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This land is your land, this land is gas land

The Pinedale Anticline Natural Gas Field in central-west Wyoming lies on 80 percent federally owned land. (Wikimedia / BLM)

The Obama Administration has proposed new regulations for hydraulic fracturing on 756 million acres of public and tribal lands. The rules were written by the drilling industry and will be streamlined into effect by a new intergovernmental task force, established by the president, to promote fracking — a practice that has been linked to water poisoning, air pollution, methane emissions and, most recently, earthquakes. Environmentalists, many of whom are highly skeptical that fracking can even be regulated, hope to use a brief window for citizen participation in the rule approval process to leverage the growing anti-fracking movement.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — the government agency that manages the public lands in question — follows a dual and often conflicting mandate. Although it is charged with conserving lands for recreation and biological diversity, it must also ensure the commercial development of natural resources. The bureau tends to focus heavily on the latter part of its mission, and it has auctioned off public land for resource extraction, including oil and gas development, while following drilling regulations that were last updated in 1988, before fracking became a common practice.

“Under the old regulations, an operator would have to disclose non-routine techniques,” said BLM spokesperson Beverly Winston. “Now, hydraulic fracturing is routine, so nobody discloses it. It’s my understanding that probably 90 percent of wells on public lands use hydraulic fracturing.”

The newly proposed regulations will provide superficial environmental safeguards against industry excesses while shielding drillers and the government from the legal challenges that have begun cropping up. In April, for instance, a California judge ruled in a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity that the BLM had failed to take a “hard look” at the impact of fracking on federal land in the state and halted the issuance of fracking leases for the Monterey shale region until an assessment of its environmental impact is completed. The proposed laws, however, will give the BLM legal cover to keep the frack leases flowing.

Former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who helped draft the laws, resigned from his post in January to take a job with WilmerHale. The corporate law firm’s website boasts “our lawyers strive to reduce liability and transform environmental compliance obligations into opportunities.”

Those wondering what opportunity looks like to drillers in regions originally set aside for conservation need only visit the Allegheny National Forest in Western Pennsylvania, a state that has opened its arms to drillers in recent years. Nearly 4,000 oil and gas wells were dr illed in the Allegheny between 2005 and 2011.

“Where there were once remote areas of the forest there is now oil and gas infrastructure,” said Ryan Talbott of the Allegheny Defense Project. “If you are a recreationist going to go out and go hiking, camping, fishing, what might have been your favorite area before is now a sea of roads and pipelines and well sites.”

In 2009, under pressure from Allegheny Defense and other environmental groups, the Forest Service sought to monitor the drilling, implement environmental safeguards and provide a measure of planning to the spaghetti network of drill sites. But 93 percent of the mineral rights in the state are privately held and the Forest Service, in a case currently under review by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, was sued by the gas companies who claim their property rights were violated.

Although not yet to the extent witnessed in Allegheny, fracking has commenced in other parts of the country where the BLM holds mineral rights, particularly out West. “We’re drilling all over the place,” President Obama told an audience in New Mexico last year, announcing plans to open millions more acres to the oil and gas industry. In the way of protection, however, Obama’s new rules follow the Pennsylvania model, barely scratching the surface when it comes to monitoring what occurs below.

White House visitor logs show the president’s top adviser on energy and climate, Heather Zichal, met with the American Petroleum Institute, the Independent Petroleum Association of America and other industry groups 20 times last year in the run up to the rules proposal. They were further honed to industry specifications in a series of meetings between the oil and gas lobby and the White House Office of Budget Management, and are based on a piece of model legislation authored by Exxon for the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Under the rules, drillers will report chemicals used in fracking to an industry run site, FracFocus.org, already used in Pennsylvania and other states. The disclosures won’t need to be made until after a well is fracked. Nor will they be vetted for accuracy. Certain chemicals won’t even be disclosed at all, since they constitute alleged trade secrets. Furthermore, the rules would sanction drilling in close proximity to homes and schools, as well as allow wastewater — the toxic byproduct the of fracking — to be stored in open, outdoor pits.

Meanwhile, the rules weaken a requirement meant to ensure the structural integrity of drilling wells, which can leak methane and other chemical contaminants if cracked. Instead of having to submit documentation for each well, companies will only need report one of all their wells within a geological area.

“Using a single well as representative of all wells completely ignores the likelihood that one in 12 wells have some sort of well casing failure,” said Hugh MacMillan, a senior researcher with Food and Water Watch. “Six to eight percent of well casings fail within the first year, with higher percentages over time.”

MacMillan also expressed fears that the proposed regulations won’t cover a newer technique, known as acidizing, which involves pumping acid into the ground to dissolve rock formations and create pathways in shale for oil to flow out.

Underlying all these concerns is the fear held by many environmentalists that, no matter how heavily the industry is regulated, fracking is inherently toxic. “Trying to regulate fracking is like trying to build a safe cigarette,” said scientist and activist Sandra Steingraber. “You can put filters on cigarettes. You can have low tar cigarettes. But the answer to avoiding cancer from smoking is not to smoke.”

