Wildlife biologists from Stillaguamish, Tulalip and Western Washington University sample DNA from elk scat.
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Wildlife biologists from the Stillaguamish and Tulalip tribes are testing a new way to track the population of the Nooksack elk herd using the animals’ scat.
Tribal biologists have partnered with Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment to determine the most efficient way to collect DNA from elk scat. Genetic material can be found in the intestinal mucus coating the pellets. This winter, biologists sampled fresh scat using toothpicks and cotton swabs, submitting the samples to a genetics lab to determine which method is most effective at providing an animal’s unique genotype.
“This is a non-invasive method that does not require collaring animals or helicopter time to survey them,” said Stillaguamish biologist Jennifer Sevigny.
While the current method of using tracking collars and aerial surveys is expensive, it allows state and tribal wildlife managers to determine the bull-to-cow and cow-to-calf ratios needed to set harvest levels. To fit elk with tracking collars, the animals must be captured and tranquilized.
In the spring, the Stillaguamish and Tulalip tribes plan to coordinate a large population survey, sampling elk scat in the North Cascades Mountains, including forested landscapes that are hard to monitor during aerial surveys.
“Once individual elk are identified by their DNA, a population estimate can be obtained by re-sampling an area and comparing the number of originally identified individuals – the marked animals – to the newly identified animals – the unmarked animals,” said Tulalip wildlife manager Mike Sevigny.
During the past two decades, tribal and state co-managers completed numerous habitat restoration projects to improve forage for the Nooksack herd, which had declined to about 300 animals by 2003. According to 2012 aerial surveys, the herd has rebounded to as many as 1,400 elk.
“Good design can provide the environment that makes people want to stay and play, and the more unique the design the greater the distance people will travel to see it.” —Thalden Boyd Emery Architects
Lee Allen, Indian Country Today Media Network
This may not be the true dawning of a new age, but Indian casinos are poised on the precipice of change —one foot anchored in time-honored methods of success, the other embracing modernity.
The move toward innovation includes a transition to progressive design with contemporary and green aesthetics, as well as finding creative ways to reach a younger audience keen on social media.
Casino owners need to straddle the chasm of traditional ways and new, understanding the social aspects of both segments of the market to keep the current crowd happy while attracting the next generation of gamers.
“We can’t see the future clearly yet, but we know change is inevitable,” said architect Nick Schoenfeldt, vice president at Thalden Boyd Emery Architects. “We need to continue serving today’s gaming public in the existing first generation of gaming facilities built in the late 1980s even as we design and build new attractions for tomorrow.”
Comments by architects, designers, contractors, owners and operators resonated at the 6th annual Native Nation Events Tribal Casino & Hotel Development Conference, February 21-22, at the Pascua Yaqui-owned Casino del Sol Resort Hotel in Tucson, Arizona. The conversational buzz was heightened by a rare occurrence—a snow storm that turned desert cacti into a winter wonderland.
Panel moderator Ronn Lansky, the business development director for the Detroit-based PENTA Building Group, noted that over the past several decades, the design of casino floors hadn’t changed strikingly. Then he cited the current trend of “building landmark buildings that will affect generations to come.”
Other attendees echoed a major voice of the industry, Casino Design magazine, which emphasized in an April 2010 article, The Brave New World of Design and Construction: An Industry Round Table, that casinos need to look “clean, edgy, contemporary”—the predominant visual appeal. The magazine quoted another design and construction expert who said, “We must dazzle the eye and soothe the senses.”
Panelists at the February conference specifically cited the advent of smaller slot banks and wider aisles at newer casinos intended to provide a more intimate sense of gaming—the same aura as that of a lounge.
“Casino floors are evolving to be more social and community-focused and you need to understand your market and design the floor with customer segments in mind,” said Janet Beronio, general manager of Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort.
“We used to have long, long banks of machines—essentially a slot warehouse, but change in machine spacing is now evident,” Beronio said. “We once dedicated 20-to-25-square feet to a bank of eight slots; now we’re seeing 30-square feet in a zone format anchored by carousels and dedicated pathways. The casino floor still has compelling content, but the feeling is now more community and social.”
The cost to create that feeling is not cheap, according to C.J. Graham, general manager of 2,500 employees at the Lincoln, California-based Thunder Valley Casino, which recently underwent a $700 million facelift (while continuing operations with minimal incremental disruption). “At the end of the day, you still need to show a profit,” he said.
Graham has a base demographic of age 50-plus customers, but also a growing following in the 21-to-30-year-old group. “We still have folks who love the old Red, White and Blue reels, but there’s a tech-savvy element coming along that we can ping on their cell phones and make the younger visitor special offers as they come through the door. The generational change won’t happen overnight, it will take decades, but it’s already underway.
