Education Archives - Page 31 of 78

New initiative addresses tribal unemployment

Melissa Verdin (from left), Clarice Friloux and Bette Billiot use computers Tuesday at the United Houma Nation Vocational Rehabilitation Program in Houma.
Chris Heller/Staff

By Maki Somosot, Houma Today

Local and state American Indian tribes are addressing unemployment among their members through a new program that helps applicants become technologically proficient during their job search.

It’s a cooperative effort by the United Houma Nation and Inter-Tribal Council of Louisiana.

Earlier this month, three Employment Skill computer labs in Houma, Marrero and Charenton opened up for use by individuals who wish to learn basic computing and job application skills, Inter-Tribal Council Executive Director Kevin Billiot said.

Applicants can also take advantage of walk-in services such as online job search assistance, resume development and interview practice.

“We’ve seen an increased demand for more complex skills in the workplace,” Houma Nation Program Director Lanor Curole said. “The whole idea is to ensure that our people have the skills necessary to succeed. Unfortunately, not everyone has the benefit of computers at home.”

Each lab consists of about 13 employees who are trained to provide job assistance and conduct monthly Microsoft Office classes. There is also a job developer who helps match applicants with job opportunities from the local oil, health-care and nonprofit industries.

Reducing unemployment is high on the council’s priority list, Billiot said.

A 2010 Houma Nation survey reported that approximately 15 percent of tribal heads of household were unemployed. Of the total unemployed tribal population, at least 28 percent were also disabled.

As tribal members move away from the traditional fishing profession of their forefathers, Billiot said, there is a need for them to stay competitive given the demands of today’s job market.

Currently, oilfield jobs are the most sought-after by tribes across southeast Louisiana, followed by nursing, business, office technology and cosmetology jobs, he added.

The decline of the tribal’s fishing profession has been well-noted over the last 10 years, Billiot said. While some commercial fishermen are still around, fewer members of the younger generation are inclined to go into the industry due to its instability.

The Inter-Tribal Council of Louisiana and United Houma Nation began discussions early last year to pool their resources and develop a comprehensive jobs program for all tribal members in the state.

The computers were already available for use, but officials did not have a structured training component, Curole added.

“It’s a response on on both of our parts to recognize the changing nature of employment and provide the resources our people need,” she said.

Since the program just started this month, officials have not yet come up with a target number of applicants. However, they do prioritize disabled and older clients who may not have access to job opportunities or technology.

Officials plan to expand the program to all of the tribes they work with. Currently, the focus is on Houma Nation members because of their number, but there is available money to expand to the Chitimacha tribe, Billiot said.

The main United Houma Nation office, 991 Grand Caillou Road, Bldg No. 2, Houma, has six available computers and is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. The Marrero branch at Suite C, 931 Westwood Drive, has four available stations and is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.

The Chitimacha Tribal Fire Station, 215 Coushatta Drive, Charenton, has six stations and is open 24 hours.

Classes are held once a month and specific times are provided on the United Houma Nation’s website, unitedhoumanation.org.

One month after opening, UW Intellectual House forges community space

By Chetanya Robinson, The Daily of University of Washington

Ross Braine, tribal liaison and director of the Intellectual House, has been involved in trying to make the Intellectual House a reality since he was a student at the UW in 2007. Photo/ Chetanya Robinson

Almost a month to the day that the Intellectual House celebrated its grand opening, Ross Braine celebrated a quieter, but no less powerful victory.

On a day that coincided with the First Nations at UW’s annual powwow near Husky Stadium, Braine saw the Intellectual House being used as a gathering place. Students from Lummi Island and Crow powwow dancers met in the large meeting hall, while at the same time students cooked for Native elders in the Intellectual House’s kitchen.

The Intellectual House -— a modern, 8,400 square foot longhouse-style building — had become the gathering place the UW Native community had dreaming about for almost 40 years.

“That was an awesome day,” Braine said. “That’s what this building has already become, and what was needed for all these years.” But, he added, it was just one day out of many.