The issue of whether to push for more stringent laws that will mitigate against the impact of drilling or to advocate for the abolition of the practice has caused some considerable fissures in the environmental movement. The Natural Resources Defense Council worked with the drilling industry to write legislation governing fracking that was approved by lawmakers in Illinois last month, while those pushing for an outright ban in the state launched a three day sit-in in the governor’s office against the measure.

Steingraber favors a ban and was ejected from the Illinois statehouse for disrupting legislators following the approval of the fracking bill. Nevertheless, she’s spearheading an initiative to increase the already unprecedented number of comments the BLM has received during the public input period on the Obama-Exxon fracking rules. When the BLM first opened up the proposed laws for public review this spring they were inundated with 177,000 submissions, prompting the bureau to extend the submission deadline to August 23. Steingraber is working to ensure that public comments keep flowing and that this window of public participation furthers the overall anti-fracking movement.

In New York last winter, as the state’s moratorium on fracking expired and its Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) began preparing to file rules that would allow for drilling, she jumpstarted a similar effort. Through a website she established, ThirtyDaysOfFrackingRegs.com, Steingraber — a molecular biologist with a background in public health — broke down piece-by-piece the proposed laws, explaining their environmental consequences and providing a template for critics to submit their own comments. Ultimately, Steingraber said the site was responsible for 25,000 submissions to the DEC — more than 10 percent of the 200,000-plus mostly-critical comments the department received. These objections ended up being an important compliment to the hundreds of protests that took place against fracking statewide. The DEC eventually let the deadline to file rules lapse, which has dela yed the prospect of fracking in New York for at least a year.

It was a victory even fracking’s most committed opponents thought slim at the time. The gas industry had spent millions of dollars around the state to ensure it could make good on drilling leases it had already purchased. A Freedom of Information Act request by the Environmental Working Group revealed that, in the run-up to the deadline, New York’s DEC deputy commissioner Steven Russo had already sent potential regulations to drilling lobbyists for their approval.

Despite their success in New York, Steingraber and other anti-fracking activists are fighting an uphill battle at the federal level. In a speech at Georgetown University last month, the president touted “clean burning natural gas” as part of an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy and vowed to increase drilling in order to tackle the climate crisis and foster energy independence.

“The administration has a stated goal to increase American energy production,” said BLM spokesperson Beverly Winston. “A lot of that’s going to come from public land, whether that’s renewable energy or oil and gas.”

With the public comment period serving essentially as window dressing for an otherwise backdoor process, Steingraber said she isn’t looking at the submission of comments to the BLM as an end in and of itself but rather as a “gauntlet” thrown down. She also called them “a meter of citizen opposition” that activists can point to as they build on-the-ground mobilizations.

The struggle will likely come to a head on August 22, the eve of the comment deadline, when environmental groups in the coalition American s Against Fracking will stream into Washington, D.C., to deliver written comments to the BLM. What happens next will be as much a test of the democratic process as the strength of this growing movement.

“The very bedrock of this nation,” says Steingraber “is not for fracturing.”

—

Attacking Sovereignty: 2nd Circuit Rules to Tax Slots at Tribal Casino

Gale Courey Toensing, Indian Country Today Media Nework

A federal appeals court has ruled that the slot machines leased by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe from non-tribal businesses can be taxed.

The ruling by the 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals on July 15 reversed a decision by a federal district court judge that said states and their subdivisions cannot tax property on Indian land regardless of who owns it. (Related story: Mashantucket Court Ruling Reaffirms Non-taxable Status of Reservations)

The Nation has the option of asking for a rehearing or filing a petition with the United States Supreme Court to review the appeals court ruling but no such decision has yet been made. “’We just received the decision today and continue to review it,” William L. Satti, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation’s (MPTN) Director of Public Affairs, said on July 16. “We are disappointed that the Court of Appeals reversed the District Court’s decision, which ruled in favor of the tribe.”

The town of Ledyard called the ruling “a precedent-setting decision in favor of state and local governments,” according to The Day. “With this decision, the town of Ledyard will be able to collect taxes that are critically important to providing government services, including those that result from being a host community for the Foxwoods casino,” said Ledyard Mayor John Rodolico. “This case was just the tip of the iceberg, and our tax revenues would have taken a huge hit if we had not persevered throughout this eight-year legal battle to achieve this victory,” he said.

The ruling notes that the town expends $652,158 annually on services to the Nation offset by around $415,900 in federal aid, leaving the town with $236,258 in non-reimbursed costs. It also notes the MPTN employs 10,000 people and has reimbursed the state more than $56 million for law enforcement services since it opened in 1992. The Nation has contributed almost $3.3 billion from slot revenues to the state and around $85 million in donations to local organizations.

Michael Willis, an attorney with the firm Hobbs, Strauss, Dean & Walker who specializes in Indian tax issues, called the 2^nd Circuit ruling “very controversial” because it concerns Indian gaming activities. “I think the shocking part of the 2^nd Circuit Decision is there are specific provisions in IGRA that indicate that states are not allowed to tax Indian gaming activities and in order to get around that the 2^nd Circuit says owning a slot machine is not in itself a gaming activity,” Willis told Indian Country Today Media Network. “But the reality is if slot machines were not engaged in Class III gaming activity on behalf of the tribe, they’d be illegal in the State of Connecticut so, really, it’s hard to fathom how the 2^nd Circuit comes up with the view that slot machines are not engaged in gaming activity. It’s absurd. It overturns what was a fairly reasoned opinion in the lower court.”