“Even with the modern side of technology emerging, we won’t lose the energy that allows casino floors to be successful,” adds Beronio. “Brick and mortar sites still have the energy of community, people cheering for each other, and that will still appeal to multi-tasking tech-savvy youth.”
Other panelists like Osage Nation Chief John Red Eagle know that casino floor designs and technologies are forever adapting and need to stay relevant. Tribes need to capitalize on up-to-date technology like energy-saving geo-thermal capabilities. “We want the best possible development we can produce with the money we have,” he said.
Fellow panelist Jamie Fullmer (Yavapai Apache), chairman and CEO of Blue Stone Strategy Group, which advises tribes in making strategic decisions for financial growth and sustainability, summed up the challenge many tribes will face when desires meet feasibility and financing: “Here’s our dream balanced with a pocketbook reality.”
Those realities range from incorporating complex and still developing technology to making changes like widening aisles and adding more restaurants for a diverse clientele.
“Regardless of the renovation, addition, or new build,” said Graham, “you can’t diminish the guest experience…you can’t just send guests home…so you need to minimize the disruption and adjust on the fly while building a better casino for tomorrow.”
Children are all smiles at the Ida’ina Gathering in 2012. All photos by Becky Pertrovich.
Tish Leizens, Indian Country Today Media Network
What started two years ago in Anchorage, Alaska as a gathering of friends has become a major yearly event for the Tebughna, the Beach People, and it is drawing popular Native entertainers like Redbone and thousands of guests.
The Tebughna Foundation, the sponsor, has set the Ida’ina Gathering for March 29 to 31, at the Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center (for details, click here). The three-day family affair is packed with activities and serves as the main attraction, with several events leading up to it.
“We started this gathering in March 2011. Ida’ina means friends—friendship,” said Emil McCord, executive director of the foundation, adding that they invite all tribes from Alaska and those who just want to enjoy the festivities.
The Tebughna Foundation is supported by Anchorage-based defense manufacturing company Tyonek Native Corporation. Tebughna is the name given to the Tyonek people, who live in Anchorage and in the Village of Tyonek, 40 air miles away.
The first pow wow was an immediate hit, said McCord. “The first year, we got lots of feedback after the gathering. They love the entertainment and atmosphere.”
“We attract about 6,000 people in three days. People come from South Dakota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, North Carolina and Canada,” he said.
“This year, we expect a little more because we have popular groups coming,” said McCord referring to Rebone and the Barrow Dancers, whose members are Inupiaq. In all, he said, there are 40 group dancers performing.
Among the performers on the list are drums featuring Alaska Nativedancers: Tyonek Traditional Dancers, Ida’Ina Dance Group, Cordova Ikumat Aluttiq Dancers and Ahtna Heritage Dance Group.
Drum groups Namawochi Tribe from North Carolina and Braveheart from South Dakota will also perform as well as a hoop dancer still to be determined.
Headlining the Benefit Concert on the second day is Redbone, a Native American rock group that hit the music charts with the single “Come and Get Your Love,” in 1974, and Medicine Dream, an intertribal First Nations group that perform contemporary Native American music.
Chief Lil Wolf, also known as DJ Braun, 17, who set up his own recording studio in his bedroom and writes his own music will also perform live before his home crowd for the first time.
The run-up to the pow wow are crowd pleasers on their own. On February 8 a sponsor mixer was held where the entertainers and sponsors meet and greet in a food and dance gathering.
On March 12 to 16 the first annual Ida’ina basketball tournament will be be held at the Wendler Middle School. Some 18 adult teams are competing in the tournament.
For the teens, the competition to be Miss Ida’ina ends on March 15, the deadline for Alaska Natives, ages 16 to 25, to write an essay on how they’ve helped their communities and why they should be the next Miss Ida’Ina. The winner gets a $500 scholarship.
Returning this year is the Native Style Runway, where talented artists are given a chance at the Gathering to show their individually designed regalias.
McCord said there is an effort to bring the dates closer. “We started the basketball tournament this year, but the city of Anchorage did not have gym space available close in time to the Gathering. Next year, we want to have it leading up to the Gathering so that visiting teams can attend the Gathering if they chose to.”
Keith Harper. Courtesy Flickr/Center for American Progress Action Fund/Ralph Alswang
Rob Capriccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network
Keith Harper, one of the principal lawyers who negotiated the $3.4 billion Cobell settlement with the Obama administration, has been listed by the Obama-Biden campaign as one of the top voluntary campaign finance bundlers for the president’s successful re-election in 2012.