Braine has been involved in the Intellectual House project since he was an undergraduate in 2007. With two jobs now — director of the Intellectual House and UW tribal liaison — and working toward his masters in information management at the UW all simultaneously, Braine is busy. In the big picture, his job as director is to manage and grow the Intellectual House.

Even though it’s been open for a month, the Intellectual House still has a few finishing touches to go before it’s fully complete, Braine said.

“It seems like we could have used a little more time, because we’re still going through punch lists,” he said.

His punch list is full of needs like paint sanding, making sure the right locks are on the right doors, and ordering microphones. Despite the little challenges, the Intellectual House has been in demand for bookings. It gives priority to events with an indigenous focus, said administrative coordinator Casey Wynecoop.

The space has already been used for a variety of events. On April 16, UW Interim President Ana Mari Cauce spoke about racism and equality before an audience who packed the large hall. The space has been used by a campus alliance for minority students in STEM fields who showcased their research projects. Upcoming bookings include an event focused on indigenous food and ecological knowledge, and a camp for at-risk high school students from migrant families.

The Intellectual House will also host many graduations, said Wynecoop, including the first annual Raven’s Feast graduation appreciation for native students, held for the past 20 years at the Daybreak Star Cultural Center in Discovery Park. Now that the Intellectual House is open, Wynecoop said, it can be a focus for cultural events on campus.

The Intellectual House has provided a space that has brought the community closer together, said Andrea Fowler, of the First Nations at UW student group.

“We know it’s a privilege to have that space here at such a large university, and it’s really supported the students,” Fowler said. “So far I’ve noticed a change this spring that we’re a lot more community-oriented and together and really getting more grounded in the culture …. I think that’s going to be a great support for them, that’s something that they need to be grounded in to succeed.”

Braine said he would have benefited from a place like the Intellectual House when he was a student.

“I think if I had had a house like this when I was an undergraduate it would have been easier to find where I was,” he said.

Braine was involved in trying to make the Intellectual House a reality as an undergraduate at the UW. Mentors like Julian Argel, who died in 2012, and Marvin Oliver, had tried to do the same in the 1970s. Braine keeps a photo of Argel in his office and credits him with keeping the idea of the Intellectual House alive.

In Braine’s office is also a framed print by Marvin Oliver, a retired professor of American Indian Studies at the UW and Adjunct Curator of Contemporary Native American Art at the Burke Museum, showing longhouses by the water near what is now Husky Stadium, a common sight before European arrival in Seattle.

From the beginning, Braine said, the planners of the Intellectual House project intended for there to be a second longhouse building next to the current one, focused on teaching and learning, which might hold classrooms or conference rooms. Half of the estimated $8 million budget for that second building will need to be raised before planning can start. However, plumbing and electricity are already installed.

Even with phase two of the project in the distant future, the completed building constructed of sturdy cedar has been inspiring people.

On April 24, the Intellectual House was host to Deconstructing Earth Day, a roundtable discussion organized by Sean Schmidt of the UW Sustainability Office. About a dozen people sat in a circle in the large, cedar-scented room to talk about sustainability and how it relates to diversity and social justice.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives member Brian Sims, the first openly gay elected state legislator in Pennsylvania and the first openly gay college football captain in the NCAA, was one of the guests who told his story. He said he struggles sometimes to find authenticity in city life, and wondered how urban Native Americans find authentic spaces in the metropolis.

In answer, Abigail Echo-Hawk, a member of Seattle Women’s Commission and a tribal liaison for UW Partnerships for Native Health, said she thought such authentic places can be created, that the Intellectual House is one of them.

“I sit in a space that’s sacred,” she said. “We’re just at the beginnings of something that can grow bigger.”

Native youth kick off Generation Indigenous challenge

By Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Janay Jumping Eagle is on a mission to curb teen suicide in her hometown on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Dahkota Brown of the Wilton Band of Miwok Indians in California wants to keep American Indian and Alaska Native students on track toward graduation.