In March 2012, a federal court granted the Nation’s motion for summary judgment in complaints it had filed against the town in August 2006 and September 2008 on behalf of two vendors – New Jersey-based Atlantic City Coin & Slot Co. and WMS Gaming – who lease slot machines to the tribe for use at Foxwoods Resort Casino. The Nation had argued that imposition of the tax by the town was preempted by the federal Indian Trader Statutes and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and cited White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, which balances federal, state and tribal interests, federal district court Judge Warren W. Eginton upheld the Nation’s position and wrote in his ruling, “Indian tribes are distinct sovereign entities that are ‘distinct, independent political communities retaining their original natural rights.’” Worcester is one of the Marshall Trilogy cases from 1823 to 1832 that set the foundation for Indian law. The trilogy paradoxically asserts the sovereignty of Indian nations while denying them land rights other than occupancy. “States do not have authority to regulate Indian tribes where a state law is preempted by federal law or infringes upon the ‘right of reservation Indians to make their own laws and be ruled by them,’” Eginton said.

But the appeals court said the federal court had erred and none of MPTN’s arguments bars the town from taxing a non-tribal entity. The panel called it a “close case” but ultimately ruled in favor of the state and town of Ledyard. “[T]he tribe’s generalized interests in sovereignty and economic development are not significantly impeded by the state’s generally-applicable tax; neither are the federal interests protected in IGRA,” the ruling says. “The town has moderate economic and administrative interests at stake, and the affront to the state’s sovereignty on one hand approximates the affront to the tribe’s sovereignty on the other. The balance of equities here favors the town and state.

The town spent more than $900,000 on legal fees in the case, according to The Day. The 2^nd Circuit ruling notes that the slot machines leased by the two companies combined generate $20,000 in annual property taxes.

Caffeine High: Navajo Zoo Partners To Sell Gourmet Coffee Blends

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Over the past year, a joint venture has been brewing between the Navajo Nation Zoo and Kachina Tea & Coffee Company. On July 9, the parties unveiled four unique coffee blends they will sell, each hand-packaged in seven-ounce bags featuring one of four Navajo Zoo animals selected to represent the character of the coffee.

The companies signed a Memorandum of Agreement, billed in a press release as a “culturally lateral collaboration,” which was approved February 23 by the Navajo Nation Council and the Tribal offices of the president and vice-president.

Keith Duquitto, owner of Kachina Tea & Coffee, shares his passion for helping the Navajo Nation Zoo and using the best ingredients at his store. (Geri Hongeva, Division of Natural Resources)

Under the terms, net proceeds will be divided equally between the Navajo Nation Zoo and Kachina Tea & Coffee Company. The Navajo Zoo will invest the money in caring for the animals and the future development of the Zoo. Kachina Tea & Coffee Company will direct its profits toward a proposed facility for the roasting and production of the coffee in or near Window Rock—along with a number of complimentary, healthy culinary items. Details of the planned headquarters are included in the Memorandum, which identifies the project as not only “community supportive” but as “community inclusive.”

The Navajo Nation Zoo—home to injured and orphaned animals—is the only Native-owned and -operated zoo in the country. Formed in July 4, 1977, in Window Rock, Arizona, the Zoo cares for animals unable to live in the wild, describing itself as “A Sanctuary for Nature and the Spirit.” Most of the creatures housed at the Navajo Nation Zoo are native to the Four Corners region and significant to the traditions, legends and stories of the Dine People.

Kachina Tea & Coffee Company was conceived in Malibu Canyon, California in the early 2000s. The company’s original concept was to create a line of natural botanical tea blends in an effort to lend nutritional and psychosocial support to friends and family experiencing certain types of functional inconveniences or those simply pursuing a healthy lifestyle from the inside out. Founder Keith Duquitto has garnered more than 25 years of clinical practice as a respiratory therapist and has cultivated a diverse collection of healthcare professionals as colleagues.

David Mikesic, zoologist at the Navajo Zoo, introduces each coffee blend as he describes the character of each animal at the tribally sanctioned zoo. (Geri Hongeva, Division of Natural Resources)

For the Navajo Zoo and Kachina Tea & Coffee Company, choosing the coffee blends was a meticulous and creative process, and they then astutely matched each blend with a package design featuring one of four representative animals from the Navajo Zoo.

The coffee blends and animal pairings include:

1) Espresso Italiano—a medium-strong espresso roast featuring the orphaned Kay-bah, the Navajo Zoo’s rugged lioness (cougar);

2) An Elegant Kona Blend—a simple and elegant roast blended with Hawaiian Kona beans with notes of tropical flowers and ripe persimmon featuring the orphaned Naabahi—one of the Navajo Zoo’s endearing male bobcats;

3) Chuska Chai’s Hazelnut—a fruity, smooth coffee with a hint of natural flavoring from Oregon-grown hazelnuts featuring the Navajo Zoo’s native tassel-eared squirrel; and

4) A Regal Decaf—a rich, deeply dimensioned and sweet decaffeinated blend aptly represented by the Navajo Zoo’s male Ringtail.

