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What Protection Of Traditional Knowledge Means To Indigenous Peoples

World Intellectual Property Organization member states in July concluded the biennium work of the committee tasked with finding agreement on international legal tools to prevent misappropriation and misuse of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore.

Indigenous peoples and local communities are holders of a substantial part of this knowledge and are demanding that it be protected against misappropriation but also against its use without their consent.

Intellectual Property Watch conducted two interviews with different indigenous groups attending the 15-24 July WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) (IPW, WIPO, 25 July 2013).

The IGC is working on the protection of genetic resources (GR), traditional knowledge (TK), and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs or folklore) against misappropriation mainly by commercial interests. Other concerns include knowledge that has been claimed for collection purposes, or research, or has been used for a long time and is considered part of the public domain.

Indigenous peoples’ groups have said that the public domain was basically created at the same time as the concept of intellectual property and their particular knowledge had been put in that public domain, by default, without their consent.

Preston Hardison, policy analyst representing the Tulalip Tribes, Jim Walker of the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action (Australia), and Ronald Barnes of the Indian Council of South America answered questions about the protection of traditional knowledge, on the issue of the public domain, and what would be an optimum result of the IGC.

“I work for a tribe of 4,600 people, on a very small 6 mile square reservation. They’ve lost 90 percent of their land. They are surrounded by a sea of non-indigenous peoples. Their habitat has been fragmented. When they reserved their treaties they reserved a lot of ‘off reservation rights’,” said Hardison.

“They have this small reservation but they get to hunt and gather fish all around because they knew the reservation was going to be too small to sustain them,” he said. “But now all these lands are getting fragmented, polluted, broken up, rolled over by cities and urbanization, [and] climate change is causing species to move away from their territories, invasive species are coming in.”

The whole IGC discussion started with the problem of biopiracy, he said, and how to protect knowledge from being patented. “However the problem in the IP system, is that the best way to protect against patents is through the public domain because that is prior art.”

“What we very quickly found out is that this defensive approach was not helping us because the patent problem is really just a problem of temporary monopoly and the solution was for us to permanently lose control of our knowledge by putting it in the public domain.”

There are also issues when the knowledge is a pathway to discover the natural resources, “so people discover the value of cultural heritage through the traditional knowledge but the resource itself may not be protected,” Hardison said. “By solving the patent problem, by making your knowledge available, you may have opened yourself up to petty exploitation, to non-monopolistic exploitation.”

“The main problem is not the monopoly [inherent in a patent],” he said. “It is people finding out what the value of our medicinal plants is and coming and taking every single one they can find.”

Ronald Barnes, of the Indian Council of South America told Intellectual Property Watch: “When we talk about protection we want protection against exploitation so that the protection remains in the control of the holders of TK and the owners so that their right to self-determination is recognized and respected.”

People wanting to use the knowledge “have to register and let us know how they acquired it and how they are using it. Perhaps if it is sacred we don’t want it to be developed,” he specified. “Sometimes we try to keep it close to ourselves but it leaks out. There is always a way to go to one person and compensate that one person and then they say we have acquired this from you and now we have the right to develop it but it is still our collective property.”

Colonizers Put Traditional Knowledge in the Public Domain

There are some stewardship obligations that go with the knowledge, Hardison said. “When you receive it you don’t receive it freely to do whatever you want with it, you have obligations to the land, to whatever it is referring, to the spirits or the ancestors. This is a real problem with the public domain. Tribes have often shared their knowledge in the past but they shared it with people who had similar views and concepts and understood these obligations. But now we are in this world with 7 billion people on the internet.”

“If we decide to exchange knowledge, the problem is that the public domain exhausts all of our rights. It destroys the stewardship obligations that go with the knowledge,” he said.

Some of the indigenous peoples’ knowledge has been in the public domain for a long time, he explained, and allowed to be accessed for all these years, “but we never agreed to that,” he insisted. “We are not looking for monetary compensation but looking get the recognition of our right to control access.”

“We’ve held our traditional knowledge for thousands of years. It is ours,” said Barnes. “Then comes another peoples and we are colonised, why should we be held to a limitation to the knowledge control and the right to protect it?”

Optimum Outcome of the IGC, Carveout from Public Domain

One outcome of the IGC would be the identification of certain kinds of TK associated with GR, TK and TCEs that could be protected in perpetuity, some carved out of the public domain, said Hardison. “We don’t think all can, and we are open to discussion on what is protectable and what is not.”

