the authority of the United States Supreme Court,” attorneys for the Capobiancos said in a response to Brown’s filing. They noted that some of Brown’s argument was based on the dissenting opinion, not the majority’s.

The Capobiancos had asked the state’s high court Friday to take up the case on an emergency basis, arguing that the ruling in Washington “unequivocally cleared the way” for the couple’s adoption of Veronica to be finalized.

The couple is “willing and able” to move to Oklahoma to ease Veronica’s transition, the document added.

But the competing adoption attempts might further delay a final ruling.

The Capobiancos’ attorneys said the added petitions violate the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, which outlaws “forum shopping” in seeking a more favorable venue when a different court already is addressing the case.

They added that the U.S. Supreme Court could not have possibly overturned the lower court’s decision and asked that South Carolina judges take up the case promptly without intending a tangible outcome.

“(Brown) audaciously treats the (U.S. Supreme Court) reversal as an academic exercise with no real world consequences,” their filing stated. “(He) acts as if a decision … is just a technicality — an inconvenient bump in the road that has no practical effect.”

Reach Andrew Knapp at 937-5414 or twitter.com/offlede.

DNA study ties B.C. First Nations groups to ancient ancestors

By Scott Sutherland | Geekquinox – Thu, 4 Jul, 2013

Thanks to a team of researchers from Canada, the U.S. and China, First Nations groups living along the coast of British Columbia now have proof that they are the direct descendants of people who lived in the area up to 5,500 years ago or longer.

Anthropologist Ripan S. Malhi linked ancient and present-day First Nations groups in British Columbia

This research, led by University of Illinois anthropology professor Ripan S. Malhi, examined the mitochondrial DNA of people living in the area now and from Native American remains going back thousands of years.

Mitochondrial DNA is different from the DNA that resides in the nuclei of our cells. Firstly, it’s far more abundant, so even though DNA decays over time, having more of it gives scientists a better chance at being able to piece together more of the information. Also, mitochondrial DNA is solely passed from mother to child in humans, and since it doesn’t ‘recombine‘ — meaning it doesn’t exchange genetic information with other DNA — it remains roughly the same throughout the generations. Thus, the scientists were still able to compare the DNA from remains to people living in the region now, and find matches between them.

According to the study, matching mitochondrial DNA sequences (also called ‘mitochondrial genome’ or ‘mitogenome’) were found in three participants — the remains of a young woman who lived 5,500 years ago on the Lucy Islands, the remains of another woman who lived on Dodge Island around 2,500 years ago, and a woman currently living in the area. This DNA evidence shows that the living woman is the direct descendant of either these other two women, or of their mothers.

Another mitogenome from Dodge Island remains, from 5,000 years ago, were found to match three other living participants from the area.

“Having a DNA link showing direct maternal ancestry dating back at least 5,000 years is huge as far as helping the Metlakatla prove that this territory was theirs over the millennia,” said Barbara Petzelt, an author and participant in the study, according to a University of Illinois news release. TheMetlakatla are just one of the First Nations groups in the area, that are part of the Tsimshian, Haidaand Nisga’a people.

Studies done in the past have looked at a small number of mitochondrial DNA sequences (apparently less than 2%), but this is only the second study that looked at all mitogenomic sequences (the first was of an Inuit man who lived in Greenland between 3,400 to 4,500 years ago).

As Malhi points out, the introduction of European DNA — from European men producing children with Native American women — complicates DNA studies of the Native American population, but examining the mitochondrial DNA makes it much easier to see the purely Native American lineages.

“This is the beginning of the golden era for ancient DNA research because we can do so much now that we couldn’t do a few years ago because of advances in sequencing technologies,” Malhi said in the statement. “We’re just starting to get an idea of the mitogenomic diversity in the Americas, in the living individuals as well as the ancient individuals.”

[ More Geekquinox: New crime scene technology can find hidden fingerprints ]

One aspect of the study that helped with the DNA evidence was the rich oral history kept by these B.C. First Nation tribes, which trace family lineages back through the mother. So these histories could be directly compared to the results from the mitochondrial DNA.

