Category: Top Story

Lucille Echohawk to Hold Holiday Family Fundraiser in Nation’s Capital

By Rob Caprioccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network

Lucille Echohawk, executive director of the Denver Indian Family Resource Center (DIFRC), found herself this holiday season needing to be in Washington, D.C. for a board meeting of the National Museum of the American Indian, so she decided to turn the trip into a chance to do good for vulnerable Native children and their families.

“My travel was already paid for, so I couldn’t resist using the visit to D.C. to help raise awareness of our cause and to raise some funds for our work,” Echohawk said. “I’m very excited to rub shoulders with some old friends and to meet many new ones.”

Echohawk, a Pawnee Nation citizen and longtime Indian and tribal advocate, has been director of the DFIRC for about a year now. The organization was founded in early 2000 as a child welfare agency focused on meeting the needs of Indian children and families in the Denver area.

RELATED: Lucille Echohawk’s ‘Big Vision’: To Strengthen Communication Between Denver and Tribes

Echohawk said the goal of DFIRC is to assist families to avoid involvement with the child welfare system and to support and advocate for families already involved by offering services that build up the strength of Indian families. She said, too, that it provides assistance for other organizations who would like to do the same.

“Our practice model is in place for anyone who needs to use it,” said Echohawk, who added that she is so grateful to be able to be helping others. She’s long been committed to doing so, but it took on a renewed meaning for her after a scary experience last year when she was doing a water aerobics class at the local YMCA and her heart stopped. Since her recovery, those who are close to her say she has been even more enthusiastic and happy in both her life and work.

Still, there are challenges. Being the director of the non-profit organization in times of dwindling private and federal support requires constant outreach and fundraising, said Echohawk, who formerly worked several years for Casey Family Programs as a senior Indian Child Welfare Act specialist and strategic advisor.

“It’s a lot of work, especially in this funding climate, but we are doing it for the children and families who need the most help,” she said.

But she is not deterred. Having worked in D.C. in the 1970s and having many family members who have been involved in the world of politics – including the retired Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk at the Department of the Interior – she started listing names of folks she knows in Washington. She soon had an impressive list of invitees—some of whom turned out to want to help out as hosts and donors. LaDonna Harris soon helped make some connections, and fellow women warriors, like Kimberly Craven, Shannon Finley, and Rebecca Adamson were quick to follow suit, with longtime Indian advocate Ed Gabriel signing on to be committee chair. Invites have since gone out to many Indian-focused officials across Washington.

“Everyone has been so nice in helping out,” Echohawk said, noting this is the first time the organization has held an event of this nature outside of the Denver metropolitan area. “It shows how committed they are to caring for Indian children and youth.”

The reception, which Echohawk hopes will attract at least 50 guests with a suggested donation of $200, will be held at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in downtown D.C. on December 2. To those who may be interested in attending, she suggested they contact staffer Diane Waters at dwaters@difrc.org.

Besides offering the opportunity to connect with Echohawk and friends, the event will feature a silent auction with the chance to purchase artwork by Navajo artist Pabilta Abeyta, Taos designer and Project Runway finalist Patricia Michaels, Pawnee/Ojibwe artist Raymond Nordwall, Crow artist Kevin Red Star, and Pawnee/Yakama Artist Bunky Echo-Hawk.

For those who can’t be in Washington for the event but who would like to help out, Echohawk pointed out that the organization is accepting donations through Colorado Gives. That effort is called the 7th Generation Campaign and is intended to increase understanding and support of Native families as they deal with today’s complex challenges and prepare for tomorrow.

“It would be nice to see a lot of goodwill at this time of year,” Echohawk said. “What a better holiday gift than to help Native children and families?”

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/11/27/lucille-echohawk-hold-holiday-family-fundraiser-nations-capital-152452

‘Small Business Saturday’ returns Nov. 30

Kim Snyder fixes a watch clasp at Wagner Jewelers in Marysville on Nov. 20.— image credit: Amy Wadkins
Kim Snyder fixes a watch clasp at Wagner Jewelers in Marysville on Nov. 20.
— image credit: Amy Wadkins

Every day is about a small business when you own one.

That point is clear to people like Brent Emory, owner of E&E Lumber and Home Center. The business has been at 1364 State Ave. in Marysville for more than 40 years.

“We’re open every day,” Emory said. “We’re doing something every day, every month, and we’re having fun on a day-to-day basis.”

The business offers military and senior discounts, as well as 20 percent off all in-store merchandise on the first Saturday of every month. This year, Emory is again planning to be part of Small Business Saturday, set for Nov. 30.

“It’s a great concept,” he said. “We are recognizing it and participating however we can.”

Small Business Saturday was started three years ago by American Express to promote local stores across the country. It asks people to shop locally the Saturday after Thanksgiving to celebrate and rally behind small businesses.