“We are interested in creation and creativity too and some tribes and indigenous peoples would like to engage in this and some won’t, that is their business,” said Hardison. “For those who engage in it we don’t want the price of that to be the public domain, and that’s how it works.”

In the world system today, “there are very few examples of intangible cultural heritage laws which treat our knowledge in this holistic way,” Hardison said, adding, “what we have is IP law.”

“Our problem is if we ever exchange knowledge with an outsider in any way, the second we exchange it, it falls within the IP regime. We’ve never had a chance to negotiate that. We are not considered in the Berne convention [Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works], or any other WIPO conventions,” he noted.

“We know all cannot be protected but we want a regime to respect our rights where it can, and have that discussion about what can be protected and what can’t. We never put it in the public domain. That was the colonizers who put it in there for us.”

Common Thread, but Common Positions Hard to Achieve

“We might have different views on how we might get there, to achieve certain outcomes,” said Walker.”Circumstances might be different in different countries.”

“Some issues are easier than others,” said Hardison, Part of the problem is financial support, he said. Indigenous groups “are only funded for the minimum amount of time,” he said. “For example, we get three hours on Sunday before the meeting to meet together. That is not a lot of time to start working out common positions, especially on the kind of things that we have now.”

“It has gotten better now that we have translation, generally, coordinated by DoCip (Indigenous Peoples’ Center for Documentation, Research and Information),” he said. “But it is still hard to talk cross-culturally.”

“You need to have the resources back at home,” said Walker. “Getting prepared for those meetings is very difficult because generally you have your other obligations to your organization or to the people back home. Often you don’t have the time or the resources to get around and start consulting everyone to get a unified view or to get other opinions or inputs,” Walker said.

Barnes said that getting a common view was a tough exercise. “Whether or not we like it, we have some indigenous peoples who are paid more, given more funds and they are more willing to cooperate, whereas some of us refuse those funds and they want to retain their property.”

This Interview originally appeared at

www.ip-watch.org

One in 20 Teens Use Cancer Causing Smokeless Tobacco

Source: Native News Network

WASHINGTON – It is bad for teens to take up smoking because of ill effects it has on health, but young people should be taught smokeless tobacco is not good for them either.

Smokeless tobacco is a form of tobacco that is not burned. Smokeless tobacco, known as snuff, chewing tobacco, oral tobacco, spit or spitting tobacco, causes cancer and other diseases. Smokeless tobacco is known to cause oral cancer, esophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer.

A recent study indicates one in 20 middle school or high school students use smokeless tobacco products. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health saw that in national survey data.

The scientists also saw the power of peer pressure.

“Adolescents who had a friend that used smokeless tobacco were 10 times more likely to use smokeless tobacco themselves,”

commented Researcher Constantine Vardavas.

For comparison, teens with a family member who used smokeless tobacco were only 3 times more likely to use it.

Nearly all of the smokeless users reported it’s easy to get the stuff.

Unfortunately, smokeless tobacco is addictive because it contains nicotine. Studies reveal users of smokeless tobacco and those who smoke cigarettes have comparable levels of nicotine in the blood. In users of smokeless tobacco, nicotine is absorbed through the mouth tissues directly into the blood, where it goes to the brain. Even after the tobacco is removed from the mouth, nicotine continues to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Also, the nicotine stays in the blood longer for users of smokeless tobacco than for smokers

Smokeless tobacco is not a safe substitute for cigarettes.

National Congress of American Indians Joins National Action to Realize the Dream March

Source: Native News Network

WASHINGTON – Fifty years after the March on Washington where the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered one of the most dynamic speeches of the last century on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, thousands are expected to be in Washington on Saturday, August 24, for the National Action to Realize the Dream March & Rally.

In an act of solidarity, the National Congress of American Indians has partnered with the National Action Network, and numerous other national conveners, to help organize and assist in planning for this historic march and rally.

The March commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The March will take place from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 24, and will focus on Jobs, Justice, Voting Rights and Freedom. In the wake of the Trayvon Martin tragedy, the Supreme Court’s decision impacting the Voting Rights Act (Shelby County v. Holder ), and the Baby Veronica adoption case – where the statutory requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act were wrongfully evaded – it is more important than ever for our collective voices to unite for justice and dignity for all people.

