NOAA data from a satellite-linked tag shows the orca, known as L87, spent the past several weeks cruising throughout the Salish Sea and out to the Washington coast. | credit: Miles Ritter via Flickr | rollover image for more
SEATTLE (AP) — Federal researchers say a satellite-linked tag offered new details on the movements of an endangered orca whale before it stopped transmitting data earlier this week.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data shows the orca, known as L87, spent the past several weeks cruising throughout the Salish Sea and out to the Washington coast.
During the 30 days it was tracked, the orca circled Vashon Island, passed the east side of Whidbey Island, came close to the Victoria waterfront and traveled the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The whale, which is traveling with the J pod group of orcas, made it as far south as Cape Alava.
Researchers believe the satellite tag detached from the orca.
They’re trying to better understand the winter movements of southern resident killer whales.
Suzanne Patles of the Mi’kmaq Warriors Society spoke at a strategy session co-sponsored by First Nations Studies SFU, and the English Department, SFU at the downtown Harbour Centre campus Friday, January 24th, on unceded Coast Salish Territories.
Members of the Mi’kmaq Warriors Society, who have been arrested and incarcerated at Elsipogtog, New Brunswick, are on a speaking tour in January and February to raise awareness about their struggle against fracking, their ongoing assertion and exercise of nationhood, and the repression they face from police and courts.
“Our warriors are still being mistreated in the system, justice for our political prisoners of war.” Suzanne Patles
A Native American alliance is forming to block construction of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline which still needs final approval from U.S. President Barack Obama after the State Department released an environmental report indicating the project wouldn’t have a significant impact Alberta tar sands production.
Members from the seven tribes of the Lakota Nation, along with tribal members and tribes in Idaho, Oklahoma, Montana, Nebraska and Oregon, have been preparing to stop construction of the 1,400 kilometre pipeline which is slated to run, on the U.S. side, from Morgan, Mon., to Steel City, Neb., and pump 830,000 barrels per day from Alberta’s tar sands. The pipeline would originate in Hardisty, Alta.
“It poses a threat to our sacred water and the product is coming from the tar sands and our tribes oppose the tar sands mining,” said Deborah White Plume, of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, which is part of the Lakota Nation in South Dakota. “All of our tribes have taken action to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline.”
The U.S. State Department released its long awaited environmental report on TransCanada’s proposed pipeline Friday. The report found that the pipeline’s operation would not have a major impact on Alberta tar sands production which is also at the mercy of market forces.
“Approval or denial of any one crude oil transport project, including the proposed project, is unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands or the continued demand for heavy crude oil at refineries in the United States based on expected oil prices, oil sand supply costs, transport costs and supply-demand scenarios,” said the report.
The project will now go into a final phase which focuses on whether Keystone XL “serves the national interest.” Pipeline’s environmental, cultural and economic impacts will be weighed in this phase and at least eight agencies will have input on the outcome, including the Department Defence, Justice, Interior, Commerce, Transportation, Energy, Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency.
A 30-day public comment period will also be initiated on Feb. 5.
The State Department is also in the midst of probing conflict-of-interest allegations levelled against contractors who both worked on the report and for TransCanada.
The Lakota Nation is preparing for the eventuality the pipeline receives approval. The nation has led the formation of a project called “Shielding the People” to stop the pipeline. The Lakota also launched a “moccasins on the ground” program to train people in Indigenous communities to oppose the pipeline.
There are also plans to set up spiritual camps along the pipeline’s route. But when and where those camps will spring up remains a closely guarded secret.
“It will band all Lakota to live together and you can’t cross a living area if it’s occupied,” said Greg Grey Cloud, of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. “If it does get approved we aim to stop it.”
Gary Dorr, from the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho, was in Rosebud Friday for a meeting to discuss opposition to Keystone.
The Nez Perce tribe has already used its treaty rights to block the transport of so-called megaloads of mining equipment headed to Alberta’s tar sands through its territory. The tribe launched blockades and won a court battle to stop the shipments from traversing its lands.
