Tulalip News

Cladoosby Hopes to Initiate Repatriation Discussion With France

Courtesy Brian CladoosbySwinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby introduces President Obama as the "first American Indian president" of the U.S., at the 2012 White House Tribal Nations Conference. Cladoosby and his wife will be the Obamas' guests at the White House State Dinner for French President Francois Hollande, February 11. — Courtesy Brian Cladoosby
Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby introduces President Obama as the “first American Indian president” of the U.S., at the 2012 White House Tribal Nations Conference. Cladoosby and his wife will be the Obamas’ guests at the White House State Dinner for French President Francois Hollande, February 11.

Richard Walker, Indian Country Today Media Network

National Congress of American Indians President Brian Cladoosby doesn’t expect he’ll have more than an opportunity to shake the hand of French President Francois Hollande at a White House state dinner February 11.

But he hopes that introduction will open the door to negotiation of an agreement for the repatriation of Native American objects in French museums.

Cladoosby, chairman of the Swinomish Tribe, and his wife Nina were invited by President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama to the state dinner being held in honor of the French president.

During the French president’s visit to the U.S., Obama and Hollande “will discuss opportunities to further strengthen the U.S.-France security and economic partnership,” Obama said in a statement posted on www.whitehouse.gov.

“Michelle and I look forward to welcoming President Hollande … on a state visit to the United States,” Obama said.

“The United States and France are close friends and allies, including through NATO, and our countries have worked together to support democracy, liberty, and freedom at home and abroad for more than two centuries.”

The state dinner comes two months after a French judge’s decision to allow an auction house in Paris to sell 24 sacred Native American artifacts, despite the protests of the Hopi Nation, the U.S. Embassy, and indigenous civil rights organization Survival International.

The Annenberg Foundation intervened, submitting a winning bid of $530,000 U.S. for the sole purpose of returning the objects to their rightful owners – 21 items belong to the Hopi Nation, three to the San Carlos Apache.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act gives indigenous nations in the U.S. a way to reclaim funerary objects and ceremonial items from federal agencies and museums in the United States. The law, however, does not apply to items held internationally.

Christopher Marinello, executive director and general counsel of Art Loss Register London, the world’s largest private database of lost and stolen art, antiques and collectables, told ICTMN in April 2013 that the Hopi and Apache objects should have been repatriated under the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. France ratified the convention in 1997.

According to the convention, “the [Hopi and Apache] pieces should have been pulled off, parties should have had a discussion to see which pieces could be sold, which were not genuine, what were the moral claims, what was important to the tribe, what is the compensation,” Marinello told ICTMN.

Marinello said there are no international agreements specifically addressing Native American artifacts, and said “it is something that the Americans should be convening and discussing because the laws in the USA protecting those Native artifacts have no weight overseas.”

That’s what Cladoosby hopes to initiate, noting, “We want to ensure our most sacred items are treated the same way” as those covered by other repatriation conventions.

Three Tribes to Begin Prosecuting Non-Indian Domestic Violence Offenders

Rob Capriccioso, ICTMN

Three pilot tribes have been chosen by the Obama Administration to take early advantage of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provisions passed by Congress last year that allow tribes to prosecute non-Indian offenders for domestic violence offenses on reservations.

The Justice Department announced February 6 that the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, and the Umatilla Tribes of Oregon will be the first in the nation to be able to exercise criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes of domestic and dating violence, regardless of the defendant’s Indian or non-Indian status, under the 2013 VAWA law.

“Our actions today mark a historic turning point,” Associate Attorney General Tony West said in a press release announcing the decision. “We believe that by certifying certain tribes to exercise jurisdiction over these crimes, we will help decrease domestic and dating violence in Indian country, strengthen tribal capacity to administer justice and control crime, and ensure that perpetrators of sexual violence are held accountable for their criminal behavior.”

Beyond this pilot required by Congress, the law allows increased tribal jurisdiction to go into effect for all tribes in the lower 48 states in March 2015. Tribes at that time will not need Justice Department approval if they meet provisions of the law required for enhanced jurisdiction over domestic and dating violence cases.

