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Will Endangered Seattle School Murals Be Saved?

andrew-morrison-mural-idle-no-more — Courtesy Andrew Morrison

Richard Walker, Indian Country Today Media Network

SEATTLE – For months, murals depicting Chief Joseph, Chief Seattle, and Natives in regalia and on horseback have been threatened with demolition—but a grassroots effort to save them may yet prove successful.

Supporters say the murals on the outside walls of the Seattle School District’s Wilson-Pacific Building are more than art. They are symbolic of the indigenous presence in the Pacific Northwest’s largest city.

Artist Andrew Morrison, Haida/Apache, painted the murals to honor the area’s Native peoples and historical leaders, such as Chief Si’ahl, the Duwamish-Suquamish leader for whom the City of Seattle is named.

Since 1974, Wilson-Pacific has been the home of American Indian Heritage School, now called American Indian Heritage Middle College High School. The school is located in Seattle’s Licton Springs neighborhood, which takes its name from the Lushootseed word “Liq’tid” (LEEK-teed), for the reddish mud of the springs that are still visible today.

So when the school was threatened with demolition to make way for construction of a new elementary and middle school—and Indian Heritage School students moved to a classroom at a nearby mall—the indigenous community rallied.

As of this writing, it appears their voices are being heard. Construction of a new elementary and middle school will still happen, but there’s a chance the walls containing the murals will be incorporated into the new school buildings. The project architect, Mahlum, has a reputation for engaging communities in the design process and incorporating into the final design those things that are important to the community. Mahlum’s previous Native-community projects include the Puyallup Tribe’s Chief Leschi School.

“The district wants to honor this work and has reached out to have ongoing discussions with the artist on how to preserve the murals,” Seattle School District project manager Eric Becker told ICTMN through the district’s public information office. “It is the district’s intent to honor the murals. Art historians have suggested several ways that this might happen. We will continue to work with the artist, design team and community to determine which option will be selected.”

Regarding how the campus’s role in Native education and racial integration might be represented in the new school buildings (as Wilson-Pacific School, it was one of the first integrated schools in Seattle), Becker said, “The School Design Advisory Team, comprised of district staff, the architect and community members, will meet to discuss all aspects of the new [elementary and middle school].”

Superintendent Jose Banda wrote in a May 10 letter to Indian Heritage School families, “a design team will be formed to look at future uses and design of the campus.” In addition, he invited applicants for a new Native American Advisory Committee to advise the district on implementing Native American education in local schools.

Tracy Rector, a filmmaker and mayor-appointed member of the Seattle Arts Commission, participated in the rallies to save Indian Heritage School and the murals.

“Andrew has rallied and inspired people to come around and support this sacred historical space for Native American families,” said Rector, Seminole/Choctaw. “It’s been powerful. It sounded like the school district was bent on tearing [the school and murals] down. This has changed the game quite a bit.”

Morrison, his brother and sister attended American Indian Heritage School, one of five local schools in which students receive more individualized attention and can take community college courses. In addition, Indian Heritage School offers culturally-based classes, and hosts an annual pow-wow, Native Youth Conference, and Native basketball tournaments. Morrison remembers the school being “the nucleus of the community.”

According to Morrison, “By 1992, the success of Indian Heritage [School] could not be denied. Not only did Indian Heritage graduate every student, but graduates also enrolled in post-secondary or vocational school.” When the school celebrated its 20^th anniversary in 1994, it was noted that every student that graduated from Indian Heritage School in the two previous years enrolled in college.

In 2001, after his freshman year of college, Morrison volunteered at the school and painted the first of his 25-foot murals, often enlisting the help of students and community members.

The controversy began last year, after the district proposed a tax levy to replace the 60-year-old Wilson-Pacific buildings with a new middle school and elementary school. The Urban Native Education Alliance and the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation called for the district to renovate Wilson-Pacific, rather than demolish it, in so doing ensuring the Indian Heritage School would continue and the murals would be preserved.

The tax levy was approved by voters. The school district made plans to move Indian Heritage School students to the middle college program at Northgate Mall for the 2013-14 school year, and proposed making digital images of the murals so they could be replicated later. Morrison wouldn’t consent to the replication of his work. On March 6, the school board approved the contract for construction of a new school and recommended only a Native American honoring of Wilson-Pacific prior to its demolition.

