By Alysa Landry Navajo Times
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2013
Hydraulic fracturing on Indian land may become more difficult under new rules proposed by the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management.
The Interior Department on May 16 issued new draft rules for hydraulic fracturing on public and Indian lands.
Fracturing, or “fracking,” is the process of drilling and injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the ground at high pressure to crack shale formations and unlock oil and gas.
The process is controversial because fracking releases methane gas and other toxic chemicals, which can contaminate nearby groundwater. This can be especially dangerous on the 56 million acres of Indian land in the country. On the more isolated reservations like the Navajo Nation, people and livestock depend on well water for drinking, cooking and washing.
Approximately 500,000 oil and gas wells are active in the United States. That includes 92,000 on public and tribal land, where about 13 percent of the nation’s natural gas and 5 percent of its oil are produced, according to statistics from the Interior Department.
Ninety percent of wells drilled on federal and Indian lands use fracking. Yet the BLM’s current regulations governing fracking on public and tribal lands are more than 30 years old and were not designed to address modern fracking technology. The revised rules would modernize management of the industry and help establish baseline safeguards to help protect the environment and reduce the human risk.
“We are proposing some common-sense updates that increase safety while also providing flexibility and facilitating coordination with states and tribes,” said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “As we continue to offer millions of acres of America’s public lands for oil and gas development, it is important that the public has full confidence that the right safety and environmental protections are in place.”
The new draft rules come after an initial proposal last fall. The Interior Department received more than 177,000 public comments on those rules. The updated draft proposal will be subject to a new 30-day public comment period.
The updated draft keeps the main components of the initial proposal, which requires operators to disclose the chemicals they use in fracking on public or tribal land, verify that fluids are not contaminating groundwater and confirm that management plans are in place for handling fluids that flow back to the surface.
Yet the draft already has drawn criticism from both environmentalists and industry leaders.
Industry officials object to what they call redundant regulation, while environmentalists say the standards do not adequately safeguard drinking water.
By Shondiin Silversmith Navajo Times
WINDOW ROCK, May 23, 2013
T he Force proved to be strong with this group of Navajos as they earned the seven primary roles in the upcoming Navajo-language version of “Star Wars.”
Terry Teller, of Lukachukai, Ariz. will be the voice of Luke Skywalker.
“It is pretty pretty awesome,” Teller said happily, adding that he enjoyed the audition because it required him to really act. “Since it was going to be the first movie in Navajo I wanted it to be the best,” he said. “I challenged myself to play the role, as it needs to be. It was hard because I have never done anything like that before.”
Anderson Kee of Cottonwood, Ariz. will be the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Kee said the way the Obi-Wan Kenobi talks about the Force in the movie reminds him of a Navajo medicine man, especially when he says the words in Navajo.
“It was a new experience for me,” he said.
Clarissa Yazzie of Rock Point, Ariz. will be the voice of Princess Leia.
Yazzie said she enjoys Princess Leia’s sarcastic and dominating personality because she feels that her personality closely resembles Leia’s.
“I was excited to just be a part of the whole experience,” she said.
James Junes of Farmington, N.M. is the voice of Han Solo – and one of the very few experienced actors to win a part. Junes is part of the comedy team James and Ernie, and has had roles in low-budget films on the Navajo Nation.
Marvin Yellowhair of N.M. is the voice of Darth Vader.
Yellowhair said he wanted to be Darth Vader because he is the main character he remembers from Star Wars, mostly due to the fact that the villain is always in control and he is a leader. He said it related to him as a coach at Rock Point High.
“It felt so good being involved with this project,” he said.
James Bilagody of Ariz., another experienced performer, is the voice of General Tarkin.
The Navajo voice of C-3PO is a “surprise,” said director Ellyn Stern Epcar. “It will be unveiled on July third.”
“All the people that were cast fit the voice perfectly and they gave awesome performances,” said Manuelito Wheeler, Navajo Nation Museum director. “The directors, they chose the right people.”
Epcar is from Epcar Entertainment, a company based out of Los Angeles, Calif. She was hired under Deluxe Entertainment to direct the dubbed film. She said she has been doing this type of work for over 30 years.
“This isn’t a film this is about saving a language, this is about preserving a language,” said Epcar of the Navajo-dubbed Star Wars. “This takes on more importance of anything I’ve ever done. I feel profoundly humbled to be a part of this.”