Presently, a Northern California-based seasoned coffee importer and roaster packages the beans, which are then shipped to a Las Vegas-based young master coffee roaster and good friend of the Navajo Zoo, who is artfully blending the coffees.

Each coffee blend will be offered in seven-ounce quantities—intended as an ideal sample size for discovering one’s favorite coffee, or as a Zoo supportive gift for family and friends.

Coffees will be available for sale at the Kachina Tea Company store in Las Vegas, and on the company’s website in the near future. In Window Rock, the coffee will be sold at the Navajo Nation Zoo, The Navajo Nation Museum, and other locations in the near future.

Two American Indian Art Organizations Partner to Benefit Native Artists

Source: Native News Network

SANTA FE – The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts and the Institute of American Indian Arts have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to continue to improve and increase educational and professional opportunities available to American Indian artists at the Santa Fe Indian Market and IAIA. The partnership provides a formal framework for program collaboration and mutual services.

SWAIA COO Dr. John Nez and IAIA President Dr. Robert Martin

“It’s a no brainer. SWAIA and IAIA have long had aligned interests, and together, we will produce a positive environment for all Native artists,”

says Dr. John Torres Nez, Chief Operating Officer of SWAIA.

“It’s a way of highlighting the positive impact that IAIA has had on SWAIA in terms of the number of alumni participating in Indian Market,”

IAIA President Dr. Robert Martin says.

“It also highlights the importance of SWAIA in terms of providing a venue for our alums, faculty and staff to showcase and market their talents.”

Although IAIA focuses on contemporary art and media, while SWAIA promotes both traditional and novel art forms, both organizations seek to preserve Native American arts and culture and provide a supportive platform to their respective artists.

These changes will happen in the coming months: SWAIA and IAIA will co-host the State of Native Arts Symposium on Friday, August 16, and the Membership Breakfast in the Park on Saturday, August 17. Both events are part of Indian Market Week. SWAIA and IAIA are excited to present these programs, and eager to strengthen and increase collaboration in the future.

SWAIA is an advocate for Native American arts and cultures and creates economic and cultural opportunities for Native American artists by producing and promoting Santa Fe Indian Market Week, the finest American Indian art and cultural event in the world; cultivating excellence and innovation across traditional and non-traditional art forms; and developing programs and events that support, promote, and honor Native artists year round.

SWAIA is a non-profit organization, and keeps no portion of the sales made by artists during Santa Fe Indian Market Week.

For 50 years, the Institute of American Indian Arts has played a leading role in the direction and shape of Native expression. As it has grown and evolved into an internationally acclaimed college, museum and community and tribal support resource through the Center for Lifelong Education, IAIA’s dedication to the study and advancement of Native arts and cultures is matched only by its commitment to student achievement and the preservation and progress of the communities they represent.

Engineering student turns fashion designer with statement Ts

(Courtesy photo)Jared Yazzie hand paints a T-shirt in his studio as he prepares for a fashion show. — (Courtesy photo)
Jared Yazzie hand paints a T-shirt in his studio as he prepares for a fashion show.

By Shondiin Silversmith, Navajo Times

Jared Yazzie started out his college career with the intent of becoming an engineer. In fact, he received several scholarships to help him along the way at the University of Arizona. After two-and-a-half years of working toward his degree, Yazzie, 24, made a drastic change: he switched his major to graphic design.

In the fall of 2009 Yazzie started designing his own T-shirts.

“I was just doing my own design work,” Yazzie said.

That is when he developed the brand OxDx for his designs. It stands for “Overdose.” He said the name came from how he sees the world because everyone is overdosing themselves with unnecessary things.

“I always thought of a T-shirt as billboarding,” Yazzie said. “I just want a way to interact with people, and I think T-shirts are the most interactive tool. I call it a walking billboard.”

Yazzie was doing a lot of design work but he didn’t get the idea of selling his T-shirts until his friends started offering him money for them.

“They paid me 25 bucks,” he said, “and I designed a shirt.”

He sold his first shirt design to 25 people, whom he calls his “dream team.” The design on his first shirt was of a Navajo child’s head with a distorted dream bubble floating above him and a bandana that says “dreamer.”

“After that I had enough money to come up with my next design,” Yazzie said.

He left UA and moved to Phoenix in 2010 where he continued to design his shirts.

“Everything is either hand-drawn by me or graphically altered by me. I do all the graphics for my stuff,” Yazzie said. Each of his T-shirts is either screen-printed or hand-painted.

Yazzie learned the screen-printing process in his brother’s garage from a friend in 2011. When he first started, his designs would be sent out to screen shops and professionally printed, but does the printing himself today.

He would sell his shirts at flea markets, youth conferences, art shows and fairs. He continued marketing his product in this manner until he turned OxDx into a real business in 2012 and developed his OxDx online clothing line.

“Everything before that I was just selling on the rez,” he said. “It’s something I care about and it was just growing.”