Harper is part of a list of what the Center for Responsive Politics calls “758 elites” who directed “at least copy80,100,000 for Obama’s re-election efforts—money that has gone into the coffers of his campaign as well as the Democratic National Committee,” according to opensecrets.org.
Harper is listed as a bundler of “$500,000 or more.” The donations he collected are largely believed to have come from wealthy tribal donors, as he oversaw multiple Indian donor events during the 2012 election season, while also working for Indian interests in the Cobell settlement with the federal government, which was first announced in December 2009 and became final after appeals from four Indians drew to a close late last year.
Harper’s bundling effort matched the contributions of such notables as actor Will Smith, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, actress Eva Longoria, filmmaker Tyler Perry, singer Gwen Stefani, and producer Harvey Weinstein.
The Center for Responsive Politics also indicates that Harper personally contributed $2,500.
Obama’s re-election campaign voluntarily released its latest batch of bundler data in early March. The campaign for failed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has not disclosed its complete list of bundlers, and has not said it will.
Harper is a partner with Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. Beyond the Cobell case, the firm has also represented several tribes in separate multi-million dollar trust settlements with the Obama administration.
The Cherokee lawyer has been a principal in the ongoing Cobell litigation since he worked for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) in the 1990s. Harper left NARF in 2006 to work for Kilpatrick Stockton.
As the Cobell settlement payment process to individual Indians continues to take place over this year, lawyers with NARF are currently battling Kilpatrick Stockton and other lawyers involved in the case for a share of the approximately copy00 million designated for lawyers involved with the litigation. A hearing on the lawyers’ fees is scheduled to take place March 18 in Judge Thomas Hogan’s U.S. district courtroom in Washington, D.C.
March 1 was the deadline for Indian class members to have submitted their applications to receive the second payments of the Cobell settlement, the trust administration class payments. Most Indian beneficiaries in the case will receive less than $2,000.
Photos by Robert Mastrianni Louis Mofsie, second from right, with dancers from the group Thunderbird American Indian Dancers
Tish Leizens, Indian Country Today Media Network
At the age of 76, Louis Mofsie, Hopi/Winnebago, an accomplished dancer, choreographer, educator and artistic director of the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, which he founded 50 years ago, is as busy as ever.
Forget about retirement. From January 25 to February 3 he led his Native dance group to perform its Annual Dance Concert and Pow Wow at the Theater for the New City in New York City.
The concert was a theater presentation where the troupe performs dances from the Inuit of Alaska, the Iroquois of New York, the Hopi and Yaqui of the Southwest and the Plains Indians of the Great Plains. Plans are also underway for their annual Queens County Farm Museum Pow Wow at the end of July and their 50th anniversary pow wow at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York on April 20. There are also a number of school workshops and appearances lined up around the metropolitan area throughout the year.
Brooklyn-born Mofise is well loved in his home state. In 1984, he was awarded the New York City Indian of the Year. His leadership was recognized with a New York City Leadership Award by the Law Department and Mayors Office in 1991.
His choreography credits in New York include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Mercer Arts Center; Operation Sidewinders, Lincoln Center Repertory Company; Three Masked Dances, La Mama ETC.; and The Only Good Indian, Theater for the New City.
At a time when pow wows are evolving to be mega events with huge prize money, Mofsie looks back to the time when it was all about bringing people together and enjoying each other’s company through song and dance. He still believes in the pow wow tradition and has made it part of his mission to preserve Native dances that are no longer performed.
ICTMN caught up with Mofsie before his big concert at the Theater for the New City as he reflected on his 50th year of entertaining and educating the audience about Native culture.
What are your thoughts on the 50th year of the founding of your dance troupe, Thunderbird American Indian Dancers?
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of our dance company is overwhelming. I guess 50 years ago when we first organized our group no one would have thought we would last that many years, least of all me. It’s a credit to all those who have worked so hard over the years to help make it a reality.
Why did you start it? What is your recollection of when you started to form the group?
Before we became the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers we were called the Little Eagles. The Little Eagles were made up of a group of teenagers who grew up in Brooklyn. We had learned a great deal from our parents about their tribal backgrounds including dance and music. I think most of us grew up dancing and singing. So it only seemed natural that we would form a small group to continue our interests. We also branched out to learn the music and dance from other tribes.
Photo by Robert Mastianni
Photo by Robert Mastianni
You are an MC, choreographer, dancer . . . what is it you enjoy doing most?