The teenagers are at the heart of Generation Indigenous, or Gen-I, a White House initiative that kicked off this week with a brainstorming session that happened to coincide with tens of thousands of indigenous people gathering in New Mexico for the Gathering of Nations, North America’s largest powwow.

The Generation Indigenous program stems from a visit last year by President Barack Obama to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Meetings followed, the president called for his cabinet members to conduct listening tours, tribal youth were chosen as ambassadors and a national network was formed.

The goal is to remove barriers that stand in the way of tribal youth reaching their potential, said Lillian Sparks Robinson, a member of the Rosebud Sioux and an organizer of Thursday’s Gen-I meeting.

“This is a community-based, community-driven initiative. It is not something that’s coming from the top down. It’s organic,” she said.

The teens are coming up with their own ideas to combat problems in their respective communities.

For example, a string of seven suicides by teenagers in recent months has shaken Pine Ridge, and close to 1,000 suicide attempts were recorded on the reservation over a nearly 10-year period. Jumping Eagle, a high school sophomore, said her older cousin was one of them.

“That was really devastating. I just wanted to at least try to stop it from happening and I’m still trying,” she said, noting that a recent basketball tournament she organized as part of her Gen-I challenge to bring awareness and share resources with schoolmates was a success.

Brown, 16, said he sees Gen-I as a tool to “shine a light on the positive things that are happening in Indian country rather than all the other bad statistics that go along with being a Native teen.”

From New Mexico’s pueblos to tribal communities in the Midwest and beyond, federal statistics show nearly one-third of Native youth live in poverty, they have the highest suicide rates of any ethnicity in the U.S., and they have the lowest high school graduation rate of students across all schools. And for American Indians and Alaska Natives overall, alcoholism mortality is more than 500 percent higher than the general population.

Federal agencies are working with the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute to pull off Generation Indigenous, and the White House is planning a tribal youth gathering in July in Washington, D.C.

In one of her last tasks before passing on the Miss Indian World crown, Taylor Thomas spoke to Gen-I participants Thursday. She shared with them her tribe’s creation story, which centers on the idea that every animal, plant and person has a purpose. She encouraged the teens to be leaders.

“No matter the difficulties we have in our communities, we have so many bright lights shining from all over Indian country. And when I say that I’m talking about all of you,” she told the crowd of about 300.

EMU’s Native American student group asks university for more support during rally

The Native American Student Organization at Eastern Michigan University held a rally Wednesday, April 22, in reaction to a report some students dressed in Native American garb and painted their faces red during an off-campus party. BEN BAIRD-WASHTENAW NOW

By Ben Baird, The Ypsilanti Courier

YPSILANTI — In response to an April 11 off-campus party where Eastern Michigan students allegedly dressed in Native American garb and painted their faces red, a university student organization took a public stand Wednesday saying they will not accept silence or for this to be swept under the rug.

Amber Morseau, president of EMU’s Native American Student Organization, said they were rallying that day to stand in unity against racism of Native Americans both on and off campus.

“These students involved decided that our culture was a costume they could just put on for a few hours and take off again when it suited them,” she said. “(They) claimed they were Hurons and honoring our people.”

There was no honor in what they did, Morseau said.

NASO members made clear they are not satisfied with the university administration’s response so far, both in regards to the students in red face as well as the reappearance of the Hurons logo on campus. The Hurons mascot was eliminated more than 20 years ago after a campus-wide effort was begun by four Native American women who found it disrespectful.

Davi Trusty, who was the president of NASO in 1991 when he attended EMU, said he feels it’s a shame Native American students are still fighting the same issues that he fought.

If someone thinks it’s okay to tell a Native American to go back to the reservation or to put makeup on their face and pretend to be an “Indian” something is wrong in that person’s psyche, he said.

Trusty said they appreciate the love and support members of the community have shown following this incident.

Morseau said Kay McGowan, an adjunct professor at EMU who teaches anthropology and sociology classes, spoke to each of her classes April 15 about racism, disrespect toward women and the culture of erasure – of a dominant culture diminishing another.