Lauren Salcedo Herman Williams Sr. has been selected to be the Strawberry Festival Grand Marshal.
By Lauren Salcedo, The Marysville Globe
MARYSVILLE — Herman Williams Sr. is a former Tulalip Tribal Chair, Marysville School Board Director, Marysville High School ASB President and football quarterback. He is an artist, painter, musician, fisherman and storyteller. And now, he is adding one more title to his list of influence in the Marysville and Tulalip areas — Strawberry Festival Grand Marshal.
“Herman has been influential in Tulalip and Marysville for many years,” said Carol Kapua, of the Strawberry Festival. “Being one of the leaders of the Tribes, he has been instrumental in getting the Tribes to where they are today, especially in the business world.”
Since retiring in 1980, Williams has continued to focus on art, and uses paintings, stories and songs to honor the history of the Tribes.
“What I’m doing is trying to go back and depict the life of my ancestors,” said Williams. “I want to really show the life they had, and how they went through the trauma of people telling them they couldn’t sing their songs or tell their stories.”
When Williams found out about the selection as Grand Marshal, he thought it was a joke. When Kapua told him that he really was going to be Grand Marshal he was surprised and touched.
“It’s really rather an honor,” he said.
Willams will be in the Strawberry Festival Grand Parade on Saturday, June 15, and jokes that he will have to perfect his waving skills.
The Northwest Folklife Festival, Seattle’s free four-day party, is a celebration of cultures where people can listen to music, try out dances and hear stories from all around the world.
Whether you are into the sounds of Bollywood, Celtic traditions, Asian music or hip-hop, you can listen, experience and learn during this 42nd annual festival at Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., which runs from 11 a.m. Friday until 9 p.m. Monday.
This year, Folklife focuses on the workplace with stories and personal histories shown in a multimedia program, “Washington Works.”
But let’s get back to the party.
Folklife features hundreds of performers, a Monday night reggae show, an urban square dance and music across all the stages. A complete schedule of entertainment can be found at www.nwfolklife.org.
The bands, just to name a few, include The Shed Players, who help kick off the festival action Friday. This folk group has performed at festivals and farmers markets throughout Snohomish County and are known for roots music and a jug band style.
Also Friday, you might want to check out The Terrible Lizards whose press material has them performing Celtic tunes and songs for 65 million years.
Also Friday, the LoveBomb Go-Go Marching Band of Portland play Indie-Balkan-funk-punk.
On Saturday the entertainment continues with Ancora, an a cappella women’s choir, among many other performers.
On Sunday you can check out the Northwest Junior Pipe Band, a traditional Scottish bagpipe band comprised entirely of kids from elementary through high school. There’s also Komplex Kai, a Native American rapper from Tulalip who performs hip-hop.
On Monday, you can hear the Everett Norwegian Male Chorus, which upholds Nordic culture through song.
The festival’s closeout band Monday night is the Fabulous Downey Brothers, who are reminiscent of The B-52s, a little more weird but definitely poppy.
Family activities are part of the party and are centrally located this year on the Fisher Terrace. The activities include the Seattle Family Dance Tent, open Friday and Saturday where the youngest visitors can dance, listen to stories and sing songs from many cultures.
There’s also toy boat building and knot tying Friday through Monday put on by the Center for Wooden Boats, which will supply traditional hand tools and show knot-tying skills and help kids make traditional rope sailor bracelets. There’s a $2 materials fee.
Another family activity is creating mosaic art with recycled glass Friday through Monday. Visitors can make and take home trivets, coasters and mirrors. There’s a $4 to $7 materials fee.
In addition to a complete schedule of events, the Folklife website provides a list of special attractions and a category called 28 Things to See This Year.
The website also offers tips on where to stay and where to eat and offers the best ways to get around the festival along with a Frequently Asked Questions section. The website is www.nwfolklife.org.
Fall of I-5 bridge span under investigation; major traffic disruption expected
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald Rescuers work in the water after the Interstate 5 bridge collapsed over the Skagit River in Mount Vernon on Thursday.
By Gale Fiege and Eric Stevick, The Herald
MOUNT VERNON — The four-lane I-5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed about 7 p.m. Thursday, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.
Rescue crews raced to the scene and after a frantic hour reported that there was no loss of life.