On May 15, an Idle No More rally was held at school district offices. At the school board meeting that followed, Urban Native Education Alliance chairwoman Sarah Sense-Wilson, Oglala Lakota, said the district has withdrawn resources and removed Native instructors from Indian Heritage School over the years, “rendering the program a shell of what was once a vibrant, successful, visible program.”

Sense-Wilson said merging Indian Heritage School with the middle college program at the mall would be an act of institutional racism and classism, “assimilating Native learners and further distancing them from their cultural identity, heritage and connection with the Native community, and ultimately a poignant loss of a distinct, unique Native-focused program, which at one time bridged culture, tradition, history, Native perspective and connection with the community.”

She asked that Indian Heritage School be moved to another campus. “We do know there is space at various schools,” she said.

Dr. Carol Simmons, a retired Seattle educator, alluded that destroying a Native school program and Native art on a historically indigenous site would be a continuation of the “historical devastation and destruction of Native culture and the mistreatment of Native students in our schools.”

She said, “These murals must be preserved with dignity and not disrespectfully digitized. This important school must be treasured and not demeaned by placing it in a shopping mall.”

Other speakers included former state Sen. Claudia Kauffman, Nez Perce, who also asked that a permanent home be found for Indian Heritage School. “This is more than just an educational institution. It’s [a place] for the community in which we gather together.”

Banda said he met the day before with concerned residents about Indian Heritage School. He said he will continue to meet with Native American families and a new coalition “to discuss the next steps” regarding the school. “We truly value our relationship with our Native American families and we look forward to working with our families and community members to more effectively support our Native students,” he said.

He referred to the murals as “artifacts” and said the district will work “to ensure we protect those artifacts.”

On May 22, Morrison and Banda had a conversation and made amends; their relationship had been strained by months of protests and press coverage. Morrison is creating a portrait of the late Bob Eaglestaff, principal of Indian Heritage school in the 1980s and ’90s, as a gift to the school district. He’s also offered to paint, at his own expense, mural portraits of Geronimo and Sitting Bull at the current Indian Heritage School campus.

“Chief Seattle, Chief Joseph, Chief Geronimo and Chief Sitting Bull will complete our four directions and this will solidify a commitment between the Seattle Public Schools, the Native American community, my family, and me,” Morrison said.

For more of the story, visit andrewmorrison.org.

Artist Andrew Morrison talks to Native Youth Conference participants about the murals he painted at American Indian Heritage Middle College High School. The conference was April 16-18 at the school. The walls with the murals may be incorporated into the new school that is proposed to be built at the site. Photos courtesy Andrew Morrison.

Courtesy Andrew Morrison.

An Idle No More rally was held May 15 at the Seattle School District offices. Photo by Andrew Morrison.

Photo by Andrew Morrison

Students hold signs calling for the Seattle School Board to move American Indian Heritage Middle College High School to another campus. Photo by Andrew Morrison.

3 Washington Native Leaders, Quinault Adviser Named to Key Positions

Maia Bellon/Courtesy Washington State Department of Ecology, Leonard Forsman/Photo by Molly Neely-WalkerMaia Bellon, left, Mescalero Apache, was appointed director of the state Department of Ecology by Gov. Jay Inslee; Leonard Forsman, Suquamish Tribe chairman was appointed by President Barack Obama to the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.Read more at https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/29/3-washington-native-leaders-quinault-adviser-named-key-positions-149581 — Maia Bellon/Courtesy Washington State Department of Ecology, Leonard Forsman/Photo by Molly Neely-Walker
Maia Bellon, left, Mescalero Apache, was appointed director of the state Department of Ecology by Gov. Jay Inslee; Leonard Forsman, Suquamish Tribe chairman was appointed by President Barack Obama to the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Read more at https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/29/3-washington-native-leaders-quinault-adviser-named-key-positions-149581

Richard Walker, Indian Country Today Media Network

Two Native Americans in Washington state and an environmental adviser to Quinault Nation’s president were named in May to key positions influencing the arts, the environment and historical protection. Earlier, an environmental lawyer who is Mescalero Apache was named director of the state’s Department of Ecology.

Suquamish Tribe Chairman Leonard Forsman was appointed by President Barack Obama to the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Forsman said he will continue to serve as Suquamish chairman; the advisory council meets quarterly and members are not paid.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP)is an independent federal agency that promotes “the preservation, enhancement, and productive use of our nation’s historic resources,” and advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy.