The National Congress of American Indians calls on friends and allies nationally to participate, and for those in the Washington DC area to volunteer for the March; bring their families and friends in a show of support; and to help spread the word. The National Action Network is requesting volunteers for the following areas:

Marshalls
Cleanup
Medical (licensed nurses to assist with health needs)
Volunteers are asked to contact the volunteer office at 800.311.7020 or by email at MLK50volunteers@gmail.com

Also, while the March will occur on Saturday, events are taking place beginning August 21 through August 28. Click here for the most up to date list of events throughout this week of mobilization.

White Sturgeon Rebound With Help From Kootenai Tribe of Idaho

Jack McNeel, ICTMN

At first glance they look like miniature tadpoles. Stare a little harder, though, and tiny sturgeon features become apparent. The white sturgeon hatchlings are in the midst of a comeback brought about by the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho.

A nearby hatchery tank swarms with year-old sturgeon, their large bodies and broad pectoral fins narrowing down to high, pointed tails much like fighter jets. The adults are in huge tanks, only a few fish but each seven or eight feet long.

White sturgeon were here when dinosaurs roamed the country, but man has now put this population of sturgeon in danger of extinction. Historically they were a very important food source for people along the Kootenai River, but they were more than just food.

“Sturgeon were looked upon as our grandfathers,” said tribal chairperson Jennifer Porter, sharing a story told to her by a tribal elder. “Sturgeon could live to be over a hundred years old. They knew the river. They knew the land. Our families would ask the sturgeon, our grandfathers, to guide them through. They were the ones who knew how to go up and then back down the river.”

Sturgeon are the largest freshwater fish in North America and can reach weights well over a thousand pounds, and lengths in excess of 12 feet. Human activity over the past 50 years has drastically reduced their number. In 1994 they were listed as an endangered species.

The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho stepped in with a management plan to help recover sturgeon within the Kootenai River. That program continues and is growing stronger, but much is left to be done. A sturgeon hatchery was constructed in 1991 and still supplies thousands of young fish to the river each year. Hatchery manager Chris Lewandowski said that a cyclical maintenance grant from Bureau of Indian Affairs for Native American hatcheries has allowed some recent improvements. This includes a spawning room, new vapor barrier, and waterproof paneling in some of the fish buildings. Improvements are planned during the coming months for additional improvements with funding from the Bonneville Power Administration.

Hatchery workers spend many days through the spring months using rods and reels to catch these huge fish, take them to the hatchery and hold them till the females are ready to spawn. After eggs are collected, the adult fish are then returned to the Kootenai River.

This is the majestic fish’s only shot at reproduction. Construction of Libby Dam in Montana 50 years ago affected spawning habitat and river flows downstream. Little or no natural recruitment to the population has occurred since that time. Essentially the only addition of young fish comes from those released from the hatchery.

“We spawned nine females this year with approximately 225,000 eggs collected from these fish,” Lewandowski said. “We used a total of twelve males in combination with the nine females to make seventeen family groups.”

Some males were used with more than one female to make up these groups. Five groups, 75,000 eggs, were sent to a backup facility in British Columbia.

“This serves as a failsafe to make sure we have survival from at least one facility in a given year,” Lewandowski said, adding that the young fish will also be released throughout the Kootenai River.

The 2013 spawning season met all the established goals. The hatchery is designed to rear 12 sturgeon families comfortably. During the mid-2000s they reared as many as 18 families but found that the increased density in the tanks caused higher mortality rates. The number of families was reduced to 12, and the result is less mortality. In addition, average size at release doubled to the present 5565 grams. Thirty grams is considered minimum for the fish to have a good chance of survival.

Young fish are reared in the hatchery for 16 to 18 months before being released, Lewandowski said. On average about 10,000 fish are released annually. A second hatchery several miles north of the present hatchery is also underway and should be ready in early 2014.

“The new hatchery will give us more rearing space to provide a quality fish while improving genetic diversity by being able to spawn more females,” Lewandowski added.

Hatching nest eggs, a walk in Finance Park

Native youth attend Junior Achievement camp

Upon entering Finance Park, students are given an identity complete with a salary, a family, pets, and a debit card, to learn how to juggle their finances in "real world" situations. — Upon entering Finance Park, students are given an identity complete with a salary, a family, pets, and a debit card, to learn how to juggle their finances in “real world” situations. Photo/Andrew Gobin.

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

Students from the Tulalip Tribes Summer Youth Program spent the day in Finance Park at Junior Achievement World in Auburn, on Thursday, August 15th. The day at the park is the culmination of a two-week educational JA (Junior Achievement) camp at Tulalip. The camp is unique to the tribes as it targets what Tulalip students are calling their “18 money,” the trust fund per capita that the tribe sets aside for them until they graduate. The Tulalip camp focuses on the trust fund, and teaches how to make that money go further.