McGowan, the only Native American professor on campus, subsequently received an email from someone identifying himself as “John Smith” who told her no harm was intended by what happened April 11 and that the Native American community was overreacting.

“This email alone demonstrates to us that these students involved do not understand what it is they have done and they certainly have yet to see the consequences deserved for what we consider to be a hate crime,” Morseau said.

What happened was not a spontaneous action, McGowan said, for such a large group to all be dressed and painted at once. This was planned and done on purpose, she said.

“I want to know why, who did it and what was their intent,” she said. “Along with an apology.”

Sandy Norton, EMU Faculty Senate president, said the university’s faculty is dedicated to the education of their students. This is an opportunity for the students who did this to grow and realize domination is not okay regardless of what group someone is from, she said.

“This is not an isolated incident as you well know, this is simply another manifestation of people who are in a position of privilege and dominance appropriating another culture, representing something in a way that’s destructive and damaging,” she said. “And the issue? They don’t even realize that they’re doing it, that’s what’s scary.”

EMU faculty’s job is to get them into classrooms, meeting other people, talking to other people, and asking themselves questions so they can grow, Norton said.

NASO speakers are asking the students responsible to come forward with a public apology.

Morseau said they are all aware of the incident from April 11 when as many as 20 EMU students in red face, dressed up wearing things like headdresses and portraying the mainstream stereotype of Native Americans, attended an off-campus party.

Nathan Philips, a resident of Ypsilanti, Omaha Nation member and native elder, was walking in the neighborhood when he encountered these students on Ballard Street.

When he asked what they were doing, he said some of the students responded by saying, “We’re the F-ing Hurons!”

Phillips told the students they weren’t honoring Native Americans, but were being racist and offensive.

“And as soon as I said ‘racist,’ it turned from honoring the Indians to, ‘Go back to the reservation, you F-ing Indian, get the F out of here,'” Phillips told 7 Action News.

He also said a beer can was thrown at him.

Phillips attended Wednesday’s rally, during which he made a point to go through the entire crowd of those assembled, taking the hand one-by-one of everyone he approached.

Phillips is also a Vietnam veteran and by May 2013 he completed 500 miles of walking while carrying a POW/MIA flag in honor of fellow veterans. During the rally, Phillip’s flag was carried by Chris Sutton, NASO treasurer.

NASO response to EMU

While Morseau thanked the EMU administration for acknowledging what happened and for both the university and police conducting an investigation, they don’t believe the inciting behavior is being addressed as well as it should be. She said they feel the university’s carefully worded response sent out to students and faculty on April 17 had the effect of minimizing the situation.

“We, as a Native American student organization, feel that the racist attitudes and behaviors that led to the assault are a much bigger problem than the university would like to admit,” she said.

Sutton said the university’s response is kind of what led to the rally – as a way to offer more details to the public.

They expect more from the university, Morseau said, that evidence of pervasive racism be met with a renewed commitment to honor the promises of respect the native community received, including the removal of the Hurons logo throughout campus.

She added the actions against Phillips not only impact the Native American students on EMU’s campus, but the Native American community in Ypsilanti and throughout Michigan as a whole.

It’s also not just a problem for Native Americans, but for all marginalized communities, Morseau said.

If there are those who feel they can discriminate against Native Americans, Trusty said it’s only a matter of time before other groups of people are targeted.

“It’s not just us, trust me, it is you,” he said. “We are all interconnected.”

EMU has said it immediately began an investigation after hearing about what happened April 11.

“Eastern Michigan University takes these matters very seriously and remains strongly committed to maintaining a respectful, inclusive and safe environment, in which acts that seek to inflict physical, psychological or emotional harm on specific demographic groups will not be tolerated,” said Geoff Larcom, EMU’s director of media relations, in a statement.