According to the agency’s website, “The goal of the National Historic Preservation Act, which established the ACHP in 1966, is to have federal agencies act as responsible stewards of our nation’s resources when their actions affect historic properties. The ACHP is the only entity with the legal responsibility to encourage federal agencies to factor historic preservation into federal project requirements.”

Forsman has been chairman of the Suquamish Tribe since 2005. He earned a bachelor of arts in anthropology from the University of Washington and a master of arts in historic preservation from Goucher College.

Forsman was director of the Suquamish Museum from 1984 to 1990, and has served on the museum Board of Directors since 2010. He was a research archaeologist for Larson Anthropological/Archaeological Services in Seattle from 1992 to 2003. He has served on the Tribal Leaders Congress on Education since 2005, the Suquamish Tribal Cultural Cooperative Committee since 2006, the Washington State Historical Society board since 2007, and was vice president of the Washington Indian Gaming Association in 2010. He also served on the state Committee on Geographic Names.

Forsman said, “I want to build on the advisory council’s efforts to recognize and protect those cultural resources that are important to tribes — the cultural landscape and sacred places that have been neglected — and provide tribes more resources to protect those places to the best of our ability.”

Maia D. Bellon, Mescalero Apache, was appointed director of the state Department of Ecology by Gov. Jay Inslee. Several Olympia insiders say Bellon may be the first Native American appointed to a cabinet-level position by a governor of Washington.

Upon taking office, she helped resolve a dispute that threatened a cleanup plan for an old mill site on Port Gamble Bay, one of seven bays identified as cleanup priorities under the Puget Sound Initiative.

Ecology wants two old docks with creosoted pilings removed as part of the cleanup; the mill site owner, Pope Resources, wanted to keep the docks in place until it had approval for a new dock, which it considers critical to its plans to further develop its upland community of Port Gamble.

The final agreement puts the docks’ removal later in the cleanup timeline. Pope has no guarantee it will get a new dock, but it may be able to use removal of the old docks as mitigation when it applies for a new-dock permit; in other words, Pope could say the environmental impacts from the new dock would be offset by the removal of the old docks.

Bellon’s handling of the negotiations won praise. “In her first weeks in office, [she] brought a focused effort on reaching an equitable resolution to this complex cleanup project,” Pope president and CEO David Nunes said.

Bellon is the daughter of Richard Bellon, executive director of the Chehalis Tribe; and Rio Lara-Bellon, a writer and educator. She graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1991 and Arizona State University Law School in 1994.

In the ensuing years, she served as an environmental attorney with Ecology and the state Attorney General’s office. In 2011, she became manager of Ecology’s water resources program, responsible for management of the state’s water resources, the allocation of water, and protection of water rights, instream flows and environmental functions.

In that role, she shepherded an agreement ensuring sufficient stream flows for salmon without jeopardizing local water-use rights in the Dungeness River basin. Among its many provisions, the agreement established necessary stream flows for salmon habitat, and set up a “water bank” through which land owners can buy, sell or lease water-use credits, or water rights.

Bellon said she works to help all sides see the other’s perspective and keep everyone focused on shared goals. “I strive to serve as a bridge,” Bellon said. “When people are in the same room, when they’re engaged closely, they find they share many of the same values. That’s where we need to start.”

Tracy Rector, Seminole/Choctaw, was appointed by Seattle’s mayor and City Council to the Seattle Arts Commission.

Rector is executive director of Longhouse Media, which works to break down negative stereotypes of Native people in the media, and help Native youth develop the skills necessary to tell their own stories through digital media. She produced the award-winning film, “March Point” (2008), a coming-of-age story about three Swinomish teens who make a documentary about the impact of two oil refineries on their community.

Rector’s film work has been featured at the Cannes Film Festival, ImagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival, the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian, and on PBS’s Independent Lens. She has a master’s in education from Antioch University.

Gary Morishima, natural resources adviser to Quinault Nation President Fawn Sharp, is a new member of the U.S. Geological Survey Climate Change and Natural Resources Science Committee, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Native American Policy Team. He was appointed by U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

In her announcement, Jewell said the climate change committee will work to “develop sound science that will help inform policymakers, land managers and the public in making important resource management decisions.”