Justice officials said West chose the three tribes for pilot participation because their tribal court systems have adequate safeguards in place to fully protect defendants’ rights under the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968. They further said the decision to choose the three tribes were based on reviews of application questionnaires submitted by the tribes in December 2013, along with excerpts of tribal laws and policies.

“The Tulalip Tribes is honored to be among those chosen for the Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction pilot program,” Tulalip Chairman Mel Sheldon said in a press release. “Getting justice for our tribal members, where it concerns domestic and intimate partner violence, has been a long time coming.”

“This is very positive news for tribes,” added Troy Eid, the recent chair of the Tribal Law and Order Commission who is scheduled to testify on VAWA and other tribal justice issues before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs February 12. “It’s wonderful to see that three were approved, and the hope is that the other tribes that submitted applications are getting strong assistance from the Department of Justice to get up and running very soon.”

Six tribes in total have applied so far to participate in the pilot project, according to the National Congress of American Indians. The three that applied that that were not approved on February 6 are still under review, said Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for Justice; they are the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, the Penobscot Indian Nation, and the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation. Tribal justice advocates say Justice has shown a willingness to work with the tribes to help them be able to take part in the law, and Hornbuckle said tribes may submit applications to participate in the pilot project any time before March 7, 2015. Some tribes were opposed to the pilot portion of the law, believing they should have been given immediate increased jurisdiction upon passage of the law, but the pilot was a compromise between Senate and House legislators added into the law in 2013 so that it could gain enough support to be approved by both chambers.

Once the full law goes into effect in 2015, Eid predicts many people will be asking why tribes were not trusted for so long. “The idea that local governments should have jurisdiction over these kinds of offenses is a basic bedrock principle of the American justice system,” he says. “There is no reason for tribes not to have this local control, as do all other local communities.”

Before the 1978 Supreme Court decision opinion in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, federally recognized tribes were widely able to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian defendants. Since that decision, which severely limited tribal sovereignty, tribes and the federal government have documented large amounts of domestic violence and dating violence committed by non-Indian abusers, yet tribes have not been able to prosecute these offenders, and the federal government has been slow to curb the problem with its own justice system.

In conjunction with the announcement, administration officials cited on the White House blog a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found 46 percent of Native American women have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

Tribal leaders and advocates spent much of 2012 and 2013 pushing for tribal jurisdictional provisions to be restored in the VAWA reauthorization against intense Republican opposition. After a prolonged battle in Congress, they were finally successful when the reauthorization was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2013.

“We lift our hands to all those who fought for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, including our own Tulalip Tribes councilwoman, Deborah Parker,” Sheldon added.

Alaska Natives, meanwhile, are currently waging a campaign for passage of a congressional VAWA fix that would give their tribal communities jurisdiction over similar domestic and dating offenses. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska) have introduced legislation called the Safe Families and Communities Act, which does not go nearly as far as the 2013 VAWA law in increasing tribal jurisdiction over non-Indian domestic violence and dating offenders.

Alaska Natives are pressuring Begich, who is in a close re-election race, to support a congressional fix that will treat Alaska Native communities the same as tribes in the rest of the country on jurisdictional matters. Alaska Native tribes make up 40 percent of all federally recognized tribes.

Everyone’s Problem: Secretary of the Interior holds discussion on the impacts of climate change on the Pacific Northwest

Secertary_Jewell1 — Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell (left) and UW Dean of the College of the Environment Dr. Lisa Graumlich (right) hold a round table discussion at the University of Washington in Seattle with researchers and other program managers to discuss the impacts of Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

Seattle – The United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, along with Dean of College of the Environment at University of Washington Dr. Lisa Graumlich, convened a meeting at the University of Washington (UW) in order to discuss climate change, the data we have already seen in the Pacific Northwest, and what the regional impacts are. Representatives from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), UW faculty, the National Parks Service, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the North Cascades National Parks Complex, the Olympic National Park, and other organizations attended the February 4^th meeting. Impacts on ecology, landscape, development and public planning were discussed, though for Native American Tribes, the implications are much more complex as they affect cultural identities. Although tribes’ interests are more deeply vested, collaboration was highlighted throughout the meeting as key to successfully combating climate change.