Austen Smith contributed to this report

Native students could see more representation through paraprofessionals

By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

TULALIP – Marysville School District’s recent decision to adopt the Since Time Immemorial curriculum as part of their standard curriculum was a big step in addressing the need for Native representation in their schools. Cultural specialist Chelsea Craig, a Tulalip Tribal member who works at the district’s Quil Ceda Tulalip Elementary school says, implementing STI alone will not be enough to address the disconnect schools have with Native students. She is hoping a new change in the district’s paraprofessional requirements will help close that gap.

Paraprofessionals according to the district’s website are “responsible for providing assistance to students under the direct supervision of certificated staff in classrooms or other learning environments as assigned. Although not certified as teachers they act as assistants to teachers and other school staff, making this position great for those who are seeking a career in education. To become a paraprofessional one needed a two-year degree as part of the requirement list that includes background check and ability to pass district training. Now the two-year degree requirement has been dropped and replaced with the requirement to have a high school diploma or equivalent. This change is what Craig is hoping her Native people take advantage of and become involved with their local schools.

“Historically our people have had a mistrust in education, starting from the boarding school era, and then each generation [following] there is still an underlining feeling of mistrust. By having more Native faces in the schools it helps to make schools feel less like an institution to our Native students and more like a family atmosphere,” said Craig.

Four Marysville School District schools are located on the Tulalip Reservation. The schools’ student population adds to the large number of Native students scattered throughout the district. This high concentration of Native students makes a unique partnership between the Tribes and the district. Together both have created initiatives to support students and close the achievement gap, especially in math and literacy.

“Passing STI was huge because we all bring our own wealth of knowledge about who we are and we can share that with our kids,” said Craig.

STI curriculum provides a basic framework of accurate Indian history and understanding of sovereignty that is integrated into standard learning units. Teachers are provided training on tribal history and culture. Quil Ceda has taught this style for some time, gaining national attention for their diverse school culture.

“We are finding that when we teach about culturally relevant topics the engagement is naturally much higher. The kids are motivated to do their work and they are excited about learning about their own culture, and non-Indian students are excited about learning as well. We just need as many Native faces on campus as possible, and if we can’t have them as teachers, having them as paraprofessionals is a great next step,” said Craig. “It makes such a big difference for our kids to see their own people in roles that are inspirational to them.”

If you are interested in becoming a paraprofessional with the Marysville School District visit their website at www.msd25.org or call the district at 360-653-7058.

Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com

Tulalip Food Handlers Class, April 28

UW Tacoma partnership with Puyallup Tribe taps ancient wisdom for innovations in learning

University of Washington

TACOMA, WASH. — The Puyallup Tribe of Indians and the University of Washington Tacoma are launching a pathbreaking collaboration that aims to infuse Native ways of knowing into UW Tacoma teaching, learning and research.

The effort will be funded initially by a $275,000 grant from the Puyallup Tribe. During a four-year period, the funding will support curriculum transformation, research activity, community engagement and student enrichment.

Puyallup Tribal Council Chairman Bill Sterud said that the collaboration highlights the unique opportunity to “meld into academia in a public sphere” the contemporary experience of Native Americans, rooted in an ancient heritage and infused with a cutting-edge entrepreneurialism.

“With an immense amount of pride, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians has committed to spearheading this program as it is essential to educate students about indigenous ways of knowing, modernity of tribal business, and tribal government. We hope that the impact of our funding will cultivate additional support from our fellow Tribes to ensure a sustainable program that will enrich the lives of many students,” said Sterud.

“We as a society have a responsibility: our unseen future must be unified with our past and our present. The Puyallup Tribe of Indians recognizes this responsibility by our support of higher education and our charitable giving. This is how we build bridges toward community success,” said Sterud.

The idea for the collaboration has emerged at a time of increased focus on the importance of sustainability: in business, government, and individual livelihoods. There is a growing awareness that the practice of sustainability can benefit from the insights offered by indigenous knowledge, with its deep place-based roots (often referred to as “traditional ecological knowledge”). UW Tacoma’s 25-year commitment to community engagement is seen by both the university and the Tribe as an opportunity to establish deep and lasting connections among Tribal and non-Indian communities throughout the Northwest.