“Junior Achievement is actually a k-12 curriculum,” explains Gary Hauff, regional director for Junior Achievement. “Typically we go into schools and offer education programs for class credit. For the tribes, we are trying something different. The summer camp is unique to Tulalip, geared towards teaching personal finance responsibility and budgeting agendas.”

“At JA we work with the youth to plant the seeds of financial responsibility and stability,” added Sue Elkin, manager at JA World.

Finance Park is designed as a virtual city where students can practice being adults, and put into action what they learned at camp. Arriving at JA World, the students are given an identity complete with a salary, a family, pets, and a debit card. Students then buy or rent a house or apartment, purchase a car that adequately fit the demands of their virtual life, collect and pay their bills, and even make time for vacations. Along with projected costs, kids learn to deal with unexpected costs that arise in everyday life. Students tour the park, collecting bills and shopping, and making the dreaded stop at the chance station, where they draw cards that may result in an unlucky additional cost to their budget, such as taking their pet to the vet.

“We get a real look at life, and what the costs are,” said Bradley Fryberg. “Here [Finance Park] I make $48,000 a year, I have no kids, I’m single, 30, and have an apartment and a sports car.”

Some students juggled two or three kids and drove mini vans.

“Junior Achievement teaches us to be responsible with our money,” said Bryce Juneau Jr. who is planning on saving his trust money until after college.

Students learn about stocks and bonds, compound interest accounts, the risks associated with both of those, and the possible gains they offer.

“Just as life is multi-faceted, we at JA are diversifying,” explained Elkin. “We used to be strictly business oriented, then last year we started branching out into the sciences and other fields. This year we worked to incorporate art and music into the program.”

Tulalip Tribal Member, Israel Simpson, and his winning shoe design. Photo/Andrew Gobin

This included a little fun competition working with shoe designs and a special appearance by Native shoe designer Louie Gong.

Gong spoke to the students about his designs and the work it entails. He provided shoe forms called “mockups” for the kids to express their creative talent on. The shoes were then voted on and the student with the winning shoe design received tickets to a Mariners game.

Tulalip’s Israel Simpson designed the winning pair of shoes. “I just picked up the pens and kept going. Inspired from my auntie, always saying, draw what you feel.”

The camp encourages education, both in the completion of high school and in pursuing higher education. This is important, because many do not realize that should they not complete high school or get their G.E.D., they with not get their trust per capita until they are 21.

Many different post high school options are explained including trade schools, community colleges, universities, online degrees, and entrepreneurship.

Beyond Keystone XL: Three Controversial Pipelines You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

By Kiley Kroh, Climate Progress

While the national debate remains largely focused on President Obama’s impending decision regarding the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, communities across the U.S. and Canada are grappling with the oil and gas industry’s rapidly expanding pipeline network — cutting through their backyards, threatening water supplies, and leaving them vulnerable to devastating spills.

As production booms in Alberta’s tar sands and fracking opens up vast oil and natural gas deposits around America, companies are increasingly desperate for new pipelines to get their product to market. “We’ve so narrowly focused on Keystone that a lot of these other projects aren’t getting the scrutiny they probably need,” said Carl Weimer, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust. He explains that as production skyrockets and companies look to cash in, no one is really in charge of it all. “We’re leaving it up to these individual companies to come up with their own solutions to figure out how to move energy and we don’t have any national policy guiding those decisions.”

According to a recent analysis of federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration data, since 1986 there have been nearly 8,000 incidents, resulting in more than 500 deaths, more than 2,300 injuries, and nearly $7 billion in damage.

Here are three of the most recent pipeline controversies emerging around the country:

1. Bluegrass Pipeline

Land owners and protesters gather on the steps of the Kentucky state capitol to protest the Bluegrass Pipeline. CREDIT: AP Photo/Dylan Lovan

Opposition is growing to the proposed 500-mile bluegrass pipeline, which would transport flammable natural gas liquids across Kentucky to an existing line that terminates in the Gulf. Landowners and environmentalists gathered at the state capital last week to protest the project, which they fear would threaten water supplies and safety. Residents were caught off guard by the project — landowner Stacie Meyer said she noticed survey markers going up near her property and had to search the internet and consult her neighbors to find out what they were for.