Marysville’s small businesses make up 90 percent of its business community and “serve as the heart and soul of the city,” according to Caldie Rogers, president and CEO of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce.

“They work long hours, provide local jobs, generate city revenue for the services our residents need, and donate their time and their money to our local non-profits, putting the quality of life in our way of life,” Rogers said.

The Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce is urging all residents to shop Marysville on Small Business Saturday, added Rogers.

The Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber of Commerce is also asking people to shop locally on Nov. 30, said Chamber President Kristen Granroth. A day like Small Business Saturday encourages people to discover products and services that are available locally, and the hope is those new customers will turn into repeat customers, she said.

“If one person goes downtown to buy something and sees another business where they might be able to get products or services, it’s a success in my book,” Granroth said. “Shopping locally all year long is our go-to message. It only benefits all of us; our schools, our lifestyles, our businesses.”

At least 20 businesses are new to the Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber this year, according to Granroth. At 212 members, the chamber has hit its highest membership total yet. Chamber Business After Hours events occur once a month and have helped business owners better support one another, Granroth said.

David Boulton, owner of Flowers By George at 335 N. Olympic Ave., participates along with other Arlington business owners in Super Saturdays, where customers receive discounts on purchases made on the first Saturday of every month. He and others have blue doormats they put outside to encourage people to shop small. His doormat will definitely be out on Nov. 30, Boulton said.

“It’s our tax dollars staying in the community,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it, and I’m hoping it will be a good Saturday.”

Boulton, who is a second-generation owner of his business, promoted last year’s Small Business Saturday through the Flowers By George Facebook page. He’s noticed TV ads promoting the day this year, and believes those will help to generate more interest in the event.

“I don’t remember the TV ads last year, and I’m just impressed by them,” Boulton said. “I love the idea and mindset of people doing the big-box store shopping on Friday, getting that part out of their system, and coming downtown where they can find a place to park, usually right out in front of our store … I just love the concept.”

Arlington Hardware and Lumber at 215 N. Olympic Ave. has offered Super Saturday discounts for the past 25 years, according to owner Taylor Jones. Repeat customers look forward to those busy and fun Saturdays, he said. Small Business Saturday is another day of the year to show support, Jones added.

“Any time they try to get something going for downtown small businesses, I’m supportive of that,” he said. “I want to see downtown Arlington thrive.”

Small Business Saturday might make a difference, but a large part of what has made Wagner Jewelers at 9611 State Ave. in Marysville successful is quality customer service, according to owner Doug Wagner.

“If you’re in independent jeweler you don’t have the money for advertising, so you’ve got to build the business on customer relationships,” he said. “Basically, we get advertising by word of mouth. That’s how this business was built, and that’s how it will continue to be successful.”

While a one-day push for shopping small will resonate, one-day events often fade as quickly as they come, Rogers noted. That’s why the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce is working on the final touches to an upcoming launch of the next Buy Local campaign. A part of the campaign is planned through newspaper ads to educate people about how local dollars are used.

“The new innovations developed over the last few months will produce even greater success for businesses of all sizes,” Rogers said. “We will grow our local economy.”

What Really Happened at the First Thanksgiving? The Wampanoag Side of the Tale

This is a popular image of the first Thanksgiving, a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. But this is definitely NOT what happened.
This is a popular image of the first Thanksgiving, a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. But this is definitely NOT what happened.

By Gale Courey Toensing, ICTMN

When you hear about the Pilgrims and “the Indians” harmoniously sharing the “first Thanksgiving” meal in 1621, the Indians referred to so generically are the ancestors of the contemporary members of the Wampanoag Nation. As the story commonly goes, the Pilgrims who sailed from England on the Mayflower and landed at what became Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620 had a good harvest the next year. So Plymouth Gov. William Bradford organized a feast to celebrate the harvest and invited a group of “Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit” to the party. The feast lasted three days and, according to chronicler Edward Winslow, Bradford send four men on a “fowling mission” to prepare for the feast and the Wampanoag guests brought five deer to the party. And ever since then, the story goes, Americans have celebrated Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November. Not exactly, Ramona Peters, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s Tribal Historic Preservation Officer told Indian Country Today Media Network in a conversation on the day before Thanksgiving 2012—391 years since that mythological “first Thanksgiving.”

We know what we’re taught in mainstream media and in schools is made up. What’s the Wampanoag version of what happened?

Yeah, it was made up. It was Abraham Lincoln who used the theme of Pilgrims and Indians eating happily together. He was trying to calm things down during the Civil War when people were divided. It was like a nice unity story.

So it was a political thing?

Yes, it was public relations. It’s kind of genius, in a way, to get people to sit down and eat dinner together. Families were divided during the Civil War.