Yazzie said he has over 20 T-shirt designs “out there that are just floating around.” Each of his shirts is a limited edition.

“Everything I do has a message and I want people to think. I have some pretty strong messages,” Yazzie said, noting his shirts have been known to start conversations. “It’s a way for Natives to be fashionable and make a statement while doing it.”

Yazzie said the designs he produces are some really fun stuff, but he also likes to touch on Native American issues.

“It’s nice to have a design that meshes well with what everyone is wearing, but it’s a Navajo design,” Yazzie said as he described one of his shirts called the “Music Tee.”

This design depicts a traditional Navajo woman in full attire with a pair of headphones on. Within the headphones is the Navajo wedding basket design.

“I try to do my best to get everything accurate,” he said, “which is really hard.”

Another design by Yazzie is called “Not A Trend.” He said he produced this design in reaction to media representations of Native Americans.

He said it seems that it’s becoming more and more common for people to dress up like Indians for fun, using as an example the headdress-wearing model from a recent Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

“It’s just kind of crazy,” Yazzie said. “It’s like racism that’s going on today and it shouldn’t be. Nobody understands it from a Native perspective and I was trying to bring that to light.”

As a way to do that he developed the hashtag “Not A Trend” so people can use it on Twitter and Instagram when they want to make a statement.

Yazzie said now that his clothing line is developed and his designs are becoming more popular his shirts have taken on fashion appeal.

“I’ve never seen a T-shirt brand do that. I love that I’m getting respect on a fashion level,” Yazzie said.

He’s even being invited to fashion shows – most recently at Arizona State University, and next in South Dakota at the end of the month.

Yazzie said his shirt “Native Americans Discovered Columbus” has shown up on the CNN and Rolling Stone magazine Web sites. On CNN his shirt was worn by a model for a story about the “Beyond Buckskin” fashion blog, and Rolling Stone showed his shirt on artist Nahko from Medicine for the People during a performance in Seattle, Wash.

Alongside his online clothing line Yazzie works for Express Screen Printing in Phoenix. He is also a student at Mesa Community College where he hopes to complete his degree in graphic design. He is originally from Holbrook, Ariz. and his parents are Kee and Shirley Yazzie. He is Ashiihi born for Todich’ii’nii.

For more information visit: www.oxdx.storenvy.com.

Rock Out Under The Stars At Tulalip Amphitheatre

A Pacific Northwest summer tradition – Rock Out Under the Stars at Tulalip Amphitheatre

Tulalip, Washington — Tulalip Resort Casino is known for celebrating tradition, and one of the Pacific Northwest’s warm weather rituals is enjoying entertainment under the stars at the Four-Diamond resort’s outdoor Amphitheatre. Featuring 7 summer concerts at the intimate 3,000 seat venue with an incredible sightline, the concert stage is set for a variety of arts and entertainment options to intrigue every kind of musical enthusiast. The summer of 2013’s line-up is a memorable one – it includes Grammy and Academy Award winners, artists and music icons who have continually topped the charts.Sunday, July 21: Gretchen Wilson & Clay Walker
Gretchen Wilson has had 13 hit singles on the Billboard country charts, 5 reaching the Top 10.
With 31 titles on Billboard, Clay Walker boasts 4 platinum and 2 gold albums.

Sunday, July 28: Peter Frampton & Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Frampton is one of the most celebrated guitarists in rock history; Shepherd is a young blues guitarist who has sold millions of albums.

Thursday, August 15: Sammy Hagar
The “Red Rocker”, an American music icon, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen.

Sunday, August 18: Melissa Etheridge
Rock singer, songwriter, guitarist, winner of an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and Double Grammy Winner.

Sunday, August 25: Foreigner
This British-American band is one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time. Mick Jones and Lou Gramm were just inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Saturday, September 7: Doobie Brothers & America
The Doobie Brothers have been inducted into the Vocal Hall of Fame with hits like “Listen to the Music”; Grammy winners America has charted No. 1 hits like “A Horse with No Name” and “Sister Golden Hair”.

Tulalip Resort Casino also offers guest room/up close ticket packages. Both reserved seating and general admission concert tickets are available and can be purchased in person at the Tulalip Resort Casino Rewards Club box office located on the casino floor, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Unless otherwise noted, the doors open at 5pm and concerts start at 7pm for all shows. All concert dates and times are subject to change. Guests must be 21 and over to attend.

27th Annual Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow, July 19-21

Friday, Saturday & Sunday, July 19-21

Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, 3801 W. Government Way, Seattle, WA, Discovery Park

www.unitedindians.org/powwow

Manitoba grand chief challenges AFN

Derek Nepinak tosses Indian status card in trash, promises new direction for First Nations

Source: CBC news

Manitoba’s grand chief is promising a new direction for Canada’s First Nations — one that would not include the Indian Act or the Assembly of First Nations — at a gathering of chiefs taking place this week.

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is heading up the National Treaty Gathering on the Onion Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, which could result in the creation of a breakaway group separate from the AFN.

Nepinak has been talking about forming the National Treaty Alliance, citing too much rhetoric and not enough action from the AFN on First Nations issues.