The most enjoyment I get out of what I do is to make contact with the people in the audience and the people I’m working with. I try to make the experience an enjoyable one, as well as an educational one. I find that most people want to learn more about something they thought they knew something about and I think people learn far better when the experience is enjoyable rather than a chore.
Why is educating non-Natives about Native culture important to you?
Educating non-Natives about our culture has been a primary part of the mission statement of our group. Addressing stereotypes and explaining the disrespect they reflect on native people, as well as, other misunderstood cultures is vitally important. We do many school residencies here in the metropolitan area and reaching children at a young age is the best time to influence their perceptions.
What else is in your mission statement?
Part of our mission statement is also to preserve and perpetuate the songs and dances of various tribes. In some instances some of the dances we do are no longer performed. If we can preserve these dances and songs we feel we are helping to keep the culture alive. All of our material is social music and dance. We do not do any dances or songs that have any ceremonial or religious significance.
What do you think is your major accomplishment in life?
I think my major accomplishment in life has been to feel proud of my Native heritage and to able to share what I have learned with both Native and non-Native people. Since I have been a classroom teacher for 35 years my emphasis has been on education. Helping people get a greater understanding of the richness and beauty of the Native people through music and dance.
What was the biggest obstacle in your life?
Like most people the general run of obstacles have affected me—lack of sufficient time and money to do what you would like to do at the time you feel it is most important. Living here in New York also presents it’s own set of problems. I think keeping calm and being patient have been a blessing for me since it seems, given enough time, most problems will solve themselves.
What else do you want to accomplish at this stage in your life?
I would like to stay as healthy as I can and continue to do the work we are doing. Between fulfilling the obligations we have here and traveling—we are on the go most of the year. I’m hopeful there will be someone who will carry on the work we have begun. There are so many people yet to meet and teach about our culture and it is our responsibility to get the work done.
Prior to President Obama signing the Tribal Law and Order Act into law in 2010, Lisa Marie Iyotte delivered an emotional introduction, describing how she had been raped and assaulted on the Rosebud Reservation while her two small children hid. When she broke down, Obama stepped over to comfort her. Now, Obama can move to Stop the Violence Against Women by signing the VAWA reauthorization into law.
Indian Country Today Media Network Staff
In one of her columns for Indian Country Today, Suzan Shown Harjo wrote: “Only the reinstatement of tribal jurisdiction and remedies has a chance of reversing the epidemic levels of violence against Native women.” That commentary was published April 29, 2005.
Today, after years of struggle, tribal advocates are celebrating Congress passing the VAWA reauthorization, with tribal provisions. The act is now heading to President Obama for his signature.
Harjo, Cheyenne and & Hodulgee Muscogee, is an award-winning columnist and a poet, writer, curator and policy advocate, who has helped Native Peoples to protect sacred places and recover more than one million acres of land, is president of the Morning Star Institute in Washington, D.C. She’s also still regularly contributing to this publication.
The spotlight on the VAWA reauthorization, with tribal provisions, was magnified by Harjo’s 2005 ICT column, and it roused both regional and national mainstream media from their collective slumber concerning this crucial matter. There is something to the old saying “the pen is mightier than the sword.”
In light of the recent action on VAWA, and the impending action by Obama, it seems like an ideal time to revisit Harjo’s column, titled “Congress Make the Streets Safe for Indian Women, too.” Here is that work, in full.
Congress, Make the Streets Safe for Indian Women, Too, April 29, 2005
The streets of Indian country aren’t safe for American Indian and Alaska Native women.
Nearly 90 percent of the perpetrators of violent crimes against Native women are non-Indians—60 percent are white men—and Native nations can’t touch them.
Congress created this haven for non-Indian criminals on reservations and it’s up to Congress to fix it. The 109th Congress has a chance to do that very thing this year, when it considers reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.
VAWA 2005 is being drafted now to address the deplorable situation of women in American, where physical abuse is a feature of one-quarter of all marriages and where one-third of women who are treated in emergency rooms are victims of domestic violence.
While Native women also sustain injuries in abusive relationships, most of the men who assault Native women are strangers or acquaintances (80 percent), rather than intimate partners or family members (20 percent), according to a U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report, American Indians and Crime (1992-2002), issued in December 2004.
This statistical profile and a raft of other studies, including the 2000 National Violence Against Women Survey, report that:
● American Indian and Alaska Native women are more than twice as likely to be victims of violent crime than other women in America.
● American Indian and Alaska Native women suffer sexual assaults at a rate of more than three times that of women of other races.
● more than one in three American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped during her lifetime.
● the rate of violent crime experienced by American Indian women is nearly 50 percent higher than that reported by black males, the second highest gender/race category victimized by violent crime.