So what really happened?

We made a treaty. The leader of our nation at the time—Yellow Feather Oasmeequin [Massasoit] made a treaty with (John) Carver [the first governor of the colony]. They elected an official while they were still on the boat. They had their charter. They were still under the jurisdiction of the king [of England]—at least that’s what they told us. So they couldn’t make a treaty for a boatload of people so they made a treaty between two nations—England and the Wampanoag Nation.

What did the treaty say?

It basically said we’d let them be there and we would protect them against any enemies and they would protect us from any of ours. [The 2011 Native American copy coin commemorates the 1621 treaty between the Wampanoag tribe and the Pilgrims of Plymouth colony.] It was basically an I’ll watch your back, you watch mine’ agreement. Later on we collaborated on jurisdictions and creating a system so that we could live together.

What’s the Mashpee version of the 1621 meal?

You’ve probably heard the story of how Squanto assisted in their planting of corn? So this was their first successful harvest and they were celebrating that harvest and planning a day of their own thanksgiving. And it’s kind of like what some of the Arab nations do when they celebrate by shooting guns in the air. So this is what was going on over there at Plymouth. They were shooting guns and canons as a celebration, which alerted us because we didn’t know who they were shooting at. So Massasoit gathered up some 90 warriors and showed up at Plymouth prepared to engage, if that was what was happening, if they were taking any of our people. They didn’t know. It was a fact-finding mission.

When they arrived it was explained through a translator that they were celebrating the harvest, so we decided to stay and make sure that was true, because we’d seen in the other landings—[Captain John] Smith, even the Vikings had been here—so we wanted to make sure so we decided to camp nearby for a few days. During those few days, the men went out to hunt and gather food—deer, ducks, geese, and fish. There are 90 men here and at the time I think there are only 23 survivors of that boat, the Mayflower, so you can imagine the fear. You have armed Natives who are camping nearby. They [the colonists] were always vulnerable to the new land, new creatures, even the trees—there were no such trees in England at that time. People forget they had just landed here and this coastline looked very different from what it looks like now. And their culture—new foods, they were afraid to eat a lot of things. So they were very vulnerable and we did protect them, not just support them, we protected them. You can see throughout their journals that they were always nervous and, unfortunately, when they were nervous they were very aggressive.

So the Pilgrims didn’t invite the Wampanoags to sit down and eat turkey and drink some beer?

[laughs] Ah, no. Well, let’s put it this way. People did eat together [but not in what is portrayed as “the first Thanksgiving]. It was our homeland and our territory and we walked all through their villages all the time. The differences in how they behaved, how they ate, how they prepared things was a lot for both cultures to work with each other. But in those days, it was sort of like today when you go out on a boat in the open sea and you see another boat and everyone is waving and very friendly—it’s because they’re vulnerable and need to rely on each other if something happens. In those days, the English really needed to rely on us and, yes, they were polite as best they could be, but they regarded us as savages nonetheless.

So you did eat together sometimes, but not at the legendary Thanksgiving meal.

No. We were there for days. And this is another thing: We give thanks more than once a year in formal ceremony for different season, for the green corn thanksgiving, for the arrival of certain fish species, whales, the first snow, our new year in May—there are so many ceremonies and I think most cultures have similar traditions. It’s not a foreign concept and I think human beings who recognize greater spirit then they would have to say thank you in some formal way.

What are Mashpee Wampanoags taught about Thanksgiving now?

Most of us are taught about the friendly Indians and the friendly Pilgrims and people sitting down and eating together. They really don’t go into any depth about that time period and what was going on in 1620. It was a whole different mindset. There was always focus on food because people had to work hard to go out and forage for food, not the way it is now. I can remember being in Oklahoma amongst a lot of different tribal people when I was in junior college and Thanksgiving was coming around and I couldn’t come home—it was too far and too expensive—and people were talking about, Thanksgiving, and, yeah, the Indians! And I said, yeah, we’re the Wampanoags. They didn’t know! We’re not even taught what kind of Indians, Hopefully, in the future, at least for Americans, we do need to get a lot brighter about other people.

So, basically, today the Wampanoag celebrate Thanksgiving the way Americans celebrate it, or celebrate it as Americans?

Yes, but there’s another element to this that needs to be noted as well. The Puritans believed in Jehovah and they were listening for Jehovah’s directions on a daily basis and trying to figure out what would please their God. So for Americans, for the most part there’s a Christian element to Thanksgiving so formal prayer and some families will go around the table and ask what are you thankful for this year. In Mashpee families we make offerings of tobacco. For traditionalists, we give thanks to our first mother, our human mother, and to Mother Earth. Then, because there’s no real time to it you embrace your thanks in passing them into the tobacco without necessarily speaking out loud, but to actually give your mind and spirit together thankful for so many things… Unfortunately, because we’re trapped in this cash economy and this 9-to-5 [schedule], we can’t spend the normal amount of time on ceremonies, which would last four days for a proper Thanksgiving.