“It will be obvious, it will be concrete, and I think once it starts and they start building you will start to see the momentum and the force of the tribal people…it is an epic project, it will have an epic response from the tribal people,” said Dorr. “The tar sands is already affecting the people (for Fort Chipewyan in Alberta), climate change is already obvious. To facilitate that is not something the Native people of the U.S. are going to do. We are not going to sit idly by and let it happen.”
The pipeline has been called the ‘black snake’ in reference to prophecies that had previously been linked to construction of highways and railways. In recent ceremonies, however, discussions sifting through the prophecies noted that the black snake goes under ground.
“That would be a referral to the pipeline,” said Dorr.
Paula Antoine, who works for the Rosebud Tribe’s land office, said while the pipeline does not cross any Lakota reservation lands, it comes close, sometimes metres away. Antoine said the pipeline, however, cuts through their treaty territory, sacred sites and waterways.
“They aren’t recognizing our treaties, they are violating our treaty rights and our boundaries by going through there,” said Antoine. “Any ground disturbance around that proposed line will affect us.”
The battle lines have already been drawn in tribal council chambers. The Oglala Sioux Tribe passed a resolution Friday banning TransCanada and former AFN national chief Phil Fontaine, who has been hired by the energy firm to deal with First Nations opposition to its Energy East project in Canada, from entering its territory.
The resolution received unanimous consent,said White Plume.
The Lakota, Dakota and Nakota make up the Lakota Nation. The nation includes the tribes of Rosebud, Oglala and the Cheyenne Indian reservation, the Yankton Sioux Tribe, Standing Rock, Flandreau Sioux Tribe and the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe.
BELLINGHAM – Bellair Charters is offering a 12th Man Fan Bus to bring Seahawk fans to Seattle for the Super Bowl champion celebration parade.
The bus will leave the Sunset Square Kmart parking lot at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, making additional stops in Burlington and Tulalip. The bus will arrive at the Seattle Convention Center at 10 a.m., five blocks from the main parade route. The parade starts at 11 a.m. and goes down 4th Ave. (south of Denny Way) to Century Link field.
“There is so much excitement about the Seahawks, that we wanted to offer an easy way to get to the parade,” said Bellair Charters President Richard Johnson in a news release.
The Fan Bus will depart from Seattle at 3 p.m. The round-trip cost is $20 per person. To book seats, passengers can call the Bellair Charters / Airporter Shuttle reservations line at 1-866-BELLAIR (235-5247).
Louisville, Colorado—Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP, a national tribal law firm announced this week a victory in the state of California for two Tribal online lenders: the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Santee Sioux Nation of Nebraska. The California Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a suit by the State of California against online lenders owned by the two federally recognized Indian tribes. The suit was an attempt by the State to shut down the sovereign Tribes’ online lending businesses and impose penalties for alleged failure to comply with the California laws governing short-term loans.
This case comes in the wake of a series of other states’ efforts to shut down various tribal lending operations around the country. States have mounted campaigns to restrict and control tribal lending operations in their state even though federally recognized Indian Tribes are not subject to state laws in general and are regulated primarily through Federal Indian law. This issue has gained widespread publicity around the country in the last several months.
This California case has now re-affirmed that federally recognized Indian Tribes are sovereign nations, not subject to state control. The court decision will significantly impact other states and other Tribes throughout the country as the issue of tribal sovereignty has been under attack on many fronts over the last several years.
In this case, California claimed that loans made by the Tribes are not enforceable under California law because the Tribes are not licensed in California and the loan fees exceed California’s enforceable rates. In a ruling issued on January 21, 2014 the Court of Appeals rebuffed the State’s claims, finding that the Tribes’ lending activities “are subject to tribal laws governing interest rates, loans and cash advance services,” and that California’s lending laws are not enforceable against the Tribal lenders. The Court went on to find that “there can be little question” that the Tribally-owned lenders “function as arms of their respective tribes” and therefore are not subject to the jurisdiction of the State of California.
The Court observed that due to the relocation of these Tribes to remote and severely depressed regions, revenues from these loans are “essential to maintaining a functioning tribal government able to provide necessary services to the tribe’s members.”