Most violent crimes are committed intra-racially, as with white-on-white crime. This is not the pattern in Indian country, where 88 percent of the perpetrators of violent crime against Indians are non-Indians.
Why can’t Indian governments punish these violent non-Indians and why should Congress step in? It’s a long, complex history, but the short answer is that the federal government made this jurisdictional mess and should take every opportunity to clean it up.
Over a century ago in the name of “Indian civilization,” the federal government criminalized tribal traditions and took control of the reservations. When the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government did not have jurisdiction over Indian murders of Indians, Congress enacted the Major Crimes Act, authorizing federal jurisdiction over murder and other serious offenses involving Indian people.
Congress expanded federal jurisdiction, effectively restricting tribal authorities, under the Assimilative Crimes Act and myriad gaming, environmental, repatriation, arts and other laws.
Tribal jurisdiction and remedies were limited under the federal tribal termination policy. Starting in the 1940s, Congress gave selected states certain criminal and civil authorities over Indian offenses. In the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act, Congress restricted the sentencing authority of tribal courts to one-year imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. The Supreme Court ruled in 1978 that Indian tribes cannot prosecute non-Indians in criminal matters.
That brings us to the present situation where Native nations cannot punish non-Indians who harm Indian women in Indian territory, or can only give them a slap on the wrist.
There are many reasons that the federal and state governments aren’t doing a better job at bringing these bad men to justice. Basically, it comes down to geography and connectedness. The federal and state agents don’t live where the crimes are being committed and the victims aren’t their neighbors.
Only the reinstatement of tribal jurisdiction and remedies has a chance of reversing the epidemic levels of violence against Native women.
In VAWA 2005, Congress can address the jurisdictional void that prevents Indian tribes from prosecuting non-Indians perpetrating these crimes.
VAWA was signed into law in 1994 and reauthorized in 2000. VAWA 2000 mandates that protection orders from one tribe or state be afforded full faith and credit in outside jurisdictions. It also clarifies that Indian tribes have full civil jurisdiction to enforce protection orders, including authority to enforce any orders through civil contempt proceedings, exclusion of violators from Indian lands and other “appropriate mechanisms.”
Some states do not comply with the federal mandate and exhibit hostility toward affording full faith and credit to protection orders issued by tribal courts. Alaska’s executive branch has challenged a state judge’s decision allowing enforcement of a banishment order issued by the Native Village of Perryville. The Minnesota Supreme Court in 2003 rejected a proposed statewide court rule for the consistent enforcement of all tribal court orders.
Advocates are working with legislators and staffers on the reauthorization of VAWA, which is set to expire this September. Advocates in Indian country would do well to work (and work fast) with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the Judiciary Committees to develop a bill that could stand alone or be folded into VAWA 2005.
A meaningful VAWA provision for Indian country would restore tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians in the area of violent crime against women. Proponents should be prepared for the inevitable discussion about review of tribal court decisions and opt-in/opt-out mechanisms.
At the very least, Congress should provide necessary funding to study full faith and credit implementation problems, in particular with regard to tribal domestic violence protection orders, and should withhold certain federal monies (unrelated to domestic violence prevention and response) from states that refuse to comply with VAWA’s full faith and credit mandate.
VAWA’s effect in Indian country would be strengthened by provisions ensuring tribal law enforcement officers’ access to national databases that track criminal history; a national database of tribal protection orders and tribal adult sex offenders to track serial offenders who travel between different Indian nations; an increase in funding for tribal governments and programs providing infrastructure and services to survivors of rape, stalking and domestic and dating violence; and a Tribal Division within the Office on Violence Against Women to act as the liaison to tribal governments on issues unique to Indian nations and Indian women.
Congress can continue with the same jurisdictional system that devalues Native women and handicaps Native nations, or it can fill the jurisdictional void with something that might just work.
If Congress fails to act, the reservation streets will remain safe for violent non-Indians and the Indian women and their children and grandchildren will suffer. How is that good for anyone but the bad people?
500+ days after VAWA authorization expired, Senator Murray helps push House Leadership to finally pass the Senate’s bipartisan, inclusive bill
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray released the following statement after House Republican leadership finally allowed the Senate’s bipartisan, inclusive Violence Against Women Act to be voted on in the House. The bill, which Murray cosponsored, passed by a vote of 286-138. Passage comes over 500 days after the bill’s authorization expired in late 2011. Since that time Murray has helped lead efforts in Congress to reauthorize an inclusive bill that expands VAWA’s protections to cover more women in at-risk communities.