Marcus Deyerin, a spokesman for the Northwest Washington Incident Management Team, said there were only two vehicles involved: a pickup truck towing a trailer and a small passenger vehicle.
Two people were in the truck; one in the car. All were rescued and receiving medical attention, he said. Two people injured in the collapse were en route to Skagit Valley Hospital. A third was being transported to a different area hospital.
There was no immediate reason to believe anyone else was involved in the collapse, but crews were scouring the river to make sure, he said.
“Now we begin the recovery stage dealing with a major interstate highway that is nonfunctional at the moment,” Deyerin said.
“Our state bridge engineer is looking into the possibility that an oversize load may have struck the bridge. Still investigating,” the Washington State Department of Transportation tweeted.
To get across the Skagit River, southbound traffic is being rerouted at Highway 20 to Burlington Boulevard in Burlington. Northbound traffic is being rerouted at College Way to Riverside Drive in Mount Vernon.
“We were extremely lucky that it wasn’t worse,” Deyerin said.
That was especially true given the traffic volume Thursday night, and even more traffic that could have been expected on Friday, the start of the Memorial Day weekend.
He said for people to be prepared for major impacts on travel, particularly in the communities of Mount Vernon and Burlington.
Floyd Richardson, a Mount Vernon logger, was outside his home when he heard the bridge collapse.
“It was like 100 little kids crying. It was like ‘EEEEKKK,'” he said.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the collapse, said Jaime Smith, director of media relations for Gov. Jay Inslee. The National Transportation Safety Board plans to send a “full go-team” to investigate, according to the agency’s Twitter account.
The collapse comes just before the busy Memorial Day weekend.
A lot of Skagit Valley residents are wondering how the fallen span will affect their commutes to work.
“I’ll take the back roads,” Richardson said. “I know all the tricks.”
Homer Diaz, of Mount Vernon, was among the hundreds of bystanders lining the river bank. He crosses the bridge to and from work each day.
Thursday night, the inevitable inconvenience of the pending commute seemed a secondary concern. His fiancé crossed the bridge shortly before it collapsed.
“Thank God she wasn’t on it then,” he said. “I feel sorry for the people who fell in.”
Russell Hester, of Mount Vernon, is eager to learn how long it will take to replace the bridge.
“For the locals, there are not a lot of ways to get across,” he said.
Tasha Zahlis suspected something was wrong when there were two brief power surges at her home nearby and her dogs began barking.
She crossed the bridge 10 minutes before it collapsed on her way home from work.
“I absolutely had an angel over me,” she said. “I am so thankful.”
Michael Szagajek arrived in time to see debris from the collapsed bridged still raining onto the river.
“It was still crumbling,” he said. “It was unbelievable.”
When he spotted one of the drivers in the river standing atop a car, it took him a moment to convince himself what he saw was real.
Tandy Wilbur of La Conner was visiting a car dealership on the river’s north side when the lights suddenly went out.
He ran outside to see what was wrong and realized the bridge had collapsed.
When Wilbur reached the top of the dike he saw a man seated atop an orange Geo Metro in the river.
He began searching the banks to see if there was anyone he could help.
“It is a horrible thing,” Wilbur said about an hour after the collapse.
A crowd of about 1,000 people stood along the dikes as the sun set. Christie Wolfe, of Oak Harbor, was among those who raced to the river’s edge. She knew her truck-driving boyfriend was supposed to be on the bridge about the time it collapsed.
He finally got through on the phone to let her know that he had stopped in time.
Rescue boats and hydrofoils crisscrossed on the river while helicopters hovered above.
The Geo Metro was still in the river, its windshield wipers sweeping side to side.
A hovercraft crew surveying the scene reported there was a full-size pickup truck with a trailer and a smaller passenger car in the river.
Inslee was expected at the scene. He was to be joined by Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste and WSDOT Secretary Lynn Peterson.
The 1,111-foot, steel-truss bridge was built in 1955, according to the nongovernmental website nationalbridges.com, which offers a searchable database of the National Bridge Inventory compiled by the Federal Highway Administration. It was built before the freeway for U.S. 99.
The database classifies the Skagit River bridge over I-5 as “functionally obsolete,” which indicates the design is not ideal, but it is not rated as “structurally deficient.”
“‘Functionally obsolete’ does not communicate anything of a structural nature,” according to nationalbridges.com. “A functionally obsolete bridge may be perfectly safe and structurally sound but may be the source of traffic jams or may not have a high enough clearance to allow an oversized vehicle.”