“It’s very exciting to be able to have scientific proof that corroborates what our ancestors have been telling us for generations,” said Joycelynn Mitchell, a Metakatla co-author and participant in the study. “It’s very amazing how fast technology is moving to be able to prove this kind of link with our past.”

(Photo courtesy: L. Brian Stauffer/University of Illinois)

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Tribal Membership Revocations: Dialing For Dollars?

Article By:

Dennis J. Whittlesey

Patrick Sullivan

Dickinson Wright PLLC

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Over the past several years, there have been a series of publicized tribal enrollment revocations of enrolled members – including former tribal leaders – and their entire families. While this phenomenon was extremely rare in the past, it is becoming increasingly and disturbingly common.

Many in Indian Country openly trace this activity from the date on which the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act became law in 1988 and tribes too often spending large amounts of their casino revenues in per capita payments to tribal members. In some cases, as tribal populations grew, revenue distributions were accordingly reduced to continue payments to all members. In other cases, the economic downturn that dates back to 2007-08 led to reduced casino revenues and, in turn, reduced individual payments. Still, many have linked dollar reductions in per capita payments to the increase in expelling members.

These facts are well reported and discussed below in some detail. The casual reader will ask how this could be possible, or even legal. Various legal challenges to disenrollments have been unsuccessful, whether they directly challenge the tribes themselves or seek to compel the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) to intervene.

Tribal Challenges usually are made in the face of tribal sovereign immunity and are routinely dismissed. While the federal Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 ostensibly offers legal protections to the victims of enrollment revocations, the reality is that the law is toothless and is not the vehicle through which individual Indians have gained much of anything in the way of rights protection.

BIA Challenges are the alternative, and they involve asking the BIA to intervene to protect the rights of those being banished from their tribal membership, but that agency officially takes the position that the issue of tribal membership is purely a tribal matter and not something in which the federal government will – or even should – become involved.

It is worth noting that the BIA has interceded in enrollment disputes in some unusual cases, the most noteworthy of which is probably that of the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of Amador County, California. The Buena Vista is a recognized tribe that until a few years ago consisted of one adult named Donnamarie Potts. For reasons that are not altogether clear, the BIA examined Ms. Potts’s status as a descendant to the single Indian family formerly residing on the Buena Vista Rancheria and concluded that she has no ancestral tie to the land and, accordingly, was not a lawful member of the recognized Rancheria tribe. Indeed, the BIA concluded that a second adult named Rhonda Morningstar Pope was the sole adult descendant of the resident Indian family and thus the only person entitled to lawful tribal membership in the Rancheria tribe. As a result of that BIA administrative action, Potts was removed and Pope’s family has subsequently constituted the entire tribal membership.

It is also worth noting that the Rancheria tribe has been attempting to develop a casino on the former Rancheria lands for some 10 years but without success as of this date.

Possible Connections Between Tribal Casino Revenues and Membership Revocations

While there are a number of tribes that have disenrolled members, these writers are not aware of any non-gaming tribes that have done so. Disenrollments are reality, but an established connection between reduced casino revenue distributions and disenrollments is somewhat hypothetical. Nonetheless, examining the facts is enlightening.

For the purposes of this article, it is useful to examine the three tribes currently embroiled in “enrollment reductions” that have received the greatest attention. They are (1) the Pala Band of Mission Indians of California, (2) the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California, and (3) the Nooksack Tribe of Washington. They all have operated tribal casinos for a number of years. They all have been making per capita payments to tribal members. They all have disenrolled hundreds of members over the past several years. And they all apparently began disenrolling members shortly after experiencing downturns in casino cash flow that finance the members’ distributions.

The question is whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship between revenue declines and revocations of membership. The known facts speak for themselves, as does the high level of acrimony now infecting each tribe. However, in each case, the tribes are relying on conclusions as to enrollment entitlement that the BIA has the expertise and experience to determine, but declines to do so. The professional historians and genealogists at the Department of the Interior could resolve the disputes with finality, just as they did at the Buena Vista Rancheria. Thus far, they have elected to do nothing, leaving tribes in chaos and disenrolled members in distress.