Locals are concerned the company, Williams Co., could use imminent domain to seize the land if opposition proves too strong. As the Courier-Journal reported, “Brad Slutskin, a Woodford County landowner who spoke at the rally, said the pipeline companies are threatening condemnation based on a loose interpretation of Kentucky law, and most property owners don’t have the money to mount a court challenge.” Residents opposed to the pipeline — including a group of nuns and monks who are refusing to give up their land for the project — delivered a petition with more than 5,200 signatures asking Gov. Beshear to include pipeline and eminent domain-related issues in the upcoming special legislative session, which he refused.

“Knowing a pipeline is coming through, is like waiving a red flag to the creatures of the Earth. God created Earth as our land to use not abuse,” Sister Joetta Venneman told local WAVE News.

As the gas fields north and east of Kentucky boom, the state will likely find itself in the crosshairs of many battles to come. In fact, while the fifth Kentucky county was passing a resolution opposing the Bluegrass Pipeline on Wednesday, the Courier-Journal reported that the project may already have some competition — a joint venture to convert an existing natural gas line called the Tennessee Gas Pipeline.

2. Energy East Pipeline

Milo Zeankowski-Giffin, left, and Max Griefen hold signs during a Montpelier, VT tar sands protest.

Milo Zeankowski-Giffin, left, and Max Griefen hold signs during a Montpelier, VT tar sands pipeline protest. CREDIT: AP Photo/Toby Talbot

Facing resistance in the U.S. over its Keystone XL proposal, TransCanada Corp. is moving forward with plans for another tar sands pipeline project that would carry almost as much crude as Keystone. The new pipeline, the most expensive in TransCanada’s history, would run from Alberta to the Atlantic seaboard, ending where a new deep-water marine terminal would be built to export the crude overseas. In early August, TransCanada said it received the long-term contracts for about 900,000 barrels of crude per day and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already indicated his support for the project.

TransCanada’s proposal has been met with stiff opposition from Canadian environmentalists and native leaders — particularly in Quebec, where Premier Pauline Marois has halted natural gas exploration while last month’s deadly Lac-Megantic crude oil train explosion is still being cleaned up.

The $12 billion development plan calls for converting 1,864 miles of an existing, 55-year-old pipeline currently used for natural gas to carry the oil. Though the proposed route does not cross into the U.S., it does skirt the border with Maine. Perhaps most worrisome to residents of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, however, is that the increased shipping capacity from Alberta will impact another pipeline — the 70-year-old Portland Pipeline. Currently, the pipeline is used to ship crude into Canada but residents are concerned the flow will be reversed to bring Canadian tar sands into the U.S. As the Boston Globe explains, “this would provide Canada — whose Alberta-centered oil industry is suffering from too much supply and too little access to overseas markets — its first direct pipeline to a year-round, deep-water port.” Residents throughout New England are staunchly opposed to the region becoming a conduit for the dirtiest form of fossil fuel production, holding anti-pipeline demonstrations in Portland, while 29 Vermont communities passed resolutions banning tar sands oil from the state.

For now, residents of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are left with little option other than waiting to see how the Energy East pipeline development may impact the Portland Pipeline. In a statement released earlier this month, the company said, “It is uncertain to us what the entire impact of this proposed project might be on crude movements and crude supplies for the East Coast. We are continuing to evaluate this recent development.”

3. Eastern Gulf Crude Access Pipeline Project

Keystone pipeline in yellow, Eastern in blue and red. Graphic credit: Paul Horn, InsideClimate News

Enbridge’s proposed 774-mile pipeline would run from Illinois to Louisiana and carry oil from North Dakota’s Bakken formation, as well as Canadian tar sands. The pipeline would be capable of transporting almost as much crude as Keystone XL and, as Inside Climate News reports, will likely sail through the regulatory process because much of the pipeline is already constructed as a natural gas line.

“Converting pipelines makes [approval] easier and riskier, too,” explains Weimer. “Keystone is brand new, state of the art pipeline with its own set of problems. Enbridge on the other hand, is converting other pipelines that have already been in the ground for years — putting in new types of crude or switching natural gas to liquid on pipelines that aren’t built to today’s standards. Those old pipes being re-purposed certainly presents a new risk.”

While the Keystone decision is momentarily stalled, Eastern Gulf is just one of many new pipelines being built to ship North American oil to the Gulf Coast for refining and export. According to Inside Climate, “Enbridge plans to build thousands of miles of pipelines over the next few years, including an expansion of its Alberta Clipper pipeline from Canada to Wisconsin. If approved, that line would ship up to 880,000 barrels of Canadian crude into the United States each day, compared to the Keystone’s capacity of 830,000 barrels per day.”