Morishima said in an announcement released by the Quinault Nation, “Because Tribal communities are place-based and critically dependent on natural resources, they are among the most vulnerable to climate impacts and among the most experienced in adapting to changing conditions. Tribal perspectives need to be an integral part of the committee’s dialogue. Awareness and respect for both tribal wisdom and western science will be crucial to our collective ability to understand, confront and overcome the scientific, economic and political challenges that lie ahead.”

Morishima said of his appointment to U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Native American Policy team, “It’s a big responsibility and an exciting opportunity to strengthen working partnerships to care for the land and people.”

Morishima has an undergraduate degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in quantitative science and environmental management from the University of Washington. He has served the Quinault Nation since 1974 in forestry, fisheries and natural resources management. He has testified before Congress on natural resource management, trust reform, and Indian policy. He is one of the founders of the Intertribal Timber Council.

“I am very proud of the many achievements and contributions Dr. Morishima has made in his 40 years of service to the Quinault Nation and to Indian country,” Quinault’s president said in the announcement. “I have full confidence that he will do an exceptional job and that his efforts will make a substantial difference in meeting the challenges being addressed by these two important committees.”

Jackson Katz: Violence against women—it’s a men’s issue

Jackson Katz asks a very important question that gets at the root of why sexual abuse, rape and domestic abuse remain a problem: What’s going on with men?

Why you should listen to him:

Jackson Katz is an educator, author, filmmaker and cultural theorist who is a pioneer in the fields of gender violence prevention education and media literacy. He is co-founder of Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP), which enlists men in the struggle to prevent men’s violence against women. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, MVP has become a widely used sexual and domestic violence prevention initiative in college and professional athletics across North America. Katz and his MVP colleagues have also worked extensively with schools, youth sports associations and community organizations, as well as with all major branches of the U.S. military.

Katz is the creator of popular educational videos including Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity. He is the author of The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help and Leading Men: Presidential Campaigns and the Politics of Manhood. He has also appeared in several documentaries, including Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes and MissRepresentation.

“After I watched this talk, my first thought was, ‘If only every man, woman and teenager could see this video and hear this message.'” – Daily

New Marine Advisory Council Important Step for Coastal Counties

Governor Jay Inslee signs legislation to establish the Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council under the executive office of the governor

Source: The Nature Conservancy

Olympia – Washington State advances a more collaborative approach to deal with pressing issues facing the Pacific coast. On May 21, 2013, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation to create the Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council (WCMAC) under the executive office of the governor. This council convenes stakeholders and managers to advise the State on issues facing the state?s marine waters and shorelines along the Pacific coast.

“This is a big step toward stronger recognition of coastal community interests,” said Dale Beasley, President of the Columbia River Crab Fishermen’s Association. “Many of us on the coast have been pushing the State to take a stronger role in collaboratively managing our valuable coastal resources. In Pacific and Grays Harbor counties, over 30 percent of all the jobs are dependent on marine resources.”

A broad coalition of coastal stakeholders, co-managers and scientists worked to design the new council and then coastal commercial and recreational fisherman led the charge to formalize the body under the executive office of the governor with support from the Surfrider Foundation, the Nature Conservancy and business interests.

“Washington’s Pacific Coast lags far behind other coastal states and Puget Sound when it comes to collaborative management and conservation of ocean and coastal resources,” said Surfrider Foundation Policy Manager, Jody Kennedy. “When you consider how remarkable and valuable our Pacific coastline is for state residents and coastal communities, protecting coastal marine resources should be a priority for the State,” Kennedy added.

Members on the Council represent ocean and coastal interests for the Pacific coast, including commercial fishing, shellfish growers, conservation, science, ports, recreation and economic development. Each coastal marine resources committee has a seat. Under the new legislation, State agencies also have seats and federal, tribal and local governments are invited to participate.

One of the first issues the WCMAC will tackle is assisting state agencies with Marine Spatial Planning in order to protect existing jobs and healthy coastal ecosystems from new competing demands on ocean resources.

“The signing of Senate Bill 5603 to establish the Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council, represents a significant advancement for the representation of coastal communities in the Marine Spatial Planning process and in the planning and regulation of coastal affairs. It provides us a greater degree of access and influence that many people have been striving to achieve for a long time”, said Doug Kess, the Chair of the Washington Marine Advisory Council.

“Right now, funding to support Marine Spatial Planning on Washington’s coast is uncertain as the State Legislature continues to grapple with budget negotiations,” said Paul Dye, the Washington Marine Director for The Nature Conservancy. “A diverse coalition of coastal stakeholders, including conservationists, shellfish growers and fishermen are advocating hard for Marine Spatial Planning funding and we hope that legislators are listening,” added Paul.