Pala Band of Mission Indians

The Pala Indian Reservation is in Southern California, and it houses the Pala Casino which opened in 2001. The casino has been immensely successful, to the point that each tribal member currently receives about $150,000 in per capita payments annually from gaming revenues, as well as housing subsidies, health care, and educational benefits. When the casino’s revenues dropped in 2012, the Tribe’s per capita payments dropped by $500 per month, and the membership grew disenchanted with the decline in each member’s income. The drop in revenue resulted in financial pressure on members who relied on the payments, with the result that a long-simmering membership dispute flared into open hostility and ultimately a massive disenrollment revoking the membership of one-sixth of the Tribe’s population.

The Tribe’s membership rules require at least 1/16 Pala ancestry. Such “blood quantum” membership rules necessarily lead to an evershrinking tribal membership as members frequently marry outside the tribe. The dispute centered on a single woman named Margarita Britten, who is an ancestor of all of the disenrolled members. The Pala Executive Committee determined on its own that Britten’s father was white and not Pala, meaning that all members tracing their Pala ancestry solely to Britten as a great-great-grandparent went from 1/16 to 1/32 Pala blood and no longer qualified for membership. With that decision, more than 160 Pala members were disenrolled, an action that cut off per capita payments, as well as access to health care and all other tribal benefits. Tensions continue to run high on the reservation, with the disenrolled claiming the decision was made solely to prop up per capita payments, while members not affected respond that the disenrollment was an overdue resolution of a preexisting problem.

As for appeals, the Pala leadership took care of that by terminating what might have been a venue for the ousted members to seek judicial relief. In California, tribes may voluntarily settle disputes in the Intertribal Court of Southern California, a tribal “circuit court” providing a neutral forum for appeals of tribal decisions. The Pala Executive Committee voted to withdraw from that court before enacting the disenrollments, so the decision was never subject to review in that court.

The Pala enrollment case was closed before it even was ripe for hearing in that court.

Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians

In Northern California’s Madera County, the Chukchansi Indians operate Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino, a popular and profitable operation conveniently located on a major gateway route to Yosemite National Park. While the Chukchansi per capita payments are small, they are supplemented by tribal payments covering utility and food bills, as well as academic tuition.

Chukchansi has reportedly disenrolled at least 400 members in the past five years, reducing the total membership to less than 1,000. The acrimony over the financial situation has grown so toxic that three separate factions are struggling for control of the tribe after a disputed election and continuing disenrollments.

Last year, then Tribal Council Chairman Reggie Lewis and his supporters voted to disenroll dozens of tribe members. Subsequently, Lewis lost his reelection to Morris Reid in December 2012, but he contested the results on the basis that Reid was ineligible to run. Later that same month, in a chaotic tribal council meeting, Lewis refused to seat the new members, announced that he would remain Chairman until a new election was held, and changed the locks on the tribal government offices. In February, a “tribal referendum” elected Council member Nancy Ayala as Chair and removed Lewis from the Council. Supporters of Reid broke into the tribal offices and refused to leave. Lewis’s supporters responded by cutting power to the building and throwing a smoldering log and bear spray inside to forcibly eject them. The Madera County Sheriff observed the activity but did not act, citing a lack of jurisdiction. On the following day, the scene erupted into a violent melee, prompting the Sheriff to intervene along with more than 100 officers from various law enforcement agencies.

Since then, the Tribe has remained in turmoil. In March, the casino’s bank froze the Tribe’s gaming revenue funds due to an inability to determine rightful control over the account, and in the process halted bond payments and put the Tribe in danger of default on its $300 million obligation to lenders. In May, the BIA rejected grant proposals filed by Reid on the basis that he was not a rightful representative of the Chukchansi Tribal Council. An April tribal referendum reinstated Lewis and removed Ayala. However, in June, the BIA administratively recognized Ayala as Chairperson and Lewis as Vice Chairman, although the two continued to wage their very public dispute. Ayala sought an injunction in federal court to cut off Lewis’s access to the bank account and force the bank to continue to pay bondholders, but the federal judge did not intervene, citing a lack of jurisdiction over the matter. It remains to be seen how the painful dispute will end.