In 2010, according to the database, the bridge carried an average of 70,925 vehicles per day. The substructure was deemed in “good condition,” and the superstructure and deck were described as in “satisfactory condition.”
The federal database says a structural evaluation of the bridge found it “somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is.”
According to a 2012 Skagit County Public Works Department, 42 of the county’s 108 bridges are 50 years or older. The document says eight of the bridges are more than 70 years old and two are over 80.
Washington state was given a C in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2013 infrastructure report card and a C- when it came to the state’s bridges. The group said more than a quarter of Washington’s 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
Snohomish County emergency management crews were summoned to the scene,said John Pennington of the agency. Snohomish County sheriff’s office sent a helicopter and its technical water rescue team, which included divers and three boats. Arlington Rural and Silvana fire departments also were sending boats to the scene. Everett police sent their marine unit.
The American Red Cross was sending volunteers to provide first responders with water, food and other supplies, said Chuck Morrison, executive director of the Snohomish County chapter.
More volunteers were sent from Skagit and Whatcom counties because it was unclear if Snohomish County crews could reach the scene as quickly, he said.
Regional Red Cross leaders had just gotten off a plane when they heard the news, Morrison said. They’re working with state disaster officials as well.
“They’ve got it,” he said. “They’re in control. We’re staying in touch.”
A coalition of environmental groups is asking the federal government to step in and combine the environmental studies for three different coal export terminal proposals into one.
In addition to the Gateway Pacific terminal proposed for Cherry Point near Bellingham, export terminals also are proposed for Longview in southwest Washington and Boardman, Ore., on the Columbia River.
The letter was signed by 11 environmental groups, including Climate Solutions, National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club and the Washington Environmental Council.
The Alliance for Northwest Jobs and Exports, a Seattle-based group of business organizations and others formed to support the export terminals, issued a counterstatement to the environmental groups’ request Wednesday.
“This is a stall tactic, pure and simple,” said Lauri Hennessey, a spokeswoman for the Alliance for Northwest Jobs and Exports.
“We continue to support the (environmental study) process as it exists today.”
Meanwhile, last week, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, a coalition of tribes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Northern California, issued a joint resolution opposing fossil fuel exports.
“We will not allow our treaty and rights, which depend on natural and renewable resources, to be demolished by shortsighted and ultimately detrimental investments,” said Tulalip Tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon, Jr., who is a vice chairman for the tribal coalition, in a written statement.
The environmental groups’ letter points out that while the terminals will be located only in those three towns, the trains will be carrying coal from Montana and Wyoming across Idaho and Washington state.
The Gateway Pacific terminal, proposed by SSA Marine of Seattle, would serve as a place to send coal, grain, potash and scrap wood for biofuels to Asia. Trains would bring coal from Montana and Wyoming across Washington state to Seattle and north through Snohomish County to Bellingham.
The terminal is expected to generate up to 18 more train trips through Snohomish County per day — nine full and nine empty.
Proponents, including U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., point to job creation. Opponents say the plan could mean long traffic delays at railroad crossings and pollution from coal dust.
More than 14,000 people registered comments on the Gateway Pacific plan last fall and winter. The comments are being used to determine the environmental issues to be studied. The process is expected to take at least a couple of more years.
Meetings were not held in Montana or Idaho despite the fact that trains will be rolling through those states, the groups point out.
The petition asks for the area-wide study to include the effects of increased mining in Wyoming and Montana; increased rail traffic throughout Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon; and the effect of coal exports on domestic energy security and pricing. The petition also asks for hearings to be held around the region.
On the positive side, the plan is projected to create 1,200 long-term positions and 4,400 temporary, construction related jobs, according to SSA Marine.
No hearings have been held yet for the Longview terminal, said Larry Altose, a spokesman for the state Department of Ecology. The Army Corps of Engineers has yet to require a study for the terminal in Oregon, according to Power Past Coal.
Common aspects of the two terminals in Washington state may be studied together as it stands now, he said. The ecology department and Army Corps of Engineers are working on both the Bellingham and Longview proposals, with help from Whatcom and Cowlitz counties, respectively.
For instance, if train traffic from the Longview terminal has a ripple effect on train traffic north of Seattle, or vice versa, then it may be included in both studies, Altose said. The same goes for any other issues, such as coal dust, that may be addressed in the studies, he said.