State appeals federal ruling on salmon-blocking culverts

State officials have said the ruling, part of a decades-old legal battle tied to treaties dating to the mid-1800s, could cost billions of dollars — money the state doesn’t have.

– Associated Press

OLYMPIA — Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson is appealing a federal ruling ordering the state to fix culverts that block salmon passages.

The state on Tuesday filed a notice of appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the March 29 U.S. District Court ruling by Judge Ricardo Martinez that set up a timeline to fix hundreds of culverts around the state.

“The state remains committed to doing more to address fish passage barriers and will continue to do so as resources permit. The implications of the case, however, stretch beyond culverts. Issues of this magnitude deserve full and thoughtful appellate review,” said Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a statement.

State officials have said the ruling could cost billions of dollars — money the state doesn’t have.

The Martinez ruling is part of a decades-old legal battle tied to treaties dating to the mid-1800s. Tribes say the state has blocked salmon passage and contributed to the decline of fish harvests.

More than 20 tribes signed up for the legal action, including the Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakama Indian Nation, Tulalip Tribes, Makah Nation and Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.

Culverts are often built under roadways to allow streams to flow under them.

Martinez ordered the state to fix approximately 180 culverts on recreational lands by 2016 and more than 800 culverts under the Department of Transportation by 2030.

State agencies told lawmakers in April that the ruling would cost more than $2.4 billion. The state could meet the repair deadline imposed by Martinez, if the money is provided

Martinez said in his decision that the tribes have been harmed economically, socially, educationally and culturally because of reduced salmon harvests caused by state barriers that prevent fish passage. He compared spending on culvert correction with the overall Department of Transportation budget and said the state has the financial ability to accelerate the pace of its fixes over the next several years.

Bob Whitener: Sustainability Offers Tribes a Meaningful Way to Diversify Their Holdings

Bob Whitener, Indian Country Today Media Network

Sustainability truly matters to the tribes. The rivers and the fish kept them alive. Their natural resources provided them with jobs. They still want—and need—to provide jobs. And sustainability can help do that.

That’s one of the main reasons why investing in sustainable companies, partnerships and projects that have a chance to change the future makes a lot of sense for the tribes today.

The tribes have always prioritized the health of their environment, and I strongly believe that the economic and social conditions are ripe for them to contribute meaningfully to environmental improvement right now.

I used to be a tribal fisherman who dug clams, but now I’m a consultant who advises the tribes when it comes to natural resources, economic development and environmental protection.

As part of my upbringing, and part of my current job, I know how important it is for the tribes to diversify their holdings beyond gaming. But I also know that this diversification absolutely must preserve the tribes’ ethical and social values. This is simply non-negotiable.

Indeed, many green technologies need investment, and those tribes whose economic resources permit can play an important role by providing financial support that allows profit-oriented enterprises in this area to thrive.

Looking forward, the alignment of environmental values and economic opportunity creates a synergistic benefit for future tribe generations. Greater wealth helps all tribe members, and a better environment leads to increased health for the tribes, too.

There’s also long-lasting tribe pride in having enhanced both the economy and the environment.

I’ve seen several good examples that illustrate how the tribes are achieving both these goals through smart sustainability investing and commitments.

Washington State-based MicroGREEN, for example, is transforming recycled water bottles into recyclable products for retail, food-service and packaging needs. The company is the closest thing to full-cycle recycling I’ve seen. And it’s a rare kind of business, because it can make money and still be good for the environment. Some day in the future, I believe that MicroGREEN’s cups will be ubiquitous, and the tribes that have invested in it will be very proud.

In the wind-power market, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are installing wind turbines on their land in order to offset fossil fuels and power all operations with wind energy. This move is expected to save more than $9 million for the tribes over the next four decades. In the past, the tribes have spent more than $200,000 a month for electricity, including generators that help power its casinos.

One of the nation’s first 100 percent Native American-owned-and-operated renewable energy companies can be found on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Founded in 2006, Lakota Solar Enterprises (LSE) manufactures solar air collectors and complete supplemental solar heating systems. It also provides employment and green-jobs training for Native Americans.