Do you regard Thanksgiving as a positive thing?

As a concept, a heartfelt Thanksgiving is very important to me as a person. It’s important that we give thanks. For me, it’s a state of being. You want to live in a state of thanksgiving, meaning that you use the creativity that the Creator gave you. You use your talents. You find out what those are and you cultivate them and that gives thanks in action.

And will your family do something for Thanksgiving?

Yes, we’ll do the rounds, make sure we contact family members, eat with friends and then we’ll all celebrate on Saturday at the social and dance together with the drum.

Related articles:

Latest copy Coin Celebrates 1621 Wampanoag Treaty

The Wampanoag Side of the First Thanksgiving Story

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/11/23/what-really-happened-first-thanksgiving-wampanoag-side-tale-and-whats-done-today-145807

5 Unexpected Ways Climate Change Will Impact the Northwest

Native fishermen on the Pacific coast are seeing fewer cold water animals and reporting more sightings of warmer water species. Humboldt squid are being reported in waters off OR, WA, and BC. Ten years ago, sightings north of San Diego were rare. | credit: Katie Campbell | rollover image for more
Native fishermen on the Pacific coast are seeing fewer cold water animals and reporting more sightings of warmer water species. Humboldt squid are being reported in waters off OR, WA, and BC. Ten years ago, sightings north of San Diego were rare. | credit: Katie Campbell

 

Source: OPB

The top climate scientists in the Northwest have published a new report that surveys the many regional impacts of climate change.

It captures impacts large and small, from the hairy woodpecker which may enjoy more habitat, to smaller snowpack storing less water for the hydropower dams on the Columbia River. The report is the Northwest chapter of the third U.S. National Climate Assessment, a state-of-the-science update that Congress will receive next year. It was put together by the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University and the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington — with input from researchers, native American tribes and economists.

Read: What Climate Change Means For Northwest’s Rivers, Coasts and Forests

The main conclusions won’t surprise anyone who follows climate science, or who reads EarthFix regularly. The greatest risks in the Northwest fall into three categories: risks caused by declining snowpack and water storage, risks due to rising sea levels and coastal ecosystems, and risks related to forest fires and forest health.

But the report highlights some less familiar research as well. Here are five projected impacts of climate change you may not be aware of:

1. Rising Seas and a Falling Continent

Predictions of sea level rise in the Northwest are complicated by plate tectonics. For example, very little sea level rise has been observed on the Olympic Peninsula to date because the peninsula is uplifting at about the same rate that the sea level is rising. Scientists project that sea level rises will range from 4 inches to 4 feet along the Northwest coast. But that doesn’t take into account a major Cascadia subduction zone quake. OSU’s Philip Mote, one of the report’s editors, says when the big one hits, it could cause the entire coastline to drop by 3 feet, compounding the impact of rising seas.

2. Your Health Is At Stake

Mote says the Northwest doesn’t have the kind of extreme weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes that tend to end with a high death toll. But rising temperatures are expected to make us more vulnerable to a whole range of troublesome and potentially fatal illnesses, from respiratory disorders to heat stroke to paralytic shellfish poisoning. If you want to learn more, check out EarthFix’s timely multimedia series, Symptoms of Climate Change: Will a Warming World Make Us Sick?

3. Hot Potatoes

Projected changes in temperatures, carbon dioxide levels, and the availability of irrigation water make the impact of climate change on agricultural crops surprisingly complicated to predict. The yield of winter wheat, for example, is expected to increase by up to 25 percent.

Potato yields are expected to increase until the middle of the century and then begin to decline, in some places as much as 40 percent. Mote says one reason agricultural yields may increase in the short term is the higher levels of CO2 in the air. “Carbon dioxide is plant food. It’s one of the nutrients that plants take in to grow structures and fruits and vegetables. For most plants, having more food allows them to grow faster,” he says. However, for many crops that positive effect may be offset by the impact of longer summer droughts with less water available for irrigation.

4. Thin shells

Climate change is tough news if you’re a marine creature with a shell or exoskeleton.
The Northwest already has some of the most acidified oceans in the world, and climate change is projected to reduce the pH of the oceans even further. Scientists predict that as a result of all the lower pH, mussels will form shells 25 percent more slowly and oysters will form shells 10 percent more slowly by the end of the century. EarthFix has reported extensively on this.

Other ocean critters may fare better; sea grasses and northern elephant seals may find more habitat available in a warming ocean. Paul Williams, who studies climate science and shellfish management for the Suquamish Tribe, says that while the big trend is clear, far more research is needed to understand how marine life will respond to acidification.