Dr. Gustavo Bisbal, Director of the USGS Northwest Climate Science Center, said, “{Tribes} have their finger on the pulse of the land. These communities don’t just worry about ‘oh well we can’t go snowboarding,’ or ‘I cannot go and water my carrots.’ There is a spiritual significance to the resources that they don’t see anymore. There is a danger of cultural erosion with things going away. ‘I can’t do this anymore. I cannot be…I cannot realize my tribal identity.’ That is huge, to understand the significance of how those resources are changing, and are really transforming cultures.”

For many years tribes, especially in Washington State, have led the charge in protecting natural resources. Stemming from the 1974 Boldt Decision, which protected tribal interests and rights to natural resources, tribal sovereignty was realized through the recognition of their authority to co-manage resources with state and federal entities. Today, although tribes remain at the forefront with their survival deeply vested in the preservation of natural resources, it is apparent that everyone has an interest in combating issues that come with climate change.

“I think one big lesson that nature, of course, taught us over time is there’s really no geographic or institution boundaries. When you look at the State of Washington, Department of Natural Resources owns the land, forest land, park land, tribal land, and they’re all impacted,” said Hedia Adelsman, policy analyst for the Department of Ecology and appointed proxy for the governor for the meeting. “Ultimately, how do we then work together to not have this fragmentation.”

These entities historically have worked individually, even in natural resource preservation efforts. DNR, for example, is currently developing a climate change adaptation plan, though it only affects DNR land. The boundaries on the land do nothing to contain environmental impacts. On Mount Rainier

Other entities get wrapped up in whether or not it is their responsibility to preserve natural resources or prepare for climate change.

“A climate catastrophe is not the time to have an identity crisis. From a National Parks Service perspective, I think there are still those many, many people within our population who think of national parks as zoos. Some of us realize the importance of national parks for the baseline information that they can provide regarding climate change. From a policy and legislative perspective, they look at specific species in parks, which a zoo-like mentality, as opposed to looking long range and thinking; well what if Roosevelt Elk actually move out of the park habitat, or what if they’re not doing so well. To what extreme would we go to maintain a population of Roosevelt Elk at the expense of keeping baseline data to inform climate change decisions,” said Sarah Creachbaum, Superintendent for the Olympic National Park.

Creachbaum demonstrated two roadblocks that need to change, one being the perspectives at the decision making level, and the second being the challenges in identity and questions of responsibility. The National Parks Service essentially is at the frontline, observing environmental changes on a daily basis. The potential data they stand to provide, in addition to what they do now, is overlooked because of these roadblocks. Creachbaum said they want to come to the table and be part of the team, but their significance has yet to be realized. That lack of vision in addition to oversight at the policy level creates a gap, consequentially hindering natural resource preservation.

Adelsman said, “We are just at the beginning of starting to look at it as a system. The part that I struggle the most with is we are recipient of the science, and we say we need to consider that in our planning policies, but what does that really mean?”

Climate change affects regions and regional systems beyond the natural environment, including the economy, public health, and population. For tribes, the effects will change tribal identity and culture if there are no longer traditional natural resources to have access to. At the end of the day, it is more than a tribal issue, more than a local or regional issue. In the Pacific Northwest, even speaking locally, climate change is an international challenge, as we share waters and mountains. Climate change impacts everyone and it will take a consorted, multi-national effort to plan for and prevent changes in the Pacific Northwest.

Andrew Gobin: 360-716-4188; agobin@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Man from Meskwaki Tribe charged for murdering his parents

Detective: Son told relatives he killed parents with machete

Feb. 7, 2014 DesMoinesRegister.com

Written by Sharyn Jackson

MESKWAKI SETTLEMENT, IA. — A 25-year-old man who has been charged with murdering his mother and father told relatives he had killed his parents with a machete, authorities said late Thursday.

The killing of two tribal members and murder charges against a third shook this tightknit community of 1,000 residents Thursday.

Gordon Lasley Sr. and Kim Lasley were found dead late Wednesday night in their home at 669 Meskwaki Road by Meskwaki Nation police. The couple’s son, Gordon Lasley Jr., is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, Tama County Attorney Brent Heeren said in a news release. He was being held on $2 million bond in the county jail.