Washington’s ecology department, of course, does not have jurisdiction in Oregon.
Therefore “the unified approach is something that would involve the federal government,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers office in Seattle could not be reached for comment.
Photo courtesy Diane Janes Bob and Johanna Sheldon are shown in a wedding photo from around 1885-1890. The two were Diane Janes’ great-grandparents on her father’s side.
By Bill Sheets, The Herald
TULALIP — Often when people on the Tulalip Indian Reservation have old photos of family members they can’t identify, they call Diane Janes.
If she doesn’t know who they are, often she can find someone who does.
She’s been collecting tribal photographs for close to 50 years. For more than a decade, she’s been preserving history by compiling the photos into self-published books.
Countless tribal members, their ancestors and many events on the reservation are chronicled in a dozen volumes, each an inch thick or more. About 10,000 photos are shown in 2,000 pages.
Photo courtesy Diane Janes Thomas Adams, a non-tribal member, laid the first telegraph lines across the Tulalip reservation, in the 1860s. His wife, standing, was S’Klallam tribal member Ellen Giddings. The couple lived at Warm Beach. The photo is from the late 19th century.
Though many tribal members know of Janes, 70, and her books, a lot of others don’t, she believes.
“I’m hoping as more people see these, they’ll say, ‘That’s my relative,'” she said.
When Janes was about 20, she started getting photos reproduced for her parents so they could have multiple copies — piquing her curiosity about her family in the process.
Later, Janes began taking photos at Tulalip events. She compiled tribal photos for the Everett centennial celebration in 1993.
“It just sort of grew from there,” she said. “I thought it was going to be simple.”
Janes is not a certified genealogist but, through her work, has helped many tribal members learn more about their ancestry — starting with her own family.
Stan Jones Sr., a longtime tribal leader and board member, is Janes’ uncle. Jones and his sister, Gloria, Janes’ mother, for a long time wanted to find the grave of their mother, who had died at a young age. They heard it was at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Monroe, but didn’t have an exact location.
Several times over the years, they looked through the cemetery but couldn’t find the grave.
Later, in the early 1990s, they were discussing the matter with Janes and she produced an extended-family photo that included a half-brother, Mickey Malone.
He was contacted and knew exactly where the grave was located, in the same cemetery.
“They were looking in the wrong place,” Janes said.
Stan Jones’ wife, JoAnn, said Janes’ photo collections have meant a lot to their family.
Having the photos helps put faces to names when relating family history to young people, she said.
“We really appreciate them, she’s done so much work on those and done such a good job,” JoAnn Jones said.
Tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon Jr. is a cousin of Janes’ on her father’s side.
“It was really good looking at the pictures to know how far my family went back,” he said.
“She’s done a great job of compiling the pictures that many of us might not have had access to or didn’t know existed. What a great service not only to our families but to our whole community.”
As Janes began to collect more images, she felt the need to get them organized and documented.
“I thought, ‘This could go on forever, and I’m getting older,'” she said.
She began typing up captions and pasting them along with the photos on 8½-by-11 inch pieces of paper. She took them to a printer and had the pages reproduced and bound into a paperback.
Photo courtesy Diane Janes Tulalip tribal member George Jones is shown in ceremonial regalia at the opening of the tribal longhouse in 1914. Jones was the maternal grandfather of Diane Janes, who has compiled a series of books of tribal photos.
The first book, “The Children of the Owl Clan,” was devoted to photos of the Jones side of her family. Two more volumes of photos on the Owl Clan and closely related families were to follow. She then produced three volumes focused on her Sheldon side.
After that, she broadened her scope into other families, tribes and different aspects of reservation life.
“Tulalips and Friends” and “The Mountain, River and Sound People” include photos of members of neighboring tribes, such as Lummi, Sauk-Suiattle, Swinomish, Upper Skagit and others, as well as Tulalips.
One photo shows well-known Upper Skagit tribal member Vi Hilbert at age 4 or 5, taken in the early 1920s. Hilbert played a key role in preserving tribal culture through her storytelling and work on reviving Lushootseed, the native language of the area. She died in 2008 at the age of 90.
Another of Janes’ books, “The Children of the Longhouse,” shows photos of Tulalip ceremonial events from the early 1900s to the present day.