“If you want to ask, are the crabs going to disappear in Puget Sound, it’s hard to be that specific. What’s very clear is that we’ve changed the fundamental chemistry of the ocean,” he says.

5. Tribes

Climate change could affect many of the treaty rights reserved by tribes in the northwest, from water rights to shellfish gathering to the use of forests. And decreased summer water flows and increased stream temperatures could add to the stress that dams have placed on the region’s salmon runs, which are culturally and economically critical to many tribes. Several of the tribes in the Northwest have developed their own climate change research and mitigation and adaptation plans.

The Takeaway

I asked Philip Mote what he thinks the takeaway from the science is. He paraphrased John Holdren, a science advisor to President Obama. Holdren has suggested that three things will happen as we contend with climate change: mitigation, adaptation, and suffering.

“The less we try to mitigate and the less we try to adapt, the more that plants, animals, and other humans will fare negatively,” Mote says.

After nearly 80 years, Native American story pole is coming home

The 37-foot story pole was originally carved by Tulalip Tribe leader and artist William Shelton. It stood in a park in Illinois for more than 70 years until weather and bugs forced it to be taken down. Now the Burke Museum is working to bring it home. (Photo courtesy Freeport Park District)
The 37-foot story pole was originally carved by Tulalip Tribe leader and artist William Shelton. It stood in a park in Illinois for more than 70 years until weather and bugs forced it to be taken down. Now the Burke Museum is working to bring it home. (Photo courtesy Freeport Park District)

By Kiersten Throndsem, kimatv.com

SEATTLE – For more than 70 years a pole stood watch over a Boy Scout park in Freeport, Ill. This pole shared a story, carved in wood, of a Native American culture to those who visited the park until it was removed.

And, now the Burke Museum wants to bring this story pole – created by in the Northwest by Snohomish Tribe leader William Shelton — home.

“It’s an important pole for us because we don’t have a pole from that period,” said Robin Wright, with the Burke Museum. “William Shelton really initiated the totem pole carving for the Coast Salish.”

After being carved by Shelton, the 37-foot pole was sent to Illinois in 1935. There it stood in Krape Park until 2008 while weather and bugs led to its decay. The story pole was taken down five years ago and has remained in a warehouse ever since.

“The bottom of it where it went into the ground is completely rotten, and other portions of the pole need some loving care,” Wright said “It’s in pretty poor condition.”

Not sure what to do with the pole, the Freeport Park District contacted the Burke Museum to see if it might be interested in taking it. The museum is home to a large Northwest Coast collection and very familiar with works of Shelton and the Coast Salish culture.

However, getting the pole here is tricky and will cost thousands of dollars. To help offset some of those moving expenses, the museum turned online, to a crowd sourcing fundraiser in hopes of raising $7,500. The money will help pay for a truck and flatbed trailer to haul the pole across the country.

Shelton is recognized for carving a number of poles between 1910 and the 1930s, and this particular pole, Wright said, tells the same kind of story found on all his poles.

“The whale at the bottom and the eagle at the top” Wright said.  “Whales are very important for the original story of the Tulalip Tribe. It goes back to a time when people were starving and whales would help herd the salmon up the stream so people could get food.”

The Burke Museum plans to work with representatives from the Tulalip Tribe, as well as Shelton’s family, who happen to live in Snohomish County, to interpret the pole once it arrives. It’s unknown how much it will cost to actually restore the pole, and it will need to be fumigated. The hope is to hire Tulalip carvers trained in story pole restoration.

Shelton’s pole will be tallest pole in the museum’s collection and will be mounted inside.

More information about the museum’s fundraising efforts can be found online.

Secretary Jewell Signs Historic Agreement with Citizen Potawatomi Nation to Spur Investment, Economic Activity in Indian Country

Tribal leasing regulations remove roadblocks to economic development, represent another step furthering tribal self-determination

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior

SHAWNEE, Okla. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to self-determination of tribal nations, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today joined Citizen Potawatomi Nation Chairman John Barrett to formally approve tribal leasing regulations that will help spur investment and commercial development on the nation’s trust lands in central Oklahoma.

“The Citizen Potawatomi Nation now has the authority to decide how it wants to do business on its lands, making it easier for families to do things like buy and build houses or open businesses in the communities where they have lived for generations,” said Secretary Jewell, who also serves as chair of the White House Council on Native American Affairs. “Today’s action encourages economic development on Indian lands, generating investment, new jobs and revenues. I applaud Chairman Barrett and Vice-Chairman Linda Capps for their leadership on this initiative and look forward to working with other tribes across the nation to maintain tribal sovereignty and promote tribal self-determination and self-government.”