Meanwhile, the Confederate Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) in Montana are developing a pioneering project aimed at creating a viable biofuel industry using waste wood that blankets the region’s vast forestlands. The CSKT have agreed to partner with a team of researchers from the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA) on an expansive $40 million research project. NARA is a broad collective of scientists and engineers from public universities and private industry that is studying the feasibility of creating jet fuel using wood debris and residuals.

Working with companies that prioritize environmental sustainability, such as MicroGREEN, will help the tribes diversify their economies and help green, in a cost effective way, their gaming operations if they have them.”

Bob Whitener is a member of the Squaxin Island Tribe and co-owner and managing partner of The Whitener Group with his brother Ron. The Whitener Group is a consulting firm dedicated to the sustainability and advancement of tribes. The company advises Indian Tribes, as well as businesses and organizations that want to work with tribes to advance tribal objectives. Prior to The Whitener Group’s establishment in 2009, Bob Whitener served as the CEO/Board President for Island Enterprises Inc., the tribe’s economic development corporation, for more than 8 years. And before he created the Island Enterprises Inc., Bob served for over 6 years as the executive director of the Squaxin Island Tribe.

Will Stelle on Treaty Rights at Risk and salmon recovery

treatyrightsatrisk.org

Will Stelle, the regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries, gives a thorough explanation on the federal perspective of salmon recovery and Treaty Rights at Risk. Stelle spoke during the 2013 Salmon Recovery Conference two weeks ago in Vacouver, WA.

Work starts on temporary section for collapsed bridge

Acrow BridgesAn Acrow bridge used at ground zero in New York City. Acrow is building a temporary span to replace the portion of the Skagit River Bridge that collapsed last week. — Acrow Bridges
An Acrow bridge used at ground zero in New York City. Acrow is building a temporary span to replace the portion of the Skagit River Bridge that collapsed last week.

Jerry Cornfield, The Herald

Construction of a 160-foot steel Band-Aid for the Skagit River Bridge began Tuesday while a meticulous examination of the damaged section continued above and below the water.

Acrow Bridge is building the temporary span in pieces on a closed stretch of I-5 to be rolled into place for final assembly once the National Transportation Safety Board completes its work and demolition crews clear away the remains of the collapsed segment.

The Department of Transportation didn’t say how much the temporary bridge costs, but said it would be part of the $15 million emergency contract awarded to Atkinson Construction in Renton to clear the wreckage and rebuild the bridge.

Gov. Jay Inslee is pushing for a mid-June reopening, and state transportation officials say the timeline is doable but caution against chiseling in a date.

There’s no plan to hurry the federal authorities or rush the cleanup. Plus, state bridge experts must still examine the steel and concrete piers that supported the collapsed span to be sure they can be used for the replacement.

“We do have some challenges ahead of us,” said Travis Phelps of the DOT. “We are going to do our best to meet that timeline. We want to be sure it is done right and safe. This work ain’t easy.”

Tuesday brought word that Acrow Bridge, a 62-year-old New Jersey bridge-building firm, will construct the temporary four-lane segment to replace the section that crumbled into the Skagit River on May 23.

When completed, it will consist of two prefabricated steel bridges installed side by side. Each piece will be 160 feet long and 24 feet wide, which is wide enough to support two lanes of traffic. The road will have an asphalt overlay or a factory-applied aggregate anti-skid finish, according to a company spokeswoman.

When the bridge reopens, just about every vehicle, commercial truck and tractor-trailer allowed to travel on it before the incident will be able to travel on it again, Phelps said.

Transportation officials will set a maximum vehicle weight to be allowed on the temporary bridge. Overweight vehicles, referred to as super loads, are not going to be permitted, he said.

Some trucks with oversized loads, like the one that struck the bridge and caused the collapse, could use the bridge if they do not exceed the weight limit, he said. They will need to comply with existing rules, such as use of a pilot car with a height rod, he said.

Speed will be reduced on the bridge because the lanes will be narrower, there will be little or no shoulder and some type of barrier will be in place dividing the northbound and southbound lanes, Phelps said.

Acrow Bridge, which has an office in Camas, Wash., specializes in pre-fabricated modular steel bridges. It has built similar bridges to replace ones damaged in hurricanes Katrina, Irene and Sandy, according to the company.

Meanwhile Tuesday, Inslee moved to assist retailers who’ve seen business plummet since the span tumbled into the river, fracturing one of the major trade and travel corridors on the West Coast.