In a criminal complaint, Craig Karr, a detective with Meskwaki Nation police, said another of the couple’s sons, Tyler Lasley, went to their home and found his mother’s body on the basement floor, his father’s body on the living room floor, and a bloody machete on the couch in the living room late Wednesday.

“The wounds appeared to be from a edged weapon,” Karr wrote.

Early Thursday, when a Tama County sheriff’s deputy found Lasley Jr. driving his mother’s vehicle, the suspect had blood on his clothes, and there was blood in the vehicle from cuts on Lasley’s hands, the complaint said.

Lasley Jr. told “several family members” he was responsible for the killings, which took place about 9 p.m., according to the complaint.

Lasley Jr. appeared before a magistrate judge Thursday, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14, according to court documents.

Federal, state and local authorities are investigating the slayings.

“The Sac and Fox Tribe is a very close-knit community, and we are all shocked and saddened by this,” tribal chairwoman Judith Bender said in a news release from the tribe. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and all of those who are affected by this horrific event.”

On Thursday, neighbors and family members struggled to comprehend the tragedy.

“They were real good people,” said Gerald Sanache, who lives next door to the Lasleys’ olive-green two-story home, and is a nephew of Gordon Lasley Sr. “It’s a total shock.”

“I would have never expected something like this to happen to them,” he said.

In a community highly protective of its privacy, several members declined to be interviewed. A woman at another neighboring house who described herself as a relative would not comment on the victims or the circumstances of the homicide, saying, “We just want privacy right now, to prepare for funeral arrangements.”

The Lasleys resided for about 15 years at the home where they were found dead, Sanache said. Gordon Lasley Sr. grew up on the settlement and was a carpenter by trade, but wasn’t working recently. Kim Lasley worked in the keno department at the Meskwaki casino.

Sanache also knew the junior Lasley. “Never knew him to be in trouble,” he said.

But state court records show Lasley Jr. had faced charges of interference with official acts, trespassing, eluding police, possession of marijuana and multiple driving and motor vehicle violations. In February 2012, he was sentenced to five years in prison, fined $3,125 and placed on probation to the 6th Judicial District Department of Correctional Services, according to the Tama News-Herald.

Meskwaki tribal police are leading the double-homicide investigation, with help from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Tama County Sheriff’s Department, Tama Police Department, Toledo Police Department and the state medical examiner’s office.

The FBI is consulting on the case, said Sandy Breault, spokeswoman for the FBI Omaha field office, which serves Iowa. Federal agents always consult on major crimes on Indian land.

Reporter Daniel P. Finney contributed to this story.

Last Native Klallam Speaker Dies in Port Angeles

Source: ABC News; Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com

The last person to have spoken the Klallam language from birth and the eldest member among the Klallam American Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest has died in Port Angeles at the age of 103, family and tribal members said.

Hazel M. Sampson was the last person who first learned Klallam, then learned English as a second language, said Lower Elwha Klallam tribal member Jamie Valadez, who teaches the Klallam language and culture at Port Angeles High School.

Her death on Tuesday changes the dynamics of the culture, Valadez told the Peninsula Daily News (http://bit.ly/1gQodE1) in a story Thursday.

“In the U.S., this is happening all over Indian Country,” Valadez said. “They carry so much knowledge of our culture and traditions. Then it’s gone.”

Valadez and Texas linguist Timothy Montler worked with Sampson and her husband, Ed, and other native speakers in the 1990s to compile a Klallam dictionary.

If Ed forgot a word or got it wrong, Hazel would come out of the kitchen and correct him, but she declined to be officially involved in the project, Valadez said.

Klallam is the language of three U.S. tribes: the Lower Elwha, Jamestown S’Klallam and Port Gamble S’Klallam, as well as the Beecher Bay Klallam in British Columbia. The three tribes on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula have a total of about 1,700 members, according to Census figures.

Sampson was born in the Jamestown S’Klallam band in 1910. Her grandfather was Lord James Balch, for whom Jamestown community near Sequim was named. She was married to Edward C. Sampson for 75 years until his death in 1995.

A private service will be held for family and close friends. No public memorial has been announced.