Today’s signing ceremony comes on the heels of the 2013 White House Tribal Nations Conference, when leaders from all 566 federally recognized tribes are invited to Washington, D.C. to interact directly with the President and senior cabinet and administration officials. The conference – the fifth for the Obama Administration – continues to build on the President’s commitment to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with Indian Country.

The Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH Act), signed by President Obama in July 2012, restores the authority of federally recognized tribes to develop and implement their own laws governing the long-term leasing of Indian lands for residential, business and other purposes. Upon one-time approval of these tribal regulations by the Department of the Interior, tribes have the authority to process land leases without Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approval, greatly expediting the approval of leases for homes and small businesses in Indian Country.

“We are thankful to Secretary Jewell, Assistant Secretary Washburn and their team at the Department of Interior for their efforts in implementing the Hearth Act and approving the Citizen Potawatomi Nation business leasing regulations,” said Chairman Barrett. “This is a step in the right direction for tribal self-governance and will empower tribal governments to take greater control of their land. CPN has created a thriving economy of retail and tourism developments and we look forward to working with other businesses to spur business and commercial development in Oklahoma.”

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation, a traditionally Algonquian-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribe has more than 30,000 enrolled tribal members, of whom more than 10,000 live in the state of Oklahoma.

“Increased economic opportunity is the best way to raise the standards of living for tribal members. Today’s formal approval of leasing regulations for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation will pave the way for just that,” said Congressman Tom Cole, who attended the ceremony and was a cosponsor of the HEARTH Act. “This is not only beneficial for tribal governments, but the entire state of Oklahoma will feel the positive impact of increased economic activity. I am grateful to Secretary Jewell, Assistant Secretary Washburn and the Interior Department for their tireless efforts in helping tribes use their own lands.”

The signing, which took place at the Potawatomi National Cultural Heritage Center in Shawnee, is the sixth tribal leasing ordinance approved by the Department of the Interior under the HEARTH Act. Previous pacts were signed with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (February 1, 2013); Pueblo of Sandia (March 14, 2013); Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (April 11, 2013); Ak-Chin Indian Community (November 10, 2013); and Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians (November 10, 2013). Additional tribal leasing authority applications are under review.

Today’s ceremony comes almost a year after Interior issued new regulations to complement the HEARTH Act by streamlining the department’s leasing approval process. The final regulations, issued November 27, 2012, capped the overhaul of antiquated BIA regulations for leasing 56 million surface acres that the federal government holds in trust for Indian tribes and individuals.

The new regulations fundamentally change the way the BIA does business, providing clarity by identifying specific processes – with enforceable timelines – through which the BIA must review leases. The regulation also establishes separate, simplified processes for residential, business, and renewable energy development, rather than using a “one-size fits all” approach that treats a lease for a single family home the same as a lease for a large wind energy project.

“The very essence of self-determination is that it should be the tribe that decides how its lands may be used for the good of its members, and that is what the HEARTH Act and Interior’s comprehensive reform of Indian land leasing regulations does,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “These parallel efforts have a real impact for individuals and families who want to own a home or build a business. These initiatives help strengthen self-reliance and secure the well-being of future generations.”

Marysville students out perform the nation’s priority schools

Members of the NEA and WEA present banners and library checks at Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary.
Members of the NEA and WEA present banners and library checks at Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary.
Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News

 

NEA recognizes Marysville schools’ turnaround

 

Article and photos by Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News

Tulalip − American Education Week began Monday, November 18th, with visits to Totem Middle School and Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary school by the National Education Association (NEA) and Washington Education Association (WEA). Both campuses, earmarked as priority schools, exemplify a joint commitment of students and teachers to academic achievement. The incredible turn around embodies the intent of the School Improvement Grant (SIG grant) they received as schools in need. A change in national perspective led to the development of the grant which catalyzed the positive turn around at these schools.

“Because of previous legislation, schools that needed assistance were labeled failing,” said Kim Mead of the WEA, referring to No Child Left Behind, which decreased funding to schools that did not meet state and national standards. “We changed our perspective, failing schools came to be seen as priority schools.”

In the last five years, 97 Washington schools were considered failing and had their funding cut. With the new perspective of those schools as a priority, the US Department of Education created the SIG grant in 2010, providing three-year funding to schools on the national priority list. 28 schools were awarded grant funding of the 60 eligible schools in Washington state that applied.

The SIG grant is conditional funding, giving four plan options to bring schools up to standard. These options are closure and transfer students to high achieving schools, turnaround by reorganizing currents school curriculum and staff, transformation through a change in leadership and instruction, and restart which would convert public schools to charter schools, which were illegal in Washington state until 2012. Of the 28 Washington priority schools awarded grants, now specified as SIG schools, 1 school closed, 23 selected transformation, and 4 opted for the turnaround, including Totem, and Tulalip Quil Ceda.