In the latest development, a Madera County Judge cited a specific tribal waiver of sovereign immunity and ordered the County Sheriff to enter the Chukchansi casino and physically remove cash to pay a former casino manager owed $725,000 under a settlement of a suit resulting from his termination before his contract expired. Ayala’s faction has vowed to fight the “till tap,” and no per capita payments are currently being distributed.

Nooksack Indian Tribe

In Washington State, the 2,000-member Nooksack Indian Tribe is near the Canadian border, almost 100 miles north of Seattle. In February, six of the eight members of the Tribal Council, including the Chairman, voted to commence disenrollment proceedings against 306 Nooksack members, including the two tribal council members who did not vote in favor of the action.

The Nooksack disenrollees are descendants of a woman named Annie George. Tribal membership rules require that members either (1) trace ancestry to those appearing on a 1942 tribal census, or those who received allotments of tribal land, or (2) prove that they possess 1/4 Indian blood and any degree of Nooksack ancestry. George’s name did not appear on either list, and her descendants must go before the Tribal Council and present evidence of their claim. The disenrollees appealed the Tribal Council’s decision to the Nooksack Tribal Court, asking for an injunction to the disenrollment, but the Chief Judge denied the injunction citing the Tribe’s sovereign immunity from suit and deferring to the Tribal Council’s broad authority over membership matters.

Shortly after voting to disenroll the 306 members, the Council voted to initiate an election to amend the Nooksack Constitution to “close a loophole” and remove the second path to Nooksack membership. This change clearly would further obstruct the disenrollees’ claims. After the BIA approved the election, the two disenrolled Tribal Council members sought to enjoin the election in federal court, but the Judge declined to stop the election citing the lack of “applicable law” making it unlawful for the Nooksack Tribe to define its membership by race or ancestry. The Constitutional amendment went to a vote of the entire Nooksack membership, the outcome of which has not been announced as of this date.

Millions of krill washing ashore on Oregon, California beaches

This undated photo from NOAA Fisheries Service shows a species of Pacific krill. Millions of the inch-long shrimp-like animals have been washing up on beaches between Eureka, Calif., and Newport, Ore., and scientists don't exactly know why. Strong winds may have pushed them ashore while they were mating near the surface, or they may have run into an area of low oxygen.AP Photo/NOAA, Jaime Gomez Gutierrez — This undated photo from NOAA Fisheries Service shows a species of Pacific krill. Millions of the inch-long shrimp-like animals have been washing up on beaches between Eureka, Calif., and Newport, Ore., and scientists don’t exactly know why. Strong winds may have pushed them ashore while they were mating near the surface, or they may have run into an area of low oxygen.AP Photo/NOAA, Jaime Gomez Gutierrez

By The Associated Press
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on June 28, 2013 at 12:39 PM

GRANTS PASS — Millions of krill— a tiny shrimp-like animal that is a cornerstone of the ocean food web — have been washing up on beaches in southern Oregon and Northern California for the past few weeks.

Scientists are not sure why.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationoceanographer Bill Peterson says they may have been blown into the surf by strong winds while mating near the surface, and then been dashed on the beach.

The species is Thysanoessa spinifera. They are about an inch long and live in shallower water along the Continental Shelf. They have been seen in swaths 5 feet wide, stretching for miles on beaches from Eureka, Calif., to Newport, Ore. Some were still alive.

“There has definitely been something going on,” Peterson said from Newport. “People have sent us specimens. In both cases, the females had just been fertilized. That suggests they were involved, maybe, in a mating swarm. But we’ve had a lot of onshore wind the last two weeks. If they were on the surface for some reason and the wind blows them toward the beach and they are trapped in the surf, that is the end of them.”

Or, they may have fallen victim to low levels of oxygen in the water, said Joe Tyburczy, a scientist with California Sea Grant Extension in Eureka. A recent ocean survey showed lower than normal oxygen levels in some locations. If the krill went to the surface to get oxygen, they could have been blown on shore, he said.

For some reason, people did not see gulls and other sea birds eating them, he added.

Peterson said low oxygen conditions, known as hypoxia, are a less likely explanation because they normally occur later in the summer.

The mass strandings are unusual, but not unheard of, Peterson added. There is no way to tell yet whether this represents a significant threat to a source of food for salmon, rockfish, ling cod and even whales.