Last month, all five members of Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission approved increasing the flow of the Alberta Clipper line while refusing concerned citizens the opportunity to testify publicly. The initial expansion still awaits approval from multiple government agencies but Enbridge already has its sights set on a second expansion, which wasn’t discussed at the meeting. The protesters, including several Native American representatives, fear their communities could soon face the same devastating impacts of tar sands development being felt in Alberta. Marty Cobenais of Bemidji, part of the Indigenous Environmental Network, told the Bemidji Pioneer that the pipeline is a major issue for his Red Lake community. “This is huge,” he said. “This is in our back yard.”

A worker cleans up oil in Mayflower, AR days after a pipeline ruptured and spewed oil over lawns and roadways. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss

These fights are just three of many being waged by citizens across the country. Alabama residents, for instance, have been protesting multiple pipeline projects — including the Plains All-American oil pipeline, which would run 41 miles to Mississippi and through a section of Mobile’s drinking water supply.

Though pipeline companies are seeking to capitalize on the Lac-Megantic tragedy to tout the safety of crude transport over rail, the devastating impacts of pipeline spills are impossible to overlook. Last week, the New York Times profiled two communities in Michigan and Arkansas that are forever changed by tar sands pipeline spills. Though it’s been three years since Enbridge’s pipeline rupture that spewed more than 840,000 gallons of tar sands crude into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River, the region is far from restored. And even despite EPA’s recent order for Exxon to dredge the river, an EPA spokeswoman estimated that 1620,000 gallons of oil will remain in the Kalamazoo.

And in March, an Exxon Mobil pipeline burst, spilling an estimated 210,000 gallons of crude into a Mayflower, Arkansas neighborhood. What’s left behind is bleak: “Four months later, the neighborhood of low-slung brick homes is largely deserted, a ghostly column of empty driveways and darkened windows, the silence broken only by the groan of heavy machinery pawing at the ground as remediation continues.” As Inside Climate News has continued to report, residents are now grappling with the long-term effects of the toxic spill, including the difficult process of relocating their families and the frightnening health complications that have begun to manifest.

In addition to re-purposing old pipelines, there are several aspects of the unchecked expansion of fossil fuel pipelines across the country that has Weimer concerned. First, pipeline regulation needs to be strengthened and clarified. He explains that right now, “regulations are written in such a way that to a vast degree, it’s left up to the pipeline companies to figure out how safe their pipelines are and what to do about it.” And it’s not just oversight — planning future pipeline routes is also dictated by the companies themselves. “The way we leave it up to each company means we could have multiple pipelines from different companies moving [their products] through the same place. Each company is just trying to capitalize and make money. State and local government really hasn’t thought about it much — is unprepared — and pipelines will go into place before there are policies to guide the construction. It can really affect the way local communities may develop and often happens before the community has any sense of what they can do about it.”

Cherokee Nation Attorney General on TV Personality Troy Dunn

Levi Rickert, Native News Network

Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd HembreeCherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree — Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree
Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree

TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA – For those of you familiar with the ongoing custody battle over Cherokee Veronica Brown between her biological father, Dusten Brown and a non-Native adoptive couple from South Carolina, you may have seen Troy Dunn, from the show called “The Locator,” on the Dr. Phil Show saying disparaging things about the Indian Child Welfare Act.

On Wednesday, he showed up at a press conference held by the South Carolina couple, who flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma to attempt to sway Dusten Brown to give up his legal battle to keep his daughter.

Troy Dunn was present and said more disparaging things about the Indian Child Welfare Act. At the news conference, he called on Brown to meet one-on-one with him without attorneys or Cherokee Nation officials. Brown never responded to Dunn.

Outside the Tulsa Hyatt where the press conference was held, over a dozen supporters of Veronica and Dusten Brown were outside with signs.

“I was there to support …the bottom line is the sovereignty of every tribal nations. We have to stand up and fight for our rights and children,”

commented Linda Sacks, a tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation, who was there to support the Browns.

“It’s about sovereignty …that is the ultimate thing.”

Then on Thursday, Dunn with a television camera in tow attempted to show up at a Cherokee school where Veronica was. Cherokee marshals turned him away.

Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree issued the following statement late Thursday afternoon:

“I was concerned with the Capobianco’s judgment in putting forth Troy Dunn as the central spokesperson in their press conference yesterday. Mr. Dunn’s Internet presence reveals that he is a reality TV producer, a stand-up comedian and a “motivational speaker.” He is neither a counselor nor mental health expert although he perpetuates that illusion on TV.”

“Furthermore, in his more than year long involvement with the Capobiancos, he has proven himself not to be a neutral party in this matter, he has made inflammatory statements to the media and has publicly posted degrading comments about Veronica’s real father, Dusten Brown.”

“Troy Dunn is injecting himself into a complex and emotional legal issue for which he sorely lacks any relevant skill set.”

“My concerns of yesterday were well founded in that today, Troy Dunn and his hired TV cameras were asked to leave Cherokee Nation school premises by Cherokee Nation Marshals. His antics are inappropriate and dangerous. The safety and well-being of our children is our first priority.”

“His shenanigans and grandstanding is purely for the cameras and self-promotion. Our concern has been and always will be what is in the best interest of Veronica, a beautiful and innocent Cherokee child. The Cherokee Nation is not interested in his personal entertainment endeavors and his media circus.”

“We are steadfast in our commitment to creating a safe environment for Cherokee citizens. We all want to see an amicable resolution to the Veronica Brown impasse. Sadly, Troy Dunn’s theatrics are a distraction to this very difficult issue.”

“Dusten Brown, an American war veteran, deserves his due process and Veronica deserves her privacy.”

Cobell Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations Launches Web Resource

Source: Native News Network

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior announced the launch of a new, comprehensive resource for Indian landowners and tribal governments seeking information about the Cobell Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations.

The Buy-Back Program was created to implement the land consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement, which provided a $1.9 billion fund to purchase fractionated interests in trust or restricted land from willing sellers, at fair market value, within a 10 year period. The Cobell Buy-Back Program has the potential to unlock millions of acres of fractionated lands for the benefit of tribal communities.

“We know that one of the keys to the success of this program will be timely and reliable information,”

said Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at Interior.

“This website will be one important tool that we will use to communicate with tribes as we work collaboratively to implement a fair, effective and efficient process for individual owners of fractionated interests to participate in the Buy-Back Program.”

The Buy-Back Program website, will serve as a one-stop-shop for visitors interested in timely and regularly updated information about the Buy-Back Program.

The new website includes extensive “Frequently Asked Questions” and information to assist individual landowners and tribes in gathering information about how they can participate in the Buy-Back Program and understand the valuation and sale process.

Visitors can also get information about the Education Scholarship Fund for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Cobell Buy-Back Program will contribute up to $60 million from land sales to this fund, which will be controlled by a board of trustees nominated by tribal governments. The fund will be administered by the American Indian College Fund in Denver, with 20 percent allotted to the American Indian Graduate Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

As part of the launch, the Buy-Back Program is making available templates and guidance for the development of cooperative agreements that will allow for resources to be provided to individual tribal governments in order to facilitate their help with implementing the program, especially in key areas such as landowner outreach and education. Although these agreements will be tailored for each tribe, the templates will assist tribal governments with the development of an agreement that is responsive to the specific needs of the nation involved. Tribes may review and familiarize themselves with these documents and are encouraged to contact Interior Department BuyBack staff to discuss the documents before preparing or submitting an application.

“We have already begun work with a diverse group of tribes and will be engaging with additional locations and tribes in the coming weeks and months,”

added Washburn.

“To ensure that the Buy-Back Program reaches as many locations as possible over the next 10 years, we are committed to using the funds wisely and have implemented flexible purchase ceilings on each reservation to avoid premature exhaustion of available funds.”

The publication of these and other documents to assist tribal governments with outreach comes after months of government-to-government consultations and discussions with tribes to create agreements that underscore the sovereign and trust responsibilities of each party. Interior holds about 56 million acres in trust for American Indians. More than 10 million acres are held for individual American Indians and nearly 46 million acres are held for Indian tribes.

The Department holds this land in more than 200,000 tracts, of which about 92,000 (on approximately 150 reservations) contain fractional ownership interests subject to purchase by the Cobell Buy-Back Program. The Buy-Back Program plans to work with as many of the 150 tribes as possible over its 10 year period. Land research, valuation work, and outreach efforts are already underway at several locations. The Department’s goal is to make offers at one or more initial locations by the end of the year.

50 Supporters were Standing Their Ground for Veronica Brown on Saturday

Source: Native News Network, August 19, 2013

TULSA, OKLAHOMA – Outside of Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin’s office in Tulsa, on Saturday afternoon, some 50 supporters for Dusten and Veronica Brown met with others in a crowd that included child welfare workers, single fathers, and children showing their support.

