Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo is among the official delegates from Canada attending services for Nelson Mandela.
He, along with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and 18 other political leaders including premiers and members of Parliament, are en route to South Africa for the memorial service to be held in Johannesburg on December 10, as well as Mandela’s lying in state in Pretoria on December 11.
The human-rights icon died on December 5 at age 95. He had served both in prison, for 27 years, and as president, for four, as the country began dismantling the system of segregation known as Apartheid. Known as Madiba by his people, the son from a line of hereditary Thembu chiefs spent most of his life fighting discrimination and racism, and championing human rights.
“The life, work and spirit of Nelson Mandela—or Madiba, as he was called by his people—was deeply connected to First Nations in Canada not only as a fellow indigenous leader but also because of his incredible struggle for justice and reconciliation that resonates so deeply with the struggle and aspirations of our peoples,” Atleo said in a statement on December 8, upon the delegation’s departure. “Our traditions call upon us to always be mindful of the importance of such commemoration, celebration and respect to be shown to the family and to the people united in marking this loss. I will travel to South Africa as a humble representative of our indigenous traditions to pay our respects and to stand in honor of this great leader and inspiration for Indigenous peoples and for the world.”
Also part of the delegation are Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod and Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski. The NW territories will lower their flags to half-mast from sunrise to sunset on Wednesday.
“Much will be said about the character, influence and strength of Nelson Mandela in the coming days,” McLeod said in a statement. “This is an opportunity to reflect on our own experience and those around us who have carried great personal burdens. Our experiences in the North, particularly those related to residential schools, require strength and a true spirit of reconciliation for all northerners. I will be taking this week to reflect on how we can continue to work together to reconcile our past and our differences as we move forward.”
Alberta Premier Alison Redford, who worked with him as a young lawyer during the 1990s as part of a team that was laying the groundwork for a post-Apartheid South Africa, is also part of the delegation.
“Nelson Mandela was a towering icon, a giant of a man and an enormously inspiring individual who courageously spent his life fighting racism, oppression, and injustice,” she said in a statement upon his passing. “He used his days walking this earth to bring freedom, equality and human rights to his people, his country and to the world.”
Redford’s grief, both personal and professional, echoed the appeal that Mandela held for Natives and non-Natives alike.
“I will always remember him as a dignified and kind man with a sparkle in his eye, who used humor to diffuse tense situations,” she said. “He taught me that the best advice comes from people who have been working in the trenches, and that leaders have to sacrifice. I remember his wisdom, his optimism and his patience. He knew that no matter what he had accomplished that there was always another challenge ahead of him and another hill to climb, and that his work was never done until he breathed his last breath.”
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File In this Feb. 5, 2013 file photo, U.S. Associate Attorney General Tony West gestures during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington. West is scheduled to be in Bismarck, N.D. on Monday, Dec. 9, 2013, to talks about plans for a national task force to examine the impact of exposure to violence on American Indian and Alaska Native children.
“One of the reasons why it’s important for me to go to Indian country periodically is to remind myself that people living there do not give up. And if they’re not giving up, we’re not giving up,” U.S. Associate Attorney General Tony West, the department’s third-highest official, told the Associated Press.
The first public hearing of the advisory committee of the 12-member Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence was held Monday, December 9 in Bismarck, North Dakota. The task force is divided into two tiers: a federal working group comprised of U.S. attorneys and officials from federal Interior and Justice departments, and an advisory committee of experts on Native American studies, child health and trauma and child welfare and law. The committee makes policy recommendations to Attorney General Eric Holder.
After graciously thanking all of his colleagues and others instrumental in making the Task Force a reality, West expressed deep appreciation to the Task Force Advisory Committee’s two co-chairs, former U.S. Sen. Dorgan and Iroquois composer and singer Joanne Shenandoah.
“As everyone in this room knows, Senator Dorgan has been a champion of North Dakota’s tribes during his entire career, including his 30 years in Congress. His commitment to children in tribal nations is unparalleled,” West said. “Likewise, Ms. Shenandoah is a highly respected and deservedly celebrated artist who has used her talent to call attention to the plight of children in Indian country. We are very fortunate to have them at the helm of this group and leading this effort, and I’m thankful, too, to the other members of the committee for their commitment and expertise.”
Below is an except of West’s prepared remarks at the hearing:
“Fifty years ago Attorney General Robert Kennedy came here to Bismarck and spoke of the “tragic irony” of First Americans living in the freest country in the world yet imprisoned by conditions of poverty and deprivation — conditions not found in the natural order of things but manmade, imposed and perpetuated by bigotry and greed and violence.
And Attorney General Kennedy spoke of our responsibility to reverse that historical tide, so that the light of freedom, just dawning, he said, in his own lifetime, might fully shine on his children.
And so we’ve come here to Bismarck, a half-century later, to help fulfill that pledge, and to reaffirm a promise we must make to all of our children: that their safety and well-being is our highest priority; that they are sacred beings, gifts from the Creator to be cherished, cared for, and protected.