“The heart of the collaboration between UW Tacoma and the Puyallup Tribe will be the interaction between the tribal communities and the campus community. We hope all our faculty, staff and students will gain a wider perspective on ways of interacting with the world, and we are incredibly grateful to the Puyallup Tribe for supporting this transformational vision,” said UW Tacoma Chancellor Mark A. Pagano.

The grant is intended to amplify the teaching, research and service of a growing cluster of Native American faculty and staff at UW Tacoma. The university recently hired Danica Miller (Puyallup) and Michelle Montgomery (Eastern Band Cherokee; Haliwa Saponi) as assistant professors of Native American studies in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences; and Michael Tulee (Yakama) as Native American educator in the Office of Equity & Diversity.

The grant will tap into a growing awareness of the parallel and complementary role that traditional ecological knowledge can play alongside “scientific ecological knowledge.” Examples of how the melding of these two approaches has led to better understanding include forest fire management, water resources management, endangered species protection and fisheries management.

“This grant from the Puyallup Tribe will help address one of the greatest barriers faced by Native people today: the lack of information, and the abundance of misinformation, the general public has about tribes and tribal people. As the work of this grant ripples out, our students, faculty and staff will share in a great communal experience with roots much deeper than the 25-year history of UW Tacoma,” said Sharon Parker, UW Tacoma assistant chancellor for equity and diversity.

The Puyallup Tribe has been providing ongoing support to UW Tacoma and the University of Washington overall for many years, including to the UW School of Law, and events at UW Tacoma such as the annual Martin Luther King., Jr., Unity Breakfast and Convocation. This new grant is, by far, the Tribe’s largest investment in the relationship with the university.

Interior Makes Largest Transfer to Date to Cobell Education Scholarship Fund

More than $12 million transferred as a result of Land Buy-Back Program

Press Release, U.S. Department of the Interior

WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of the Interior today announced it has transferred more than $12 million to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund, bringing the total amount transferred so far to $17 million. Authorized by the historic Cobell Settlement, and funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), the Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary and graduate education and training.

“With every transfer to the Scholarship Fund, we are making valuable investments in the training and education that Native students need to succeed in today’s world,” said Interior Deputy Secretary Michael L. Connor. “This program is a lasting tribute to Elouise Cobell, whose vision, leadership and concern for tribal students and their families has created a living legacy for future generations of tribal leaders.”

“The Department is thrilled that the Cobell Scholarship Fund is growing quickly so that Native students can pursue their academic dreams to go to college or graduate school,” said Hilary Tompkins, Solicitor of the Department of the Interior and one of the lead negotiators of the Cobell Settlement. “The expertise, abilities and skills these students gain can help to advance self- determination and shape future leaders in Indian Country.”

The Scholarship Fund is administered by the American Indian Graduate Center (AIGC) located in Albuquerque, N.M. The five-member Cobell Board is responsible for the oversight and supervision of the activities of the fund’s administering organization. Interested applicants should consult the AIGC website at AIGCS.org.

The Cobell Scholarship Fund is overseen by the Cobell Board of Trustees. Alex Pearl, the Chairman of the Cobell Board, said, “This is meant to be a perpetual fund so that Indian students will be able to attend college and receive Cobell Scholarship Funds long after we’re gone. The transfer that the Interior Department is making today will nearly triple the size of the Scholarship Fund precisely when the Board is in the process of deciding what funds can be made available for scholarships for the upcoming academic year beginning this fall.” Pearl went on to say, “The Board is now working with the American Indian Graduate Center to determine the eligibility criteria, but one thing is certain—as required by statute, Cobell Scholarship Funds will be available only to American Indian and Alaska Native students.”

“We at AIGC are eager to establish a working relationship with the Cobell Board of Trustees and to fund applicants for the Cobell Scholarship Program. We are hoping to begin funding with this fall’s term. The provision of a scholarship program in conjunction with the Cobell Settlement was an inspired idea, and we are pleased to have been selected to administer the program,” said Sam Deloria, Director of the American Indian Graduate Center.