“As these institutions have become more politicized and more developed along bureaucratic lines, we’ve lost them,” Nepinak said at the meeting Monday.

In a bold symbolic gesture, Nepinak threw his government-issued Indian status card into the trash — a sign of what he said he wants to do for First Nations people.

“This Indian Act card is done with me and I’m done with it,” Nepinak said, before he stood up and tossed his card into a garbage can.

Currently, Canada’s First Nations people are governed by the federal Indian Act, which was created in 1876. Under the act, a status Indian has rights to health, education, and tax exemptions for which other Canadians don’t qualify.

But Nepinak said he no longer wants anything to do with the legislation.

“Do something with that Indian card but distance yourself from it as much as you can,” he said.

“We need to recreate treaty cards and put our faith back in one another again. I think that’s how we deconstruct the Indian Act.”

Atleo calls for unity

At the Assembly of First Nations’ meeting in Whitehorse, National Chief Shawn Atleo warned an audience of more than 200 chiefs on Tuesday that conditions for Canada’s First Nations won’t improve if they split into factions.

Atleo called for unity and told delegates that the AFN strives to respect the sovereignty of First Nations while “being careful not to overstep” its boundaries.

“Our agenda, the First Nations agenda, requires that everyone come together … just as Treaty 7 pulled First Nations together to deal with the rising water,” he said, referring to the recent floods in Alberta.

A call for unity should not be confused with a call for assimilation or cultural hegemony, said Atleo, adding that the AFN supports individual nations negotiating treaty issues with the federal government.

Potential impact on treaty process

Some have expressed concern that having some chiefs split off into a new group could potentially hurt the treaty negotiation process.

“To create something separate and distinct from the AFN on treaty issues may result in a weakening of positions because not everyone will participate,” said Aimee Craft, a lawyer in Winnipeg.

But Jamie Wilson, Manitoba’s treaty commissioner, said Nepinak is prompting a much-needed dialogue about the state of Canada’s treaties.

“We’re talking about issues that a lot of people don’t understand, and when there’s a lack of understanding, there’s a lot of prejudice,” he said.

Wilson said treaties were signed between First Nations and the Crown to mutually benefit both groups, but those agreements have not been implemented.

A decision on whether a new breakaway group should be created is expected to be made later this week.

California State admits traditional management more effective than marine reserves; Annual recreational abalone harvest reduced

Photo of red abalone at Santa Cruz Island courtesy of California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

By Dan Bacher, Intercontinental Cry

State officials and representatives of some corporate “environmental” NGOs have constantly touted the so-called “marine protected areas” created under the privately-funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative as a “science-based” method for bolstering fish and shellfish populations in California.

Yet a recent California Fish and Game Commission decision revealed that traditional fishery management, rather than the marine protected areas supported by the Western States Petroleum Association, Safeway Corporation and other corporate interests under the MLPA Initiative, may be much more effective in addressing fishery declines than the creation of questionable “marine protected areas.”

The Commission on June 26 voted to modify abalone fishery regulations along the northern California coast. By doing this, the Commission effectively admitted that fishing regulations, rather than alleged “marine reserves” that went into effect on the North Central Coast on May 1, 2010 and on the North Coast on December 19, 2012, are the “solution” to reducing pressure on a declining abalone population. The decline was spurred by a die-off that coincided with a local red tide bloom and calm ocean conditions in 2011.

The Commission voted to reduce the annual limit to 18 abalone (previously 24), with no more than nine taken from Sonoma and Marin counties. Other changes to abalone regulations included a coast-wide start time for the fishing day of 8 a.m. and a closure at Ft. Ross in Sonoma County.

The changes were proposed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and then adopted by the Commission.

“The new management measures we’ve adopted today will help ensure that the red abalone remains abundant on the North Coast and the popular recreational fishery there continues to thrive,” said Commission President Michael Sutton. “Our job is to keep wildlife populations in California healthy and not wait for a crisis to take action.”

Jim Martin, the West Coast Regional Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance and representative of the Sonoma County Abalone Network (SCAN), responded, “Apparently Fish and Wildlife believes that traditional fishery management is more effective than marine protected areas in rebuilding fishery stocks – and that reductions in harvest are more effective than closing down areas.”

Martin noted that the abalone decline – caused by a die-off and not overharvesting – occurred in 2011. SCAN immediately supported a temporary closure at the Fort Ross index site to help the population to recover.

“They extended this temporary closure to a year round one,” said Martin. “We supported both that closure and an 8 am start time to help enforcement, as well as reduced bag limit south of Mendocino County.”

However, the abalone fishermen felt the reduction of the bag limit from 24 to 18 was “completely unnecessary.”

“What they really did was reduced the allowable recreational catch from 280,000 to 190,000 abalone, over a 30 percent reduction. And the Abalone Recovery and Management Plan only called for a 25 percent reduction,” said Martin.

In the course of discussing the regulations, Martin and other fishermen asked the Department to quantify the benefits of marine protected areas to the fishery.