Because the simple, sad fact is that too many of our American Indian and Alaska Native children still suffer or witness violence in Indian country. Too many see family members or friends fall victim to violence; and too many are victims themselves.
And the impact this has on lives both young and old cannot be overstated. It tears at the fabric of family and community; it disrupts the present and too often darkens the future. The scars of violence can run deep and have impacts that can seep from one generation into the next.
We know from our own research at the Justice Department that a majority of America’s children—more than 60 percent—are exposed to some form of violence, crime, or abuse, ranging from brief encounters as witnesses to serious violent episodes as victims.
We know that, tragically, almost 40 percent are direct victims of two or more violent acts.
Often this violence occurs in the place where our children should feel the safest: at home. While domestic violence plagues many communities across the country, research shows that rates of domestic violence against Native women are among the highest in the entire United States.
And while we don’t know how many American Indian and Alaska Native children witness this kind of violence; or how many are removed from their homes and experience disruption in their lives as a result; or how many end up continuing the cycle by hurting others; we do know that the impact of on our kids having been exposed to violence can be serious, ranging from poor academic performance and drug and alcohol abuse to long-term psychological harm or even criminal behavior later in life.
But we also know something else: We know that we need not accept these outcomes as inevitable, because our young people are resilient and can return to living normal, healthy lives, as long as they have the benefit of proper intervention.
So as we listen to the testimony today, let us look for new ways in which we can engage all community members — tribal and spiritual leaders; elders and parents; teachers and coaches; and, importantly, young people themselves — let us all be enlisted to address this critical issue, because it is a challenge that requires no less.
Today’s hearing is an important step in that direction, and it’s a natural extension of work the Obama Administration has pursued to fulfill this nation’s trust responsibility and address the challenges that American Indian and Alaska Native communities face.
It grows out of the work that Attorney General Holder began three years ago with a new initiative he called “Defending Childhood.” The goal of Defending Childhood was to improve our knowledge about what works to reduce children’s exposure to violence and how to lessen the long-term adverse impacts of that exposure when it does occur.
And as part of that effort, as many of you know, the Attorney General appointed a national Task Force to identify ways to reduce children’s exposure to violence and to recommend policy changes at the federal level to meet that goal.
We’re implementing one of those recommendations this morning: a special effort aimed at examining and addressing the exposure of American Indian and Alaska Native children to violence, in ways that recognize the unique government-to-government relationship between sovereign tribal nations and the United States.
There are two parts to this special task force: a Federal Working Group comprised of high-ranking federal officials who work with tribal communities everyday; and an Advisory Committee made of up experts with insights into children’s exposure to violence in native communities.
Now, the Federal Working Group was formed because we know there are things we can do now—things that need not wait for more study—that can have a direct and immediate impact in kids’ lives right now.
So officials from the Departments of Justice, the Interior, and Health and Human Services with proven dedication and experience in Indian country have come together as part of this Federal Working Group to do just that.
And already, they are making a difference. Here’s one example. About a year ago, I traveled to the Ute Mountain Ute and Northern Cheyenne reservations. And among the places I visited were the detention centers, where both adults and juveniles are held.
Now it’s always tragic whenever a young person is locked up; but that tragedy is compounded when that child is warehoused without any assistance that can help prevent that child from future incarceration. And in these two facilities, kids weren’t getting access to adequate educational programming or counseling.
So the Federal Working Group came together and tackled this issue, cutting through the red tape and working together such that contracts are now being secured for teachers who will provide culturally-sensitive educational and counseling services to native youths held in those BIA detention facilities at both Ute Mountain Ute and Northern Cheyenne.
Now, in addition to addressing those immediate issues, we must also develop a strategic approach to the long-term issues of violence that affect children in Indian country. So we’ve augmented the work of the Federal Working Group with an Advisory Committee of experts who have dedicated themselves to improving the lives of children in native communities.
Over the next year, the Advisory Committee will travel the country, holding hearings and listening sessions. They will comb through the research and consult with others to help us paint a clearer picture of the incidence of violence among native children, and help identify ways to prevent it.
And next fall, the Advisory Committee’s work will culminate in a final report—a strategic plan of action that will guide practitioners and policymakers at all levels. And, like the work of the Defending Childhood Task Force, the recommendations of the Advisory Committee will not sit on some shelf collecting dust; as the Attorney General said in his greeting this morning, your work will serve as a blueprint that will guide us into the future.
So this is our charge and our challenge. Today represents an early and important step in protecting American Indian and Alaska Native children. No one here expects this work to be easy, or that the efforts we embark on here will lead to a panacea. But it is an investment—an investment in our children; in the future of sovereign tribal nations on this continent; an investment we fail to make at our own peril, and one whose return will be measured not in dollars and cents, but in the young smiles you create; the doors of hope you will open; the futures you will shape; and the lives you will change.
EVERETT — Democrats in the 38th Legislative District are expected tonight to decide three candidates to fill former Rep. John McCoy’s seat now that he’s serving in the Senate.
Seven people are vying for the post and the Democratic precinct committee officers gathering at 7 p.m. in the Everett Labor Temple will nominate three of them for the job.