“Paddle to Tulalip” features photos of the intertribal canoe journey and ceremony hosted by the Tulalips in 2003. “Tulalip Salmon Ceremony” spotlights the annual tribal ceremony honoring the summertime return of salmon to streams. Janes took many of her own photos for this ceremony and some of the others.
Another book is devoted to the history of education on the reservation, including photos and narrative about the white boarding schools where young tribal children were sent in the early 1900s.
In borrowing photos from tribal members to reproduce, at first she’d take them to photo stores and pay to have them copied. She then tried to learn how to use scanning equipment, but that didn’t go well, she said.
Then someone told her she could take photos of photos, and that made her work much easier, she said.
Janes cares for a disabled daughter, Julie, 51, who was hit by a drunken driver at age 19. Janes doesn’t have to work at a regular job, which gives her time for her work. And it does take time, she said. In visiting a family to borrow photos, “You don’t just go in there, you sit and talk,” she said.
Diane Janes
She doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. The next book will be titled “Images of our Ancestors.” She’s also planning a book about her daughter.
“All I want to do is record history as it comes, for whoever decides to share their photos,” Janes said.
“There are so many tribal members who are historians. They don’t realize it, but they carry our history.
“I try to make my books so the next generation will take over.”
Where to buy
Diane Janes’ books of photos about tribal life are available for $30 at the Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve, 6410 23rd Ave. W., Tulalip.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed bills May 21 that will impact Native veterans. It’s a fitting time to move on this legislation, as May is National Military Appreciation Month.
The Improving Job Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2013, HR 1412, directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a public relations campaign, advertising in national media outlets, to promote VA on-the-job training and apprenticeship programs available to veterans as highly efficient and cost-effective ways of obtaining jobs.
The American Heroes COLA Act, HR 570, requires that whenever there is an increase in benefit amounts payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall increase by the same percentage the amounts payable as veterans’ disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled adult children, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.
The Helping Heroes Fly Act, HR 1344, directs the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration) to develop and implement a process to provide expedited passenger screening services for severely injured or disabled Armed Forces members and veterans.
On May 20, the House also passed the latest version of the Stolen Valor Act, HR 258, a law that will make it a crime to don the medals and ribbons that soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen are awarded for combat actions.
All four bills now head to the Senate. It’s hoped that they will be signed into law by or on Memorial Day, May 27.
By Leeanne Root, Indian Country Today Media Network
In announcing the field for the sixth annual Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge, Notah Begay III, the Navajo/San Felipe/Isleta four-time PGA Tour winner and Ray Halbritter, Oneida Nation representative and CEO of Nation Enterprises, parent company of Indian Country Today Media Network, saved the best for last.
Tiger Woods will join Begay on what they’ve dubbed Team USA on August 28 to raise money for health programs to benefit Native American youth.
Both Halbritter and Begay see the advantage of having a 78-time PGA Tour winner like Woods associated with the event.
“It really elevates the visibility,” Halbritter said during a press conference May 20.”
And while Begay said it’s always tough to get Woods because he’s in such high demand, he said Woods “understands the importance of what we’re trying to accomplish with our foundation and our initiatives and our programs and he’s such a big supporter of us.”
Team USA will also include Rickie Fowler, Navajo, who has competed in three previous NB3 Challenges and Bo Van Pelt, a PGA Tour veteran.
The four of them will be pitted against Team Asia and Team International in a combined best-ball format. Each team will have two pairs playing best-ball and the combined score of those two pairs will be the final score for that team.
Team Asia will feature eight-time PGA Tour winner K.J. Choi, PGA Tour veteran Charlie Wi, and two up and coming stars—2012 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year John Huh, the first person of Korean descent to win that honor, and James Hahn, who emerged on the scene last year.
Team International boasts players from Europe and South Africa including Lee Westwood, the former world No. 1 and 40-time professional winner, as well as 2011 Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel and Nicolas Colsaerts, who emerged as one of the stars from the winning European team from the 2012 Ryder Cup, and Henrik Stenson, 2009 Players champion.
The partnership between the Oneida Indian Nation and the foundation has raised more than $4 million in the past five years through the NB3 Challenge. And the exposure that partnership and other big names like Woods has brought the foundation has also helped the foundation obtain other important partnerships, like with Johns Hopkins University and more recently with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“The event has allowed us to garner more exposure for our work and when you have world-class partners like the Turning Stone Resort and everything it represents… it sets a precedent for future partnerships,” Begay said. “We didn’t have Hopkins when we started, we didn’t have Robert Wood Johnson when we started. We had Chairman Halbritter and myself and an idea—an idea to showcase something that has never existed in Indian country before, a world-class event that can compete with any event in the world and that’s exactly what we have.”