The MPAs were touted by MLPA officials, including Ron LeValley, the Co-Chair of the MLPA Initiative Science Advisory team now being investigated by federal authorities for conspiracy with two others to embezzle nearly $1 million from the Yurok Tribe, because of the “benefits” they would provide by bolstering abalone and fish populations. (http://www.times-standard.com/… )

“The CDFW refused to quantify the benefits because they said it would take too long,” said Martin. “We believe there should be some benefit to quantify these benefits based on science.”

“The whole selling point of these MPAs is that they would make fish and shellfish populations more abundant,” said Martin. “The first test of that theory turned to be based on false promises.”

Martin emphasized, “We don’t think these marine protected areas benefit abalone at all. If they benefit abalone, give us some numbers. Instead they turned to traditional management to deal with a situation wasn’t harvest related.”

The CDFW press release announcing the regulations confirms Martin’s contention that the Department effectively admitted that the marine protected areas weren’t benefiting the abalone at all.

“Northern California red abalone are managed adaptively by the Commission, using traditional management measures coupled with fishery independent surveys to maintain the catch at sustainable levels, as prescribed by the Abalone Recovery and Management Plan (ARMP). Ongoing data surveys by the Department of Fish and Wildlife detected the effects of a recent abalone die-off along the Sonoma coast,” the Department stated.

“The declines in abalone density triggered the changes to management measures, because the densities dropped below levels that are prescribed in the ARMP for management action,” the release continued.

“The new regulations are intended to provide an opportunity for abalone populations in Sonoma and Marin to increase, and to help Mendocino County maintain a productive fishery. The set start time for the fishing day will also aid enforcement,” the DFW said.

Not mentioned anywhere in the news release are the “glorious” new marine protected areas, created under an allegedly “open, transparent and inclusive” process, that were supposed to bolster the populations of abalone and other species.

The release also didn’t mention the reasons for the abalone die-off and how to prevent a similar situation from taking place in the future.

Background: MLPA Initiative based on terminally flawed “science”

The “science” that the MLPA Initiative is based on is very questionable, leading tribal biologists, independent scientists, fishing groups and grassroots environmentalists to challenge its assumptions, methodology and conclusions.

The Northern California Tribal Chairman’s Association, including the Chairs of the Elk Valley Rancheria, Hoopa Valley Tribe, Karuk Tribe, Smith River Rancheria, Trinidad Rancheria, and Yurok Tribe, believes the science behind the MLPA Initiative developed by Schwarzenegger’s Science Advisory Team is “incomplete and terminally flawed.” (http://yubanet.com/…)

The Yurok Tribe said it has attempted on numerous occasions to address the scientific inadequacies with the MLPA science developed under the Schwarzenegger administration by adding “more robust protocols” into the equation, but was denied every time.

For example, the MLPA Science Advisory Team in August 2010 turned down a request by the Yurok Tribe to make a presentation to the panel. Among other data, the Tribe was going to present data of test results from other marine reserves regarding mussels.

“The data would have shown that there was not a statistical difference in the diversity of species from the harvested and un-harvested areas,” wrote John Corbett, Yurok Tribe Senior Attorney, in a letter to the Science Advisory Team on January 12, 2011. “The presentation would have encompassed the work of Smith, J.R. Gong and RF Ambrose, 2008, ‘The Impacts of Human Visitation on Mussel Bed Communities along the California Coast: Are Regulatory Marine Reserves Effective in Protecting these Communities.’” (http://yubanet.com/…)

No Tribal scientists were allowed to serve on the MLPA Science Advisory Team, in spite of the fact that the Yurok and other North Coast Indian Tribes have large natural resources and fisheries departments staffed with many fishery biologists and other scientists.

On the day of the historic direct action protest by a coalition of over 50 Tribes and their allies in Fort Bragg in July 2010, Frankie Joe Myers, Yurok Tribal member and Coastal Justice Coalition activist, exposed the refusal to incorporate Tribal science that underlies the fake “science” of the MLPA process.

“The whole process is inherently flawed by institutionalized racism,” said Myers. “It doesn’t recognize Tribes as political entities, or Tribal biologists as legitimate scientists.” (http://klamathjustice.blogspot.com/…)

To make matters even worse, the Del Norte County District Attorney arrested Ron LeValley, Co-Chair of the MLPA Science Advisory Team, in February 2012 for conspiracy with two others, Roland Raymond and Sean McAlllister, to embezzle nearly $1 million from the Yurok Tribe.

In January, District Attorney Jon Alexander said the state case was dismissed without prejudice against Raymond, LeValley and McAllister to “allow the case to move forward through the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” according to the Eureka Times-Standard. (http://www.times-standard.com/…)

Wouldn’t it have been prudent for the Natural Resources Agency and Department of Fish and Wildlife to have postponed the implementation of the alleged North Coast “marine protected areas” until this case had been resolved in the courts – and when the legitimacy of the “science” of the MLPA Initiative was already facing severe criticism from well-respected scientists?

The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) is a landmark law, signed by Governor Gray Davis in 1999, designed to create a network of marine protected areas off the California Coast. However, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 created the privately-funded MLPA “Initiative” to “implement” the law, effectively eviscerating the MLPA.