Interior makes quarterly transfers to the Scholarship Fund as a result of Buy-Back Program sales, up to a total of $60 million. The amount contributed is based on a formula set forth in the Cobell Settlement that sets aside a certain amount of funding depending on the value of the fractionated interests sold. These contributions do not reduce the amount that an owner will receive for voluntarily consolidating their interests. Thus far the Buy-Back Program has paid more than $360 million to individual landowners and restored the equivalent of almost 570,000 acres of land to tribal governments

The Buy-Back Program was created to implement the land consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement, which provided $1.9 billion to purchase fractionated interests in trust or restricted land from willing landowners. Consolidated interests are transferred to tribal government ownership for uses benefiting the reservation community and tribal members.

Turk Cobell, the President of the Cobell Board, stated that “applications for scholarships for the fall semester will be made available shortly online through the American Indian Graduate Center.”

Buy-Back Program offers are currently pending for fractional interest owners at the Umatilla Indian Reservation (deadline: April 13), Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (deadline: April 20), and Rosebud Indian Reservation (deadline: May 16).

Landowners can contact the Trust Beneficiary Call Center at 888-678-6836 to update their contact information, ask questions about their land or purchase offers, and learn about the financial implications of consolidating land. Individuals can also visit their local Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) or Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) office, or find more information at www.doi.gov/buybackprogram/landowners in order to make informed decisions about their land.

MARYSVILLE: NW Washington Delegation Applauds Announcement That Marysville School District Will Receive SERV Grant

Grant allows Marysville School District to reimburse school officials for overtime in wake of school shooting last October

Source: Press Release

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and U.S. Representatives Rick Larsen (D-WA-02) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01) applauded the announcement that their request for federal support for Marysville School District has been approved. The grant of $50,000 will go to the school district in the next several days. After the devastating shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in October 2014, Senators Murray and Cantwell and Reps. Larsen and DelBene wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on January 12th, 2015 for a grant to help offset the costs the district incurred in the aftermath of the shooting.

“I am so glad to see the Marysville community receive support to help compensate staff and personnel who acted as heroes after such a tragic event, sacrificing their time, energy, and resources to the school,” said Senator Patty Murray. “This is just a small step in helping them down the long road of recovery, and I know that Marysville is strong enough to keep moving forward while remembering the loved ones lost that day last October.”

“My focus remains on helping the Marysville community heal from this terrible tragedy, and I welcome today’s announcement that vital support is coming for the Marysville-Pilchuck School District,”said Senator Maria Cantwell. “We stand with students, school employees and area residents who were affected, and are inspired by the resilience and unity this community has shown.”

“The Marysville and Tulalip communities remain resilient and strong after last year’s tragedy, and I hope this grant will offer additional support as students, teachers, families and the communities continue to recover,” said Congressman Larsen.
“After a tragedy like this, lives are changed forever and we will always remember the young lives lost,” said Congresswoman DelBene. “I hope these funds help those who gave their time and expertise to support their community in the aftermath of this heartbreaking event.”

Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence) grants, issued through the Department of Education, provide funding for short- and long-term education- related services for school districts and institutions of higher education to help these educational institutions recover from violent or traumatic events. The Project SERV grant going to the Marysville School District will help reimburse the school district for transportation expenditures, as extra funds were needed to ensure students were able to get to school, as well as costs for substitute teachers, who stood in for classroom staff who were unable to immediately return to work following the tragedy.

Click here to see the letter the members wrote requesting the grant in January.

Cobell Scholarships in the Works

iStockInterior transferred $5M to the Scholarship Fund for American Indian/Alaska Native students authorized by the Cobell settlement. So where are they? — iStock
Interior transferred $5M to the Scholarship Fund for American Indian/Alaska Native students authorized by the Cobell settlement. So where are they?

Tanya H. Lee, Indian Country Today

The U.S. Interior Department has transferred $5 million to the Scholarship Fund for American Indian/Alaska Native students authorized by the Cobell settlement.

So where are all the scholarships?