The decision marks the second appellate court ruling in favor of these sovereign Tribal lenders in less than a month. In December 2013, the Colorado Court of Appeals dismissed the State of Colorado’s appeal of the lower court’s nearly-identical finding that these sovereign Tribal lenders were arms of their respective Tribes and are not subject to that State’s jurisdiction. In both the California and Colorado proceedings, the Courts affirmed the imposition of monetary sanctions against the respective states for their litigation misconduct committed during the course of the litigation.
The California Court of Appeals decision, California v MNE, Case No. B242644, may be found here.
The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma operates its sovereign lending business through MNE Services, Inc., a 100% tribally-owned subdivision and arm of the Miami Tribe. MNE Services, Inc., which is licensed and regulated by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, does business under the tradenames Ameriloan (www.Ameriloan.com); USFastCash (www.USFastcash.com); United Cash Loans (www.unitedcashloans.com); Advantage Cash Services (www.advantagecashservices.com); and Star Cash Processing (www.starcashprocessing.com).
The Santee Sioux Nation operates its sovereign lending business through SFS, Inc., a 100% tribally-owned subdivision and arm of the Santee Sioux Nation. SFS, Inc., which is licensed and regulated by the Santee Sioux Nation, does business using the trade name OneClickCash (www.oneclickcash.com).
The tribal lenders were represented in both appeals by Fredericks, Peebles & Morgan, LLP. Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP is dedicated to the representation of American Indian tribes and Native American organizations throughout the United States. Legal services provided by Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP include a wide spectrum of services related to Indian concerns in the areas of business transactions, litigation, and governmental affairs. For more information on the firm, please visit their website at www.ndnlaw.com.
The Standing Rock Sioux have declared a state of emergency over a lack of propane gas for heating during the coldest of winter weather.
A national shortage has made supplies scarce and increased prices, making it difficult to procure propane and nearly impossible to afford, NBC News affiliate KFYR-TV reported on January 30. On the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, up to 90 percent of residents rely on propane for heating. Many are being displaced by the cold weather because they can’t afford propane that has in some cases doubled in price per gallon.
“They’re already on a fixed income, so they have to make a choice. Do we need heat or do we need food?” Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault told KFYR.
Tribal members are reluctant to lean on already strapped and overcrowded family members, so the tribe has set up shelters in Wakpala, South Dakota and Fort Yates, North Dakota. that some are staying in. The American Red Cross has been on hand as well, supplying emergency meals to the shelters, while its Black Hills Area Chapter has provided cots and blankets, the agency said in a statement.
As recently as a month ago, Archambault told KFYR-TV, $500 would have bought enough propane for more than a month of heating. But in current frigid temperatures that’s only lasting two or three weeks, he said.
States across the Midwest are dealing with the propane shortage, Reuters reported on January 24. It is compounded by its reliance on trucking for transport, as well as by the diversion of some supplies to normally temperate southern states such as Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, Reuters said.
Some relief is in sight, as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on January 30 released $439 million for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program nationwide, $3.4 million of which goes to North Dakota. American Indian tribes are slotted to get $817,000 of that, the Associated Press reported. This comes on top of the initial funding of $2.9 billion nationwide allocated in November, the AP said.
Political representatives praised the release of new funds, which came on the heels of appeals to President Barack Obama for more funds from the governors of Iowa and Wisconsin. In North Dakota there was bipartisan support for the move as U.S. Senators John Hoeven, R-N.D. and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., issued statements praising the release of funds.
“Our Native American brothers and sisters, as well as families all across North Dakota, are feeling the pain of two sharp swords—a particularly brutal winter and sky-high propane prices,” Heitkamp said.
We would like to invite you to attend our greenhouse classes at the Hibulb Cultural Center beginning this month. We are looking forward to another garden season of good food, new friendships and great memories!
This year we have something special to announce: We are partnering with WSU Snohomish County Master Gardeners Foundation to grow vegetables and herbs for our Tulalip garden programs, our local food bank and many other Snohomish county master gardener food bank gardens. We welcome you to come alone or bring your family to any of the greenhouse classes we provide. There is plenty of work for all gardening levels.