“This is a long delayed, hard won, and badly needed victory for millions of women, especially those who were told that they weren’t worthy of VAWA’s protections. It means that finally, after over 16 months of struggle, tribal women, the LGBT community, immigrants, and women on college campuses will have the tools and resources this life-saving bill provides.
“There is absolutely no reason that it should have taken this long for the House leadership to come around on a bill that had overwhelming bipartisan support. But passage today is a validation of what we’ve been saying since this bill expired in 2011 – VAWA has never been, and should never be, a partisan bill. That is why I applaud moderate Republican voices in the House who stood up to their leadership to demand a vote on the Senate bill.
“Throughout this process – often through tears – countless women had the courage to come forward and tell painful stories about why this bill was so vital to them. By stepping out of the shadows, they reinforced that they were more than statistics, and they forced those who stood in opposition to this bill to face up to the reality that who a person loves, where they live, or their immigration status should never determine whether they are protected from violence.
“I want to especially thank Deborah Parker of the Tulalip Tribe in my home state. Deborah has been by my side time and again in this effort and repeatedly told her deeply personal story of the violence and abuse women face on tribal lands to illustrate a tremendous unmet need. Along with Deborah, I know that advocates across the country are breathing a sigh of relief today knowing that we finally got this done.
“I’m proud to join the President, the Vice President, Senator Leahy, and the coalition of women’s groups, law enforcement, clergy members, educators, and concerned citizens who’ve repeatedly stood strong to make this moment possible. For nearly two decades VAWA has allowed women to escape lives afflicted by violence and abuse. It’s been one of the privileges of my career to stand strong over the past year and a half to ensure that VAWA’s protections are expanded to include more women.”
The second Cobell settlement deadline is approaching on March 1. Indian class members must have submitted their applications for the second payments of the settlement, the trust administration class payments, by that date.
“Any claim forms must be postmarked by March 1, 2013,” according to a notice posted on indiantrust.com, the website established by the Cobell lawyers. Claim forms can be found on the site.
In December, historical accounting class payments of $1,000 started going out to beneficiaries who had registered their correct addresses with the federal government, the Cobell lawyers and/or the Garden City Group, the settlement administration company managing the two-part settlement payments process at the direction of the overseeing court.
Some of these payments were sent to wrong addresses, so it is important to contact the Garden City Group to be sure that correct information is in place for the second payment, officials with the National Congress of Americans (NCAI) said during a January conference call with tribal representatives regarding the process.
The number for the Garden City Group is 1-800-961-6109, and their e-mail is info@IndianTrust.com.
NCAI officials estimated that most beneficiaries would receive about $800 under this second payment process, but some could receive more. The calculation is based on the level of activity in beneficiaries’ Indian Money (IIM) accounts, held with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
The Garden City Group is expected to calculate the amount of the second payments, and the Cobell lawyers expect the payments to be sent by fall. Some $265 million of the $3.4 billion overall settlement has been released to date, according to the lawyers. Of that, $1.9 billion was released to the U.S. Department of the Interior to run a land-consolidation program over the next 10 years. Approximately $100 million was scheduled in to be divvied among the lawyers in the case. Some lawyers continue to battle over their share, according to court documents and press accounts. Lead lawyer Dennis Gingold left the case in December.
On December 17, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia appointed Judge Richard A. Levie to become a special master during the payments process. Levie will oversee appeals of payments and other issues surrounding them. Appeals questions should be directed to the Garden City Group.
NCAI Praises Passage of Protections for All Women; Tribal Courts Gain Jurisdiction over Non-Indian Domestic Violence Perpetrators
Bill represents major advance for public safety in Indian Country; Legislation headed to President for Signature
By Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Washington, DC – Today, in a historic vote the House of Representatives passed S.47, the Senate reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), sending the legislation with the tribal provisions supported by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) to President Obama’s desk to be signed into law. NCAI is praising the efforts of the House and the Senate to reauthorize VAWA and the bipartisan support of the Senate version of the legislation in both chambers with resounding votes of 286 – 138 in the House and 78-22 vote in the Senate earlier this month.
“It is with a glad heart and soaring spirit that I celebrate the passage of VAWA. Today the drum of justice beats loud in Indian Country in celebration of the reauthorization of VAWA and we stand in unity with all of our partners and leaders who were unrelenting in support of protections for all women, including Native women,” said Juana Majel Dixon, First Vice President of NCAI, and co-chair of NCAI’s Task Force on Violence Against Women. Juana Majel serves as a Traditional Councilwoman Pauma Band of Mission Indians located within the state of California. “500 plus days is too long to not have a bill for all women in America. For an unimaginable length of time those who have terrorized our women in our most sacred places, in our relationships, in our homes, and on our land, have gone unprosecuted. Now that time has come to an end and justice and security will flourish in these specific instances. We celebrate the protections for all women included in VAWA, including those for Immigrant and LGBT women,” added Juana Majel.