He approved using $150,000 of the state’s Economic Development Strategic Reserve Account to support economic activity in Skagit County and surrounding areas.

None of the money can go directly to a business, according to the governor’s office. The Department of Commerce will use the money for a media campaign focused on informing the public that the region’s businesses and attractions are open and how best to get there. Island, Whatcom and San Juan counties also will be involved.

The Washington State Patrol has beefed up its presence along the detour routes due to complaints of semi-trucks and cars with trailers running red lights and blocking intersections when traffic signals turn red. Both are infractions and can result in a $124 ticket, according to the state patrol.

“We understand the detours are an inconvenience for motorists but we want to make the routes as safe as possible. Motorists need to pack their patience while these detours are in place,” Trooper Mark Francis said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Carmen: Treaty Council’s Inclusion on Racist List is ‘Badge of Honor’

Gale Courey Toensing, Indian Country Today Media Network

Groucho Marx famously said, “I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that has someone like me as a member.” In a kind of reversal of that humorous sentiment, Andrea Carmen, the executive director of the International Indian Treaty Council, says she’s glad her organization belongs to a club in the form of a list of allegedly “UnAmerican” people, places and things. The reason? The list was compiled by the late Billy James Hargis, a southern white racist preacher who was anti-communist, anti-union, pro-segregationist, anti-black and, apparently, also anti-Indian, and it includes some of the most revered civil rights leaders, artists, activists and other people and organizations that have worked for social justice.

In 1950, Hargis founded a ministry called Christian Crusade, a media empire that included a magazine, a daily radio program, Christian Crusade Publications, and a direct mail operation in those pre-e-mail times that distributed his propaganda throughout the world. His heyday as a televangelist peaked during the 1950s and 1960s when he made daily broadcasts on 500 radio stations and 250 TV channels. He died in 2004 at the age of 79.

The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) was founded in 1974 at a gathering by the American Indian Movement in Standing Rock, South Dakota that was attended by more than 5,000 representatives of 98 Indigenous Nations. The organization advocates for treaty lands and the basic human rights of freedom and sovereignty. Carmen (Yaqui Indian Nation) has been a staff member of the International Indian Treaty Council since 1983 and its executive director since 1992.

“IITC is the only Indigenous Peoples organization to be listed on this racist list, and yes I do consider it to be a badge of honor,” Carmen told Indian Country Today Media Network in an e-mail. “These types consider anyone making a serious stand for Treaty Rights, justice and human rights to be a threat to their vision of how society and its power relationship should be organized.”

On May 3, Carmen received an e-mail from a colleague who notified her that the International Indian Treaty Council was included on one of Hargis’s immense files of “UnAmerican” people and organizations in a collection of his papers housed by the University of Arkansas. “I found this today in a link sent to me from a woman in Tulsa who was researching her pro-choice organization,” Carmen’s colleague wrote. “The files were compiled by the Oklahoma equivalent of Joseph McCarthy, Tulsa racist minister Billy Hargis, who was alleged to have been having sex with male and female students at his Christian College in Tulsa.”

The particular file that includes the International Indian Treaty Council is listed under “Series II, Domestic Policies and Issues, Subseries #5: Social Issues.” The subsector is divided into categories on race, the civil rights movement, Hispanics, racist organizations, women’s issues and organizations, families and the changing sexual morality of the 1960s and 1970s, the 1960s counterculture, drug and alcohol abuse, crime and law enforcement, health care and poverty. Among the “UnAmerican” individuals Hargis listed are civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr., comedian Bill Cosby, author James Baldwin, jazz great Louis Armstrong, Nobel prize-winning social worker Jane Addams, and singer Harry Belafonte. Among the “UnAmerican” organizations and initiatives are the Black Panthers, Fisk University, the Equal Rights Amendment, and Freedom Riders.

The International Indian Treaty Council is listed as number 31, squished between “Hispanics, 26-30” and “Racist Individuals and Organizations, 32-46,” oddly under the heading “African Americans and Civil Rights by State.”

News about the inclusion of IITC on Hargis’ target list was posted to the mailing list of the North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The posting elicited a number of congratulatory responses. “IITC has to be doing something right to make them list you,” one writer told Carmen. “Congratulations!”