See the flyer for dates and times. For more info contact Veronica Leahy, 360.716.5642 or vleahy@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
TAHOLAH, WA – “Securing the rights of sovereign Tribal governments takes constant effort and perseverance at many levels,” said Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and Northwest Regional Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). This past week, some of the focus was on the national and international levels, she said. Sharp completed a round of talks with the US Department of State in Washington DC early this week, exploring how American Indian governments and the US government can formalize an agreement on policies to be considered by the United Nations-sponsored World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.
The World Conference on Indigenous Peoples will be a meeting of the 194 member governments of the United Nations considering how best to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples—a document that affects the rights and interests of American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians and hundreds of other indigenous peoples around the world.
“We have begun talks to formalize a framework between our governments so we can more effectively negotiate balanced solutions to problems such as climate change, damages caused by development to indigenous territories, and improving economies in tribal territories,” said President Sharp.
During the course of the week, Sharp consulted with Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby, who was recently elected President of NCAI, and was joined in the talks by Colville Confederated Tribes Chairman Michael Finley who also serves as First Vice President of NCAI. He stressed his strong endorsement of President Sharp’s proposals to the Department of State, which urged development of an intergovernmental framework agreement that will ensure that the US government and Indian governments work closely and harmoniously as they engage UN member states at the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples in September.
President Sharp and other tribal leaders from across the country will continue talks with representatives of the Department of State in February.
President Sharp further noted, “We have been conducting talks with the Department of State since last August and expect we will come to a mutual agreement on an intergovernmental framework concerning the UN conference in February.”
The Quinault government has been leading discussions with the US government and several UN Member States regarding the World Conference and facilitating joint Indian government meetings to ensure the maximum participation of Indian peoples in plans for the World Conference.
Following is a link to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007
The Tulalip Tribes and Skagit River System Cooperative (SRSC) recently completed a six-year study of juvenile chinook salmon use of small coastal streams in the Whidbey basin.
“Small coastal streams are often overlooked as potential salmon habitat because many flow seasonally and do not provide spawning habitat,” said Todd Zackey, the marine and nearshore program manager for Tulalip who obtained grant funding for the research. Derek Marks, Timber/Fish/Wildlife manager for Tulalip, was an additional principal investigator on the research.
The researchers electrofished 63 streams in the Whidbey basin and found juvenile chinook using more than half of them. The migrant fry originated from the three nearby rivers: Skagit, Snohomish and Stillaguamish.
Todd Zackey electrofishes Hibulb Creek to determine whether there are juvenile chinook using the small coastal stream.
“Juvenile chinook salmon are not just present in these small streams, but they are actively rearing and growing,” said Eric Beamer, research director for SRSC, the natural resources extension of the Swinomish and Sauk-Suiattle tribes. “They appear to be using the streams as a nursery, much like they use natal and pocket estuaries.”
The results of the study suggest that better mapping is needed to improve the protection of small stream habitat.
“The streams are small enough that the habitat can easily be degraded through direct actions such as channel straightening, armoring, removal of riparian vegetation, and culverting,” Beamer said.
To protect and restore small streams, new culverts should not be built near stream mouths, and existing culverts should be removed or retrofitted to allow upstream passage.
“The next phase of research will determine key stream characteristics that can be used to develop a predictive model to identify the coastal streams used by juvenile salmon,” Zackey said. “If we are to protect this critical rearing habitat for threatened chinook, we need to continue our research and monitoring efforts.”
The study was funded by the tribal allocation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency National Estuary Program administered by the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and a state Department of Ecology watershed grant funded by the EPA NEP. Additional collaborators include the Adopt A Stream Foundation and Whidbey Watershed Stewards.
For more information, contact: Eric Beamer, research director, Skagit River System Cooperative, 360-466-7228 or ebeamer@skagitcoop.org; Todd Zackey, marine and nearshore program manager, Tulalip Tribes, 360-716-4637 or tzackey@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov; Kari Neumeyer, information officer, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, 360-424-8226 or kneumeyer@nwifc.org.