Led by the teachers, these schools developed their staff and curriculum to change the professional practices in their schools. Through the SIG funding, Totem purchased laptops for each grade in order to assess individual understanding of course materials. They developed a home visit program so that teachers have the necessary skills to bring school needs into the home, while addressing home issues, not as a means lower standards or make accommodations, but to understand how to balance the school work with home life. The most prominent demonstration of home life coming to school is the morning assembly at Tulalip Quil Ceda, which incorporates traditional values into the school day. The NEA observed the assembly during their visit.

“I chose Washington to kick off American Education Week,” said Dennis Van Rockel, NEA president. “I hear so much about Washington, what you all are doing here, and I’m glad to be able to come and see it first hand.”

Programs in these SIG schools that see drastic positive improvement are leeching out into other schools throughout MarysvilleSchool District.

“This is important as we get ready to roll out the Common Core curriculum, which is the national standard equivalent,” said Tulalip Quil Ceda teacher, George Camper.

2013 marks the final year of the SIG grant funding, which means the priority schools were evaluated nationwide. Totem and Tulalip Quil Ceda not only outperformed all others in the state, they outperformed the nation’s priority schools. In recognition of their achievement, each of their libraries were given $500, and each school was given a banner acknowledging their accomplishment.

The nation is now looking to Washington as an example for the work Totem, and Tulalip Quil Ceda schools have done. They have set a standard for priority schools nationwide, which is described in a packet titled ‘Improving Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools: Lessons from Washington State,’ that outlines how these schools successfully turned around from persistently low achieving to high achieving.

Quinault Nation Receives Grant for Pellet Manufacturing Plant

Source: Water 4 Fish

TAHOLAH, WA (11/24/13)– The Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) has received a $63,231 US Department of Agriculture Rural Business Opportunity Grant to conduct a feasibility study on the viability of a tribal pellet manufacturing plant on the tribe’s reservation, according to Fawn Sharp, QIN President.

The envisioned pellet mill is expected to consume logging slash blended with higher grade fiber and/or alternative bio-crop fiber such as Arundo Donax (Nile Fiber), to produce industrial quality pellets that eliminate the need for annual logging slash burns, according to Sharp. “We also anticipate creating new jobs as this Tribal Enterprise is developed. New jobs would include facility operations and maintenance, biomass harvesting, biomass sorting, mechanical equipment operators, truck drivers, and administrative support,” she said. “We anticipate as many as 36 new jobs from this project.”

Upon completion the study will bring the Quinault Indian Nation one step closer to a sustainable biomass for heat system that not only provides heat to essential tribal facilities but will also begin a new technology on the Reservation.

The Quinault Nation has been investigating the use of forest biomass material generated from QIN forest management practices as fuel for heating new or existing tribal facilities for years. The existing Tribal facilities being considered for retrofit in support of a biomass for heat facility include the Tribal Health Clinic, Department of Natural Resources, the Executive Office complex and the Administration complex.

To officially get this project off and running, QIN partnered with Columbia-Pacific Resource Conservation & Economic Development District (ColPac) to apply for grants from the USDA Rural Business Opportunity Grant Program and the US Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program. The successful grant application was done in support of a biomass feasibility study on the Quinault Reservation. The feasibility study, successfully completed in January of 2012, determined QIN generates more than sufficient biomass quantities to sustain a low pressure boiler system using wood chips or pellets (created from forest slash) as a green fuel source to produce low cost wood heat.

Due to the project’s focus on biomass as a sustainable renewable energy resource, a diverse team of partners and the potential for new Tribal jobs in support of biomass for heat technology, the project was designated as one of seven national USDA Great Regions Projects by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in 2010.

“Currently our project is in the final engineering and design phase for a QIN Biomass for Heat Facility,” said Sharp.  “In support of this phase QIN applied for and was awarded a 2012 US Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization Program Grant in the amount of $205,000,” she said.

Engineering and design of the QIN Biomass for Heat Facility is being accomplished by Richmond Engineering and includes the following tasks: Abbreviated Master Plant Site Selection, Schematic Design, Design Development, and Final Design/Bid Preparation. The QIN Biomass for Heat Facility is being engineered and designed as a low pressure hot water biomass heating facility.

The initial Biomass Feasibility Study concluded that 400 bone dry tons (BDT) per year of biomass fuel, in chip or pellet form, would be required to generate the sufficient amount of heat for QIN’s existing buildings. Timber harvests and forest management create 32,000 BDT of biomass-slash annually. The QIN reservation falls within the lush temperate rainforest and is highly productive making this biomass project highly viable as well as sustainable.