Recognition for Service by Native Americans May Finally Be Coming

Indian Country Today Media Network

Native Americans, including American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, serve at a higher rate in the U.S. Armed Forces that any other group and have served in all of the nation’s wars since the Revolutionary War honorably and courageously. Twenty-eight Natives have won the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration. The Navajo, Comanche, Choctaw, Tlingit and other Native nations created codes that enemies couldn’t break, turning the tide in both world wars.

And yet, among all the memorials and monuments on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., there is not one that recognizes the contributions of Native warriors. But that, hopefully, will soon change.

On May 23, Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced a bill, S. 1046, Native American Veterans’ Memorial Amendments Act of 2013, that would facilitate the construction of a Native American Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), and Jon Tester (D-Montana) are original co-sponsors.

“Every Memorial Day we honor the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces, and [this] legislation would allow for construction of a memorial on the National Mall so that people from across the country can honor the extraordinary contributions and sacrifices of our Native American veterans,” said Schatz, after introducing the bill.

“Our Native veterans have sacrificed their lives for this country and it is important that we recognize their bravery and patriotism with a fitting memorial. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Indian Affairs Committee and in the United States Senate to get this bill passed and finally have a National Native American Veterans Memorial in our nation’s capital.”

Schatz’s bill would clarify the Native American Veterans’ Memorial Establishment Act of 1994, proposed by then-Senators Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), amending the bill to allow for the completion of the long-standing project. The 1994 act okayed the construction of the memorial, but didn’t provide for the funding of it.

According to the National Congress of American Indians, the project has encountered a number of obstacles since the legislation’s passage, including limitations placed on the involvement of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). The new language removes a number of technical barriers that have hindered completion and allows for the memorial to be built adjacent to NMAI, not inside the museum as originally proposed. Additionally, NMAI would be able to participate in raising funds for the effort.

“It is essential that we fulfill Senator Inouye and Indian Country’s vision for a memorial to honor the service and sacrifice of our Native American service members. NCAI supports the amendments to the Native American Veterans’ Memorial Establishment Act of 1994, which will make the memorial a reality and allow for it to be built on the property of the National Museum of the American Indian,” said Jefferson Keel, President of NCAI and a decorated veteran, in a press release. “Most importantly, this bill allows for more flexibility for tribal nations and the United States to work together to honor the contributions and sacrifices of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian military service members and veterans. As a Native veteran myself, I look forward to the day my fellow veterans are recognized for their contributions to protecting the sovereignty of tribal nations and the United States.”

Increased efforts for a memorial honoring the military service of Natives on the National Mall can be traced back to the 1980s when the well-known The Three Soldiers sculpture was unveiled near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Depicted are three American soldiers: one white, one black and a Hispanic. The exclusion of a Native American was seen as disrespectful by Indian country.

‘The Three Soldiers’ sculpture does not recognize the contributions of Native service members.

Robert Holden, director of the National Congress of American Indians, said that the sculpture excludes Native Americans, and does not fully depict their contributions. During the Vietnam era, for example, more than 42,000 Native Americans served in the military and 90 percent of those service members were volunteers. Holden also said during a press conference call that the national organization was told that the Hispanic figure in the sculpture was meant to represent not only Hispanics but also Native Americans: “that is not satisyfing.”

“Given that Native American people are not currently acknowledged anywhere in the National Mall,” said Holden, “I think Native Americans are seeking that recognition—that Native people are true patriots and have been really since the American Revolution.”

In the press conference call, NMAI Director Kevin Gover said he didn’t know how much the memorial will cost. But he said the entire project will be funded by private sources. “We are grateful to Senator Schatz for his interest, and Senators Inouye and Akaka for their contribution. And we look forward to working with Senator Schatz as we move forward, empowering the National Museum of the American Indian to be directly involved in the process of erecting this memorial,” said Gover.

Gover also said he didn’t know where the memorial will be placed. The museum will solicit proposals from artists. There are several possible locations, he said, “But artists being who they are may see other places.”

Regardless of where it stands, the memorial would be meaningful for Native peoples, said Native Hawaiian veteran Allen Hoe during the conference call.

“Native Americans, Alaskans, and Hawaiians have a traditional belief in honoring our warriors,” he said.

“Native Americans have fought bravely and been a critical part of the American military for generations,” Senator Tester said recently. “It’s long-past time we honor their sacrifices with the recognition they earned. This memorial is one more way we can pay our respects and say ‘thank you’ for their courageous service to our country.”

To track the progress of Schatz’s bill in Congress, click here.