The partnership with Johns Hopkins has allowed the NB3 Foundation to better its programming and make it more effective for the Native youth they serve. Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health conducted a two-year study evaluating the impact of NB3 soccer programs at San Felipe Pueblo in New Mexico and found the programs have a significant impact on the physical fitness of Native American children.
“Basically, it’s called evidence-based programming, we make curriculum changes based upon the research and data that we’re compiling so we’re not moving the program in a direction because we feel like that’s the right thing to do,” Begay said. “We’re moving it in a direction because our evidence says it’s the right thing to do. It’s a better way to make our dollars work more effectively.”
Halbritter couldn’t be prouder to be partnered with Begay and his foundation.
“In many communities across Indian country parents are in danger of living longer than their children, which is a tragedy… We share Notah’s vision and appreciate his work to improve the lives of all American Indian youth,” he said. “We are taught culturally that all the things we have aren’t just for ourselves, they’re really for future generations so this is… exactly what we’re supposed to be doing. But not often do you get the opportunity to actually do it.”
The foundation works with Native youth to reduce the incidence of Type 2 diabetes and obesity. As Begay pointed out, “one in two of our Native American children will be classified as obese by the fourth grade and I think it goes up to six in ten will contract Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.”
NB3 runs a number of soccer and golf programs that have benefitted more than 15,000 Native youth since the foundation’s beginning in 2005.
The NB3 Foundation Challenge will be held August 28 at Atunyote Golf Club in Verona, New York, which was named a 2012 Top 40 Best Casino Course by Golfweek, and Begay can see why. It’s one of his favorite courses.
“It’s gorgeous, there’s not a blade of grass out of place, the greens are always fast. It’s one of the premier golfing venues in the country. And I can always get a tee time,” he laughed.
Tickets to the 2013 NB3 Challenge are on sale now for $50 and can be purchased by contacting the Turning Stone Box Office at 315-361-SHOW.
Ray Halbritter, Oneida Nation representative and CEO of Nation Enterprises, parent company of Indian Country Today Media Network, and Notah Begay III, announce the 12-player field for the sixth annual NB3 Foundation Challenge. (Courtesy Oneida Indian Nation)
Tornadoes cut swathes of destruction through Indian country last week and over the weekend, and on Monday May 20 the midsection of the U.S. was bracing for more.
A half-mile-wide “hurricane” that hit just outside Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon May 19 was part of the same extreme weather system, Reuters reported. The system stretched from north Texas to Minnesota, with 500,000 square miles and 55 million people in its path, CNN reported.
“You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter,” the National Weather Service said in an advisory on Sunday afternoon, as reported by Reuters. “Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals.”
The Oklahoma state health department reported at least 21 injuries, according to The Oklahoman. The main damage over the weekend leveled homes in the area of Carney, Bethel Acres and Norman, The Oklahoman reported. It overturned tractor-trailers on Interstate 40 near Shawnee and damaging roofs and trees in southeast Edmond and leveled a mobile-home park.
Paramedics searched for victims buried under houses of rubble on Sunday night, while Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency for 16 counties: Caddo, Cleveland, Comanche, Creek, Garfield, Grant, Greer, Kiowa, Lincoln, Logan, McClain, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Pawnee, Payne and Pottawatomie. Damaged communities included Bethel Acres, Carney, Edmond, Little Axe, Norman, Shawnee and Wellston.
The Red Cross has set up shelters in Carney, Shawnee and Little Axe, spokesman Ken Garcia told The Oklahoman. The storms touched down not only in Oklahoma but also in Kansas and Iowa, “part of a massive, northeastward-moving storm system that stretched from Texas to Minnesota,” the Associated Press reported. They came right on the heels of devastating tornadoes that hit the town of Granbury in Texas, near Fort Worth and Dallas, earlier in the week.
The weekend’s system involved at least four distinct tornadoes in central Oklahoma, the AP said. The one near Shawnee destroyed most of the mobile home park.
ICTMN is still awaiting news from tribes whose members may have been in the storms’ path.
By Alysa Landry
By Shondiin Silversmith