“Air quality, wildlife habitat, and forest resources will benefit from this project. Also QIN will save $78,000-$126,000 per year in utility bills from converting our current electric heat to wood heat. When constructed our Biomass for Heat Facility will help QIN become more energy independent. It will also help us become more self-reliant as we create local jobs,” she said.

“This is the type of project that creates jobs, on and off the reservation. It promotes energy independence and supports sustainability and sovereignty,” said Sharp . “It’s exactly what we’re looking for at Quinault,” she said.

Native American travels across U.S. photographing citizens of tribal nations

Courtesy Matika WilburJenni Parker, right, and granddaughter Sharlyse Parker of the Northern Cheyenne tribe pose in Lame Deer, Mont., in August.
Courtesy Matika Wilbur
Jenni Parker, right, and granddaughter Sharlyse Parker of the Northern Cheyenne tribe pose in Lame Deer, Mont., in August.

By Simon Moya-Smith, Staff Writer, NBC News

She sleeps on couches, dines with strangers and lives out of her car. Still, Matika Wilbur does it for the art and for the people.

Wilbur is Native American. Invariably strapped to her arm is a camera, and other than a few provisions and clothing, she owns little else. Last year she sold everything in her Seattle apartment, packed a few essentials into her car and then hit the road.

Since then, she’s been embarking on her most recent project, “Project 562.”

The plan is to photograph citizens of each federally recognized tribe, Wilbur said. Sometimes she’ll journey to an isolated reservation, other times she’ll meet some of the 70 percent of Native Americans living in urban settings. Yet she hopes that when her project is complete it will serve to educate the nation and “shift the collective conscious” toward recognizing its indigenous communities.

To date, Wilbur has photographed citizens of 159 tribes.

In 2010, when Wilbur first conceptualized the campaign, there were 562 federally recognized tribes in the U.S., hence the name. Since then, the U.S. government has added four more nations to the list.

Courtesy Matika WilburNative American activist and poet John Trudell, left, and Son Coup of the Santee Sioux Nation pose for a photo in San Francisco, Calif., in July. 

 

The project all began three years ago when Wilbur photographed her elders from both of her tribes, the Swinomish and Tulalip. She soon decided it was not enough to photograph only her people. After raising $35,000 through Kickstarter.com, an online funding platform, she had enough to realize her project and zip across the country capturing the faces of this nation’s first peoples.

Wilbur said her project is aimed toward debunking the bevy of erroneous stereotypes surrounding Native American culture and society and to reiterate the continual presence of Native Americans.

“We are still here,” she said. “We remain.”

One of those stereotypes is the image of Indians clad in feathers, nearly naked running across the prairie, whooping it up like what’s oft portrayed in western cinema. Also the caricature image of Indians as mascots.

With that in mind, Wilbur said the project is meant to drive conversations about the ubiquitous appropriation of Native American culture and to discuss how U.S. citizens can evolve beyond the co-opting of indigenous images and traditions.

“I hope to educate these audiences that it’s not OK to dress up like an Indian on Halloween,” she said. “I’m not a Halloween costume. I hope to encourage a new conversation of sharing and to help us move beyond the stereotypes.”

Wilbur added that she hopes her photos — her craft — will display the “beauty of (Native) people and to introduce some of our leaders to a massive audience.”

Wilbur, 29, operates on a modest budget and relies heavily on the “generosity and kindness” of the people she meets when travelling throughout Indian country. Many of her photo subjects will host her overnight and provide her with meals.

Courtesy Matika WilburAnna Cook of the Swinomish and Hualapai tribes poses for a photo in Swinomish, Wash., earlier this month. 

 

“I come in a good way. I bring gifts. I interact with their children well. I behave myself. I walk the red road,” she said. “People believe in my project because they, too, have been affected by the stereotypical image and they want to see it change.”

In between shoots, or maybe over dinner, Wilbur will tape record her subjects as they impart their wisdom and life stories. She plans to transfer the files to an application, which will coincide the corresponding photos in a future exhibition.

In the last year, Wilbur has slept in her two-seater Honda only once or twice but, following a new fundraiser in January, she hopes to get a van to sleep in on those long nights out on the open road.

Wilbur said that the fact that there are newly recognized tribes is indicative of the progress Native Americans are making today and that she plans to photograph the four tribes as well as various others who haven’t been recognized by the federal government.

Currently, Native Americans make up 1.6 percent of the entire U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census.

On Oct. 31, President Barack Obama proclaimed November 2013 as Native American Heritage Month and designated Nov. 29, 2013 as Native American Heritage Day.

Wilbur’s previous work has been showcased across the U.S. and internationally at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada and the Fine Arts Museum of Nantes in France.

In May 2014, the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington will host an exhibition of Wilbur’s collection of photos. In the meantime, she says she’ll continue her project and “let it flow as the spirit moves it.”