— The Associated Press

Carnival comes to Smokey Point

The carnival is coming to town!

Jun 25, 2013

by Beckye Randall in North County Outlook
The Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber of Commerce has contracted with Butler Amusements, the folks behind the carnival at the Evergreen State Fair, to bring their rides and games to Smokey Point for a four-day event. The carnival will be set up at the corner of 172nd St. NE and 51st Avenue NE, near the Arlington Airport, June 27 through 30.

There’s no admission charge, and a $20 wristband is good for rides all day long. Individual ride tickets will also be available.

The wristbands are available in advance at the Smokey Point Walmart, and at Coastal Community Bank at 16419 Smokey Point Blvd.

“There will be a midway with games and some concessions,” said chamber manager Mary Jane Harmon, “and we’ll have some food vendors as well.”

And the rides? Butler is bringing some of the most popular carnival rides, including the Zipper, the Scrambler, the Cyclone and the Tilt-a-Whirl. Kids’ rides include Goofyville, a crawl-through maze, the Galaxy Swing and, of course, a giant slide.

“Butler Amusements has an excellent safety record,” said Harmon. “They have rides for all ages.”

For more information, visit www.arlington-smokeypointchamber.com

Two American Indians Named to US Census National Advisory Committee

Native News Network Staff

WASHINGTON – The US Census Bureau Wednesday announced 10 new members of its National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations. Among the ten were two American Indians who were named to the Committee. They are Desi Small Rodriguez, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and Timothy Harjo from the Fort Sill-Chiricahua Apache Tribe.

Desi Small Rodriguez – Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Small-Rodriguez was raised on the reservation in Lame Deer, Mont. Her Cheyenne name is Muksheha, Bear-Mint-Woman. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degree from Stanford University and has extensive local, regional and international experience with demography and economic policy in indigenous and rural contexts. Before returning home to serve her tribe, Small-Rodriguez served as a tribal researcher for the Waikato-Tainui Maori Tribe and as a senior policy analyst at the Ministry of Maori Development on developing tribal census and stewarding population measurement projects. Small-Rodriguez is committed to using data to strengthen tribal sovereignty and empower indigenous communities. She serves as a consultant to indigenous tribes in the United States and internationally on tribal data and policy development. Additionally, she has developed work for the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center related to research regulation in tribal contexts that informed the creation of a document titled, -Developing a Community-Based Research Orientation in Tribal Contexts.-

Over the last 10 years, Harjo has worked for many tribal governments, law firms, courts, nonprofits and businesses on behalf of American Indian clients and or policy matters. During the 2010 Census, he served as a partnership team leader in the Los Angeles Regional Office, where he developed and supervised large American Indian outreach initiatives. His work required great knowledge of tribal government interests and required a good working relationship with local tribal offices.

The National Advisory Committee advises the Census Bureau on a wide range of variables that affect the cost, accuracy and implementation of the Census Bureau’s programs and surveys, including the once a decade census. The committee, which is comprised of 32 members from multiple disciplines, advises the Census Bureau on topics such as housing, children, youth, poverty, privacy, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation issues.

“The committee has helped us meet emerging challenges the Census Bureau faces in producing high quality statistics about our diverse nation,”

said Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau’s acting director.

“By helping us better understand a variety of issues that affect statistical measurement, this committee ensures that the Census Bureau continues to provide relevant and timely statistics used by federal, state and local governments as well as business and industry in an increasingly technologically oriented society.”

The National Advisory Committee members, who serve at the discretion of the Census Bureau director, are chosen to serve based on their expertise and knowledge of the cultural patterns, issues and/or statistical needs of “hard to count” populations. The new members will be seated on August 1.

posted June 27, 2013 9:50 am edt

Cladoosby Enters National Congress of American Indians President Race

Richard Walker

June 26, 2013 ICTMN

Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby, who has long worked to strengthen economic conditions and stop ecological degradation in Coast Salish country, announced his candidacy June 25 for president of the National Congress of American Indians.

The election will take place during NCAI’s 70th annual convention October 13-18 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

If elected, Cladoosby would continue to serve as chairman of the Swinomish Tribe, he said in a pre-announcement interview. He would be the fourth indigenous leader from Washington state to serve as NCAI president.