“With this authority, comes a serious responsibility and tribal courts will administer justice with the same level of impartiality that any defendant is afforded in state and federal courts,” said Jefferson Keel, the President of NCAI and Lt. Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, speaking about implementation of the new law. “We have strong tribal courts systems that protect public safety. The law respects tribal sovereignty, and also requires that our courts respect the due process rights of all defendants. My hope is that this new law is rarely used. Our goal isn’t to put people in jail. It is to create an effective deterrent so that our people can lead safe lives in our communities and nations.”
The constitutionally sound tribal jurisdiction provisions in VAWA authorize tribal governments to prosecute non-Indian defendants involved in intimate relationships with Native women and who assault these victims on tribal land. Current federal laws do not authorize tribal law enforcement or tribal courts to pursue any form of prosecution or justice against these perpetrators.
“There were at least five things that came together: an enormous grassroots effort from Indian country; the coalition of the National Task Force to End Domestic Violence; statistics so we could finally show the problem; steadfast leadership from the Department of Justice; and incredible support from so many Members of Congress both Republicans and Democrats,” said Terri Henry, Council Member at Eastern Cherokee and Co-Chair of the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women spoke of the large collective effort that led to the passage of the Senate version of VAWA. “We really want to thank everyone for their hard work. Now we are going to use this tool to protect Native women from violence.”
“Women and men – Native and non-Native, Senators and Representatives from all backgrounds, and tribal leaders from across Indian Country have all spoken that these injustices must not continue. We intend to keep speaking from our heart and with the law by our side,” added NCAI’s First Vice President Juana Majel Dixon. “We are thankful that there are strong leaders in both the House and Senate that have stood for the protections of Native women, regardless of party politics.”
“Today marks not the end of our efforts at NCAI to combat domestic violence issues that Indian Country faces but an important step along the way. We will remain as dedicated as we have been since we began addressing this issue as an organization. There have been many members of Congress who have stood with tribal nations throughout this effort and they have stayed true to the constitution, to the trust responsibility, and to the truth that tribal nations are the best to address our situations at the local level. Today we advance the protections tribal nations can provide all people, Native and non-Native,” said Jacqueline Pata, Executive Director of NCAI.
Findings show that 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes* and 39% of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be subjected to violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes**. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 46% of people living on reservations in 2010 were non-Natives (single race) and 59% of American Indian women in 2010 were married to non-Native men***.
The NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women was established in 2000 and has been working for thirteen years to protect the lives of Native American women and create more secure tribal communities
Tjaden, P., & Thoennes, N. (2000). Findings from the National Violence against Women Survey.
** Centers for Disease Control. (2008). Adverse health conditions and health risk behaviors associated with intimate partner violence.
***US Census Bureau, Census 2010.
About The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI):
Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. NCAI advocates on behalf of tribal governments and communities, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to-government policies, and promoting a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people and rights. For more information visit www.ncai.org
A coal train moves through Seattle en route to Vancouver, B.C. Efforts to bring coal terminals to Washington and Oregon have enlisted some lobbyists and public-relations firms long connected with environmental causes. Photo: Greg Gilbert / The Seattle Times
Several prominent local strategists with “green” reputations are now pushing a set of controversial proposals to make the Pacific Northwest the continent’s biggest coal exporter.
As executive director of Washington Conservation Voters, Bruce Gryniewski helped shape the organization into one of the state’s most influential environmental groups.
Five years after leaving for a consulting firm, Gryniewski has resurfaced as a player in one of the biggest environmental battles in the Pacific Northwest in decades.
Only now he’s working for the other side.
“Our firm has a passion for growing the Northwest economy,” said Gryniewski, explaining his work in support of a proposed new coal port in Longview. He added, “I don’t believe in this eco-McCarthyism view that if you work for coal, you can’t do anything good in the world.”
Gryniewski is among a group of local strategists with “green” reputations hired by coal companies to build support for the Longview facility and four other proposed ports in Washington and Oregon that would ship Rocky Mountain coal to Asia.
The proposals — which would bring hundreds of union-wage jobs and, at least temporarily, hundreds of millions of tons of coal to the Pacific Northwest — have cheered job-hungry workers but enraged environmentalists who are now hoping to use the debate to highlight the harmful effects of global warming.
As the proposals begin a yearslong approval process, the strategists are crafting advertisements, handling media relations, lobbying public officials and getting people to come to hearings or write letters to the editor.