The “marine protected areas” created under the MLPA Initiative fail to protect the ocean from oil spills and drilling, water pollution, military testing, wave and wind energy projects, corporate aquaculture and all other uses of the ocean other than fishing and gathering. These areas are not “marine protected areas” in any real sense, but are just “no fishing” zones.

The MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces that oversaw the implementation of “marine protected areas” included a big oil lobbyist, marina developer, real estate executive and other individuals with numerous conflicts of interest. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, served on the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for the North Coast and North Central Coast.

Reheis-Boyd, a relentless advocate for offshore oil drilling, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), the Keystone XL Pipeline and the weakening of environmental laws, also chaired the South Coast MLPA Blue Ribbon Task that developed the MPAs that went into effect in Southern California waters on January 1, 2012.

The MLPA Initiative operated through a controversial private/public partnership funded by the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. The Schwarzenegger administration, under intense criticism by grassroots environmentalists, fishermen and Tribal members, authorized the implementation of marine protected areas under the initiative through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the foundation and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Native Presence Added to Commission on White House Fellowships

Rion Joaquin Ramirez, left, was named by President Barack Obama to the President's Commission on White House Fellowships on July 12. — Rion Joaquin Ramirez, left, was named by President Barack Obama to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships on July 12.

By Richard Walker, Indian Country Today Media Network

Rion Joaquin Ramirez is general counsel for the Suquamish Tribe’s Port Madison Enterprises, which has expanded the tribe’s economic diversity and made it one of the largest employers in Kitsap County, west of Seattle.

Ramirez is soon to take on another significant responsibility: Helping select men and women who work for a year as full-time, paid assistant to senior White House staff, the vice president, Cabinet secretaries and other top-ranking government officials.

Ramirez, Pascua Yaqui/Turtle Mountain Chippewa, was named by President Obama to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships July 12. He was not available for comment; technically, the president has only announced his intent to appoint Ramirez to the commission, so Ramirez can’t speak to the media until the appointment is official, which should be within two weeks, according to the White House Communications Office.

There are 27 commission members. Other current members include Keith Harper, Cherokee, who represented the plaintiff class of 500,000 individual Indians in Cobell v. Salazar and is Obama’s nominee for representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council; retired four-star Gen. Wesley Clark; Peabody and Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist John Hockenberry; eBay founder Pierre Omidyar; former U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes of Maryland; and Brown University president Ruth J. Simmons.

Ramirez is the second presidential appointee associated with the Suquamish Tribe this year. In May, Obama appointed Suquamish Tribe Chairman Leonard Forsman to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

The president appoints members of hundreds of federal agencies and commissions, but each has considerable influence over its area of focus. For example, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation manages the federal historic preservation review process and promotes historic preservation as a means of promoting job creation, economic recovery, energy independence, sustainability, and resource stewardship. In March, it endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, saying it was “an opportunity to promote better stewardship and protection of Native American historic properties and sacred sites and in doing so … ensure the survival of indigenous cultures.”

Speaking as chairman of the Suquamish Tribe, Forsman said Ramirez has helped formulate Indian policy on the federal level and helped develop the legal infrastructure needed for tribes to expand their economies. “He’s been a part of our growth for quite a long time,” Forsman said. “He’s interested in the community, in the social aspects of the tribe, and he’s very familiar with families here and from other tribes.”

Ramirez is the son of Larry Ramirez, an American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame inductee who pitched for Cal State Northridge’s 1970 NCAA Division II national championship team and was the first Native American to pitch a winning complete game in the College World Series.

The younger Ramirez earned a B.A. from the University of Washington and a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law. He was an associate at Dorsey & Whitney LLP and Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, P.C., and served as counsel for the University of Washington’s Child Advocacy Clinic. He joined Port Madison Enterprises in 2004.

He is a past president of the Northwest Indian Bar Association and a former appellate court justice for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, where he is enrolled.

In 2012, Ramirez was a member of the Obama for America National Finance Committee and co-chairman of the Obama Native Outreach Group. He raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for Obama’s reelection campaign.

President Lyndon B. Johnson established the White House Fellows Program in October 1964, declaring that “a genuinely free society cannot be a spectator society.” His intent was to draw individuals of exceptionally high promise to Washington for one year of personal involvement in the process of government “and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs.” Fellows are expected to employ post-fellowship what they learned by “continuing to work as private citizens on their public agendas.”

Johnson hoped Fellows would contribute to the nation as future leaders. Indeed, most if not all have: Past Fellows include Tom Johnson, who later became publisher of the Los Angeles Times and chairman of CNN; Robert C. McFarlane, who served as national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan; Colin Powell, who became an Army general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Secretary of State; Timothy E. Wirth, who became U.S. senator from Colorado and an Under Secretary of State; and numerous authors, elected officials, journalists, military leaders, and assistant Cabinet secretaries.

The current class includes civic leaders, doctors, lawyers, military officers, public policy specialists, and a journalist.

According to the commission website, commissioners met in Washington, D.C. the first week of June and interviewed 30 White House Fellowship finalists. Commissioners will recommend 11-19 for appointment; fellows are paid at GS level 14, step 3 – currently $90,343 – and benefits, and cannot receive any other compensation during their Fellowship.