“After 29 years of service on the Swinomish Indian Senate and 17 years of the best job in the world, the chairman of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, I feel called by our Creator to serve Indian people across our country,” he wrote on a Facebook page established for his campaign.

“I believe that we live in historic times. When my grandfather’s grandfather signed the Point Elliott Treaty [in 1855], he probably could not have imagined the world that we live in today, but he thought about my grandchildren, Bella and Nathaniel. They are the seventh generation since our treaty was signed. Today, we are called to think about the seven generations to come and the world we will leave for them.”

Cladoosby said indigenous nations “have been blessed by our Creator with tremendous gifts” with which to confront the challenges of the day: Tribal governments’ ability to tax activities within reservation borders, ensuring there are educational opportunities for young people and quality health services for families and elders, protection of natural resources, and responding appropriately to climate change.

“Our teachings, our spiritual ways, the wisdom of our elders, the inspiration of our children and strong tribal leaders from across Indian country lift us up and give us strength to meet these challenges every day,” he said.

Cladoosby said he announced his candidacy only after getting the support of his wife, Nina, and the Swinomish Senate.

“I know that without them and their support, I could not begin to think about serving as president of NCAI. In the coming months, I ask for your support, your prayers and your ideas. Together, we can build the tomorrow that the grandchildren of our grandchildren can be proud of.”

Cladoosby served as president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians in 2008-11, and served on NCAI’s board of directors and on Environmental Protection Agency’s National Tribal Operations Committee. He is also active on the Skagit Council of Governments, an organization of local governments in Skagit County, Washington.

After the November general election, incoming state Attorney General Bob Ferguson appointed Cladoosby to his transition committee, which reviewed the structure of the Attorney General’s Office, its budget, and goals for the upcoming legislative session.

On December 5, Cladoosby introduced President Barack Obama at the White House Tribal Nations Conference, calling Obama – an adopted member of the Crow Nation – our “first American Indian president.” (Related story: Obama Does It Again: 2012 White House Tribal Nations Conference)

As Swinomish chairman, Cladoosby has overseen a careful strategy of economic growth that has resulted in the tribe becoming one of the five largest employers in Skagit County.

The tribe owns the golf- and entertainment-oriented Swinomish Casino and Lodge overlooking Padilla Bay, two gas stations and convenience stores, a cannery that processes salmon and shellfish for a global market, and a Ramada Hotel in Ocean Shores on the Washington coast. Swinomish’s Chevron Gas Station is, according to the tribe, the largest-volume Chevron station on the West Coast.

According to the tribe’s website, Swinomish employs more than 250 people in tribal government and approximately 300 people in its economic enterprises.

Swinomish is also an important voice on environmental issues: recent local initiatives include restoring indigenous ownership and stewardship of Kiket Island, and restoring the shoreline and developing a park and native-plant garden on Swinomish Channel.

In 2008, Cladoosby helped organize the Canoe Journey Water Quality Project in collaboration with other Coast Salish nations and the U.S. Geological Survey. Canoes participating in the annual Canoe Journey carry probes and global positioning systems that record temperature, salinity, pH levels, dissolved oxygen and turbidity in the Salish Sea. The data is being processed and mapped so researchers can identify patterns and trends in sea conditions. These efforts were honored in 2009 by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior; in 2012, Cladoosby was one of five finalists for the Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award. (Related story: Canoe Journey Could Provide Picture of Inland Sea’s Health)

“Mr. Cladoosby has been a huge supporter for our Northwest tribes and I hope we support someone who actually sees what we are needing as tribes in the Northwest and Alaska,” a supporter wrote on Facebook, calling Cladoosby “One of the Great Native Leaders out there fighting our good fight!”

Chickasaw Nation Lt. Gov. Jefferson Keel is finishing his second as president. According to its constitution, NCAI’s purpose is to “serve as a forum for unified policy development among tribal governments in order to: (1) protect and advance tribal governance and treaty rights; (2) promote the economic development and health and welfare in Indian and Alaska Native communities; and (3) educate the public toward a better understanding of Indian and Alaska Native tribes.”

NCAI has a staff of 33.