Their firms were described in a recent report by the Sightline Institute, a prominent coal opponent. They include several that are well-known in Democratic circles in Seattle and Portland: Nyhus Communications, Edelman, Berk, ECONorthwest and Smith & Stark Strategic Solutions.
The unusual dynamic has caused a few awkward interactions between traditional allies now turned adversaries, some state lawmakers say. Others argue that the situation illustrates a divide between the union and environmental wings of the Democratic Party.
In interviews, representatives from several of the firms argued the new jobs for the region would outweigh negative consequences from the coal, which they said Asian countries would get from somewhere anyway.
“I think it’s an oversimplification to say that if you don’t meet that demand, it will disappear,” said Lauri Hennessey, a vice president at Edelman who has worked at the Environmental Protection Agency. “The more you dig into the whole complicated issue, I feel very, very proud about being involved.”
As for personal relationships, Hennessey said she believes “it’s very possible to disagree with someone and still respect them.”
But some environmental leaders said reconciliation will be difficult this time simply because of the stakes of the fight.
“This isn’t like being on different sides of a primary or something like that,” said Brendon Cechovic, who now serves in Gryniewski’s old role at Washington Conservation Voters. “This is a completely unprecedented proposal in our state’s history. This is a big deal.”
Port proposals
The “unprecedented proposal” is actually five separate proposals of coal-shipping plans. Each involves different companies and is operating on different timelines.
In Washington, Peabody Energy and SSA Marine want to build the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point near Ferndale to ship 48 million tons each year, and Ambre Energy and Arch Coal are hoping to construct the Millennium Bulk Terminal in Longview to ship 44 million tons.
The other three, all smaller, would be in Oregon.
If all five are built, they would ship nearly 150 million tons of coal to China and other Asian countries — making the Pacific Northwest the largest exporter of the fossil fuel in North America.
There now are only two coal berths on the West Coast: in Alaska and southern British Columbia.
The scramble to increase exports stems from rising demand in Asia and declining American reliance on coal power.
But before construction, each proposal must pass a review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Ecology and county governments.
Those agencies haven’t even decided the scope of the reviews.
Supporters hope to limit the reviews to the economic and environmental effects on the immediate areas. Opponents want to include factors such as how mile-long trains hauling the coal westward would affect life in towns along the route and how burning coal affects the Earth — which would offer a platform to call attention to harmful effects of climate change.
Public input is part of the process. So supporters are focused on getting as many people on board as possible.
Public relations
That’s the job of the communications firms.
Gryniewski’s firm, Gallatin Public Affairs, is doing public relations for the Longview project. The firm’s point person is Aaron Toso, a former spokesman for then-Gov. Chris Gregoire.
Hennessey’s firm, Edelman, is the voice behind the Alliance for Northwest Jobs and Exports, a coalition of pro-export unions.
Nyhus is involved with another coalition, Move Forward Washington.
“We’re proud of our environmental commitment — the work we’ve done for a variety of sustainable enterprises, from clean technology to green buildings,” said Roger Nyhus, who served as a spokesman for then-Gov. Gary Locke. “I don’t see that being inconsistent with the work that we’re doing here.”
Smith & Stark has done public relations for the project near Ferndale in Whatcom County. Gary Smith said he is personally involved with several environmental groups but doesn’t often represent them professionally.
And ECONorthwest and Berk, which traditionally analyze projects on behalf of environmental groups and municipal governments, each did an analysis of an export proposal paid for by the coal companies.
Strategic hiring
Opponents, who themselves are well-funded and organized, speculated that the coal companies intentionally hired strategists with green reputations.
“If you’ve fought shoulder to shoulder with someone for years on similar causes, it might make your voice carry more weight,” said state Rep. Jeff Morris, a Mount Vernon Democrat whose district is near Ferndale.
Indeed, Gryniewski’s bio on Gallatin’s website highlights his tenure at Washington Conservation Voters and notes that he brings “practical relationships and public policy knowledge to help business interests navigate the often-challenging political and regulatory environment in the Pacific Northwest.”
The coal companies disputed the opponents’ theory.
In a statement, Millennium CEO Ken Miller said his firm chose Gallatin because it is “a bipartisan firm with a successful track record working with brownfield-redevelopment sites and experience permitting large infrastructure projects.”
Regardless of the reason for the hires, state Rep. Reuven Carlyle said he is “deeply disappointed” in the traditionally green strategists now working for the coal companies.
But then the Seattle Democrat paused and said he doesn’t take it personally.
“It’s just one of those realities when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake,” he said. “This is the gig, and the game we’re in.”