The Klallam are among a growing number of tribes trying to revitalize their languages, which in some cases are spoken by only a small handful of people. Linguists estimate about 200 Native American languages are spoken in the U.S. and Canada, with another 100 already extinct.

Montler developed a series of booklet guides and lessons in 1999 to help students learn the basics of the language through storytelling. The lessons are used in Klallam programs at Dry Creek Elementary, Stevens Middle and Port Angeles High schools, where the largest population of Klallam children are educated.

The Klallam dictionary was published by the University of Washington Press in 2012 and distributed to Klallam and S’Klallam families, local libraries and schools. The others who helped compile the dictionary have died.

Sampson’s death is a loss of not only her language knowledge, said Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam.

“She was a strong spirit representing who we are as a people,” he said.

———

Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com

California county to distribute nearly $270K in gaming funds

Tulare Co. committee solicits casino mitigation grants

02/05/2014

Written by Business Journal staff

Nearly $270,000 is available to governments and special districts in Tulare County to help mitigate impacts from the Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville.

The money comes from the Tulare County Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee (IGLCBC), which distributes the grants from the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund that is paid into by gaming tribes like the Tule River Tribe that operates Eagle Mountain Casino.

The grants, totaling $268,177, will help local governments pay for services related to the casino, including law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, roads, public health and recreation and youth programs.

Application forms and selection criteria can be found online atwww.tularecounty.ca.gov/cao/index/cfm/indian-gaming/2013-14-indian-gaming-grant.

Application must be mailed no later than March 21 to Jed Chernabaeff or John Hess with the IGLCBC to 2800 W. Burrel Ave., Visalia, CA 93291.

Staff with the IGLCBC will evaluate each proposal and award the grants based on the merit of the services offered.

The Tule River Tribe must also sponsor the grants and affirm the the proposed grant projects have a reasonable relationship to the impact of their casino.

There are around 58 tribal casinos in California that pay into the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund, created in 2004 to help counties, cities and special districts ease the impacts from the businesses.

Oregon School District considers ban on Sherman Alexie novel

By JESSICA ROBINSON Feb 3, 2014

Nwnewsnetwork.com

A school district in Sweet Home, Ore., is considering whether to pull a book by Northwest author Sherman Alexie from junior high classrooms.

Credit Kraemer Family Library / FlickrFile photo of "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." An Oregon school district is considering whether to pull the book. — Credit Kraemer Family Library / Flickr
File photo of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.” An Oregon school district is considering whether to pull the book.

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is frequently targeted for removal from school reading lists for its language and depictions of violence and sexuality.

The Sweet Home school district says it received five requests from parents to have the book re-evaluated.

“It’s not frustrating that parents want to have an alternative unit,” says eighth grade language arts teacher Chelsea Gagner. “Every parent has the right to know what their child’s education is like. I’m not frustrated with that. I am frustrated that a small handful of parents are trying to take it away from the rest of the kids.”

Gagner says her students are already about 100 pages into the book.

Parents had to give permission for their kid to participate in the unit on “Part-Time Indian” – and most did. But the superintendent of the district says the people who filed complaints worried the students who weren’t allowed to read the book would be singled out by their peers.

The school board hopes to make a decision next week.

Beast Mode! Marshawn Lynch Beats Lummi Fan’s Drum in Seahawks Victory Parade

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

During the Super Bowl victory parade in downtown Seattle yesterday, running back Marshawn Lynch got the crowd’s attention.

As he rode in the WWII-era Duck vehicle, Seattle Seahawks’ running back Marshawn Lynch heard a fan beating on a drum. So, of course, he did what any normal football player would do, he asked if he could borrow it.

“As soon as he heard me beating the drum and he saw me, he turned around and looked right at me,” John Scott, 41, told The Bellingham Herald. “Our eye contact was immediate. He kept waving his hands and asking for (the drum).”

And, like any fan in the crowd would do, Scott handed it over.

Columbia River Native Fish Shop Opens This Weekend

By Anna King, NW News Network

In the Northwest, Native Americans have caught and traded fish along the banks of the Columbia River for eons. Nowadays, natives sell just-caught fish out of coolers roadside.

This weekend, one native entrepreneur is opening her own brick-and-mortar fish shop in Cascade Locks, Ore,. called the Brigham Fish Market.