Turk Cobell and Alex Pearl, members of the Board of Trustees for the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund, spoke with ICTMN about the status of the scholarship program recently.

Some of the $5 million will go directly to scholarships and some will be held back, Pearl said. “This is meant to be a perpetual fund so that Indian students can be going to college and receiving Cobell Scholarship Funds well after we’re long gone. It operates like any other Scholarship Funds where you restrict a portion of it so that the fund can continue for years and years and years.”

How much money will be available immediately for scholarships is something the American Indian Graduate Center and the trustees are still talking about, Pearl said.

The AIGC and the trustees are also working on the eligibility criteria for the scholarships. “Since we’re just sort of getting the wheels going on working with the American Indian Graduate Center [eligibility criteria are] something that we’re working with them on, just trying to figure out what makes sense, what’s feasible, what we need to do,” Pearl said.

One thing is certain: the scholarships will go only to AI/AN students. Pearl said, “That is set by statute; the settlement requires that the scholarship funds be used for American Indian/Alaska Native students.”

The American Indian Graduate Center is the “recipient organization” for the Scholarship Fund. Its duties include establishing the eligibility criteria for the scholarships as well as managing and administering the fund. A few months ago, the American Indian College Fund was selected to be the recipient organization, with the AIGC getting 20 percent of the funds to support graduate students, but that arrangement has been changed. Now the AIGC will administer the funds for both undergraduate and graduate students. Scholarships will also be available for certificate programs and vocational training.

A five-member Board of Trustees will oversee the fund and report on the AIGC’s work. Two of the board’s members were selected by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and two by the lead plaintiffs in the Cobellsuit.

Jewell appointed Jean O’Brien, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Mississippi Band of the White Earth Ojibwa, of the University of Minnesota, a professor of history and chair of the University of Minnesota Department of American Indian Studies. Jewell’s other appointee is Pamela Agoyo, Kewa, Cochiti and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblos, director of American Indian Student Services and special assistant to the president for American Indian Affairs at the University of New Mexico.

The plaintiffs selected Turk Cobell, Blackfeet, Elouise Cobell’s son and founder and president of Native Hospitality Advisors, and Alex Pearl, Chickasaw, an assistant professor of law and associate director of the Center for Water Law and Policy at Texas Tech University School of Law. The AIGC will select the fifth member of the board.
The $3.4-billion Cobellsettlement, signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, ended the 16-year lawsuit brought by Elouise Cobell, Blackfeet, against the U.S. government for mismanaging trust funds for AI/AN landowners.

As part of the settlement, copy.9 billion was set aside for the Lands Buy-Back Program for Indian Nations. Under the program, the federal government is buying back fractionated land interests from individual owners and putting them in the hands of tribal governments.

Contributions to the Scholarship Fund, which is intended to be an incentive for landowners to sell, are based on the payments made for fractionated land interests, according to a formula specified in the Cobellsettlement. If the amount of the land purchase is less than $200, copy0 will be paid to the holding fund; if it is between $200 and $500, the payment is $25, and if it is more than $500, five percent of the purchase price goes to the fund.

How much money will eventually end up in the scholarship fund is not yet known. “It depends on the type of sales that occur through the Land Buy-Back program and we won’t know how much that’s going to be until 10 years have passed since the settlement agreement,” Pearl said. The maximum amount that could go into the fund from the program is $60 million.

In addition, “the principal amount of any class member funds in an Individual Indian Money (IIM) account for which the whereabouts are unknown and left unclaimed for five years,” and “any leftover funds from the administration of the Settlement (after all payments under the Settlement are made)” could boost the fund later, according to the Department of Interior.

The AIGC and the board of trustees are focused on getting scholarships into the hands of students as quickly as possible. P. “Sam” Deloria, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, is director of the AIGC. He said in an email: “At the moment, it is safe to say that we expect to be funding Cobell Scholarships for this fall.”

Pearl said: “We are really excited to start distributing some funds as quickly as is feasible and we’re excited about the potential for Native students to succeed in undergraduate and graduate programs.”