Many supporters feel it is not only about native rights but about human rights.

The rally consisted of family, friends, and supporters from across the country. Many carried signs reading “Fathers Have Rights Too” and “Stop Exploiting Veronica… ” as they walked up and down the road side chanting “Standing Our Ground for Veronica Brown.”

“People are missing the parental rights issue. Dad’s should have a say,”

said Larry Shufeldt, a friend and supporter of Dusten and Veronica.

Shufeldt and his wife fostered five children and expressed his empathy for both sides.

“It is hard to give them up when it is time for them to go. But it is not about provision: who can provide what; it is about doing the right thing. Children belong with the biological parents,”

he commented.

Shufeldt along with many others believe the state has a position it should have upheld in the adoption process and the state is failing its citizens.

Supporters are convinced if the Indian Child Welfare Act, most commonly referred to as ICWA, played a part in the adoption process at all, Veronica would be with family right now in Oklahoma and this would not be an issue. Cherokee Nation citizens believe it is not a fight for one Cherokee child but a fight for all native children not just in Oklahoma but across the nation.

“We are not fighting for one Cherokee Child we are fighting for all children,”

said Lorraine Sacks, a member of Cherokee Nation.

“There are too many children that don’t have anyone to fight for them and here is a biological father doing just that and no one seems to respect it.”

A member of Muscogee Creek Nation, Johnnie Diacon relates all too well,

“I know what it is like to be adopted. I am learning things now that I should have learned as a child about my culture. Fortunately, I was adopted by another native, I had a Cherokee Father who taught me what Creek words he knew but it never filled the gap and loss of my culture. I don’t want Veronica to go through that kind of suffering and loss.”

Many supporters feel it is not only about native rights but about human rights and the right to keep a biological family intact even if the family is native or even Cherokee.

“To the Cherokee’s, a Cherokee child is the tribe’s child and we will defend and protect our children. And that is exactly what we are doing even if Oklahoma doesn’t,”

says Sacks.

“We are standing our ground for Veronica Brown.”

Eat Insanely Fresh Native Salmon: Four Tribes Open Fishery On Columbia River

Courtesy Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish CommissionA tribal fisher loads fall chinook into their boat on the Columbia River near Hood River, Oregon. — Courtesy Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
A tribal fisher loads fall chinook into their boat on the Columbia River near Hood River, Oregon.

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Starting August 19, fishers from the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribes will drop their gill nets in the Columbia River.

During the 2013 fall commercial season, this first gill net fishery can harvest up to 200,000 fish or an estimated 2.5 million pounds of salmon. The fresh catch of salmon, steelhead and coho will be sold commercially directly from Indian fishers to the public. Sales to the public should last into October with peak abundance from just before Labor Day through mid-September. Much of the harvest is sold to wholesale fish dealers and can be found in stores and restaurants around the Northwest and beyond.

Fisheries biologists estimate that the 2013 fall chinook return will be well above average with 677,900 fall chinook entering the Columbia and over 575,000 destined for areas upstream of the Bonneville Dam. Fishery managers also predict a record return of wild Snake River fall chinook and over 130,000 coho.

“Many of the salmon returning to the Columbia River are the direct result of tribal restoration efforts, joint state and tribal programs and several tribal and federal partnerships that are increasing the abundance of salmon in upriver areas,” said Paul Lumley, executive director for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

During the harvest, managers actively monitor the returns so they can adjust the harvest levels as needed to keep the fisheries within strict harvest limits established under the US v. Oregon fisheries management agreement.

The tribal fishery offers an ample supply of fish for the public through over-the-bank sales. Common sales locations include: Marine Park in Cascade Locks, Lone Pine in The Dalles, North Bonneville—one mile east of Bonneville Dam, and Columbia Point in Washington’s Tri-Cities area.

Individuals interested in purchasing tribally caught fish should keep the following tips in mind:
•   Sales from tribal fishers generally run from 10 a.m. to dusk.
•   Price is determined at the point of sale.
•   Most sales are cash only.
•   Buyers should request a receipt.
•   Tribal fishers can advise on topics including fish freshness and preparation.

The public is urged to call the salmon marketing program at (888) 289-1855 before heading up the river to find out where the day’s catch is being sold. More information is available on the salmon marketing website http://www.critfc.org/harvest. Follow @ColumbiaSalmon on Twitter for updates.