Kim Brigham Campbell is a petite woman with sleek black hair, razored just below her chin. And a laid-back, warm persona.

We walk past the clean, bright front counter to the room behind.

“In the back here we have our ice machine and our 20 by 20 freezer cooler,” she says.

“We’re getting a good variety [of fish]. There is our smoked fish, there are bellies and stuff for bait for sturgeon, there is sturgeon, we have some clam chowder that we are going to have on opening day, and more varieties of salmon.”

Bins of filets are all packaged up tight in glossy vacuum packs ready for sale.

From Brigham Campbell’s store you can see the Columbia River where these fish are plucked fresh from the chilly water. In this cooler is a precious half-year of hard work.

Brigham Campbell’s Native American family is well-known on the lower Columbia River. She’s a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. Her father fishes, her uncles, her cousins, her sister, her children.

Brigham Campbell says her family name is tied to this store, and that means she’s had a few sleepless nights lately.

“I’ve been really comfortable building the building,” she says. “And now that it’s time to open the building, I hope that it’s everything that I want it to be and everything that people are expecting of me.”

To build the store, Brigham Campbell and her husband took out loans, cashed in a 401(k), struck a land deal with the nearby port and even borrowed money from her parents.

Brigham Campbell herself is a mother of two teenagers, an independent hairdresser and has managed to guide the construction of this new shop.

I ask her who she is most excited to see come through your the front doors.

“My parents, of course,” she says. “I’ll probably cry [when they walk through.] It will be a good thing.”

And getting to this opening hasn’t always been easy. There’s been some talk that she’s taking away from tradition, or changing things too much.

Still, she says many in her tribal community have been supportive.

“In the spring time, April or May I’m going to have a blessing,” says Brigham Campbell. “I’m going to have some drummers and singers come down and do a bigger grand opening. This is just my soft opening. I just need to open my doors. In the springtime I want to honor everyone that’s helped me and the blessing from the tribe.”

Blessing ceremonies for fishing families along the Columbia River isn’t new. For centuries Brigham Campbell’s ancestors prospered from the Northwest’s rivers and land.

With this bright new store, Brigham Campbell says she’s reasserting her belief in the Columbia River. That the wide waters will provide for her family’s future, as it has in the past.

The Brigham Fish Market opens in Cascade Locks, Oregon, at noon on Saturday, February 8.

Standing Rock Sioux Woman Dies During Propane Shortage in Sub-Zero Temperatures

AP Photo/The Bismarck Tribune, Tom StrommeThis Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014 photo shows the Fort Yates, North Dakota mobile home where Debbie Dogskin was found dead Tuesday morning with an empty propane tank. — AP Photo/The Bismarck Tribune, Tom Stromme
This Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014 photo shows the Fort Yates, North Dakota mobile home where Debbie Dogskin was found dead Tuesday morning with an empty propane tank.

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

A Standing Rock Sioux member died from hypothermia, authorities believe, due to lack of heat during a propane shortage that recently prompted the tribe to declare a state of emergency. Nearly 90 percent of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation’s residents use propane to heat their homes, reported KFYRTV.com.

Debbie Dogskin’s adult son, who resided with his mother in the Sioux Village mobile home on the outskirts of Fort Yates, called an ambulance when he found her unresponsive early Tuesday.

When emergency responders arrived, Dogskin’s propane tank was empty, and the temperature inside her home matched that of outside, 1 degree below zero. Her portable heater also appeared to be broken, Sioux County Sheriff Frank Landeis told GrandForksHerald.com.

An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday, with results expected on Friday, Tribal chairman Dave Archambault told BismarckTribune.com.

Lack of propane and frigid temperatures have significantly impacted the Midwest, and the problem is exacerbated on the Standing Rock Reservation plagued by poverty and housing issues. Many tribal members can’t afford propane, which has nearly doubled in price per gallon. But costs are expected to decrease soon, Mike Rud, North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association president, told BismarckTribune.com.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has opened shelters in Wakpala, South Dakota and Fort Yates, North Dakota, for those without heat. The American Red Cross is supplying hot meals to the shelters and providing cots and blankets.