The Snohomish County Council will interview those nominees and make the appointment next Monday afternoon.
The appointee will represent the district, which includes Everett, Tulalip and part of Marysville. To keep the $42,106-a-year job, the person will need to win a full two-year term in next fall’s election.
June Robinson, Jennifer Smolen, Deborah Parker, Ed Triezenberg, Kelly Wright, Ray Miller and David Simpson are the candidates.
Robinson, of Everett, is a program manager with Public Health Seattle & King County and secretary of the legislative district. She ran unsuccessfully for Everett City Council in 2011 and 2012.
Smolen, of Marysville, worked as an aide to state Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, in 2011 and Democratic Snohomish County Councilwoman Stephanie Wright in parts of 2011 and 2012. She also served a stint on the state committee of the Democratic Party.
Parker, of Tulalip, was elected vice chairwoman of the Tulalip Tribes in 2012 and recently testified to congressional committees on the Violence Against Women Act.
Triezenberg, of Tulalip, is a longtime official in organized labor. He’s a former lobbyist for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters and presently works for the Carpenters Union. He has said he will run for the seat regardless of the outcome of the appointment process.
Wright, of Marysville, is a former state House aide and current state committee representative from the district. He has said if selected he will only serve for the 2014 session and not run next year in order to let voters pick the person they want for the full term.
Miller, of Marysville, is a certified veterans services officer, and founder of the nonprofit veteran assistance group, Vets Place Northwest-Welcome Home. He also is vice-chairman of the 38th Legislative District Democrats as well as chairman of its membership and endorsement committees.
Simpson, of Everett, served on the Everett City Council from 1998 through 2001 and as an appointed state legislator in 2004. He represents the district Democrats on the executive board of the county Democratic Party.
McCoy was appointed to the Senate last month to replace Nick Harper who resigned.
No Burn Bans are currently in effect for King, Kitsap, Pierce or Snohomish Counties.
An increase in wind speeds is expected this evening and possible precipitation later in the day. Pollution is not likely to build to levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups and clearing is expected once a front comes in and wind speeds increase.
Freezing temperatures and predicted snowfall around Snohomish and North King Counties. Over the next week highs of 37 degrees, lows from the mid twenties into the teens.
Frozen Waterfalls at Tulalip resort. Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Heritage Senior Shawn Sanchey with the tip-off over Yakima Tribal. Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Heritage Boys have a promising start
By Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Tulalip − Heritage High School Basketball is off to a great season start, winning 84-59 against Yakima, first time rivals this season. The last of a three home game series which opened this year’s season, the Heritage Hawks played an intense game with tension on the court and in the audience. With the December 7th win, the Hawks season continues with a 3-0 streak.
“It was a good experience to play other natives from across the mountains,” said senior Shawn Sanchey.
Shawn Sanchey cuts in for a lay up. Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
This was the first year Heritage has played Yakima, adding a new rival to the 1B circuit. In the past the only rival school was Lummi.
Junior Anthony Mclean said, “It was a good game to learn from.”
This game closes out the first week of basketball games for Heritage, who stands undefeated winning against Cedar Park Christian/Mountlake Terrace Lions 64-50, a close game with Mount Vernon Christian Hurricanes at 56-52, and Saturday’s game against Yakima Tribal won 84-59. Key players to watch named from these three games are #21 Robert Miles Jr., #24 Keanu Hamilton, and #20 Payton Comenote.
“We play as a team. Play as a team and win as a team,” said Hamilton. After the win against Yakima.
Keanu Hamilton Stacks Yakima Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
“The boys played an excellent game, they continue to improve with each one. As we continue on we will practice hard and continue to build the team,” said Cyrus Fryberg, assistant coach for the Heritage Hawks.
Heritage Basketball games have been gaining an audience, with so many at the Yakima game the bleachers were packed. Some of the notable audience members were tribal elder Ray Moses, former school board member Don Hatch Jr., former coach Leon Enick, Hank Williams, Marysville School District Superintendent Dr. Becky Berg, and longtime education advocate Dale Jones.
“It means a lot to see the elders come to watch. Teatmus (Ray Moses) even comes to the practices and will talk to the boys, and give them support,” said head coach Marlin Fryberg.
Tulalip Heritage Hawks have opened the season strong, and will continue to show strength as they strive for the State Championship. The next rival game will be round two against Yakima Tribal on December 21st.
Paul Rowley introducing himself and his collective works Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Article and photos by Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
Tulalip − Paul Rowley, widely known for his contemporary cedar woven hat designs, was the featured indigenous poet for December’s poetry session at Hibulb Cultural Center. An open-mic forum for other poets to share followed Rowley’s reading.
Paul Rowley presented his poetry as a narrative of his Indian Experience. His most recent work is inspired by his reflections on Indian Country over the course of the month of November, Native American Heritage Month. Rowley attempts to highlight the perpetual mistreatment and apathy towards Native peoples, using stereotypes to identify the issues.
Hosted in the museum library, the poetry sessions are quite intimate. The small audience is familiar with each other, and gets to know the poet of the evening. The open-mic forum is used for artist Q&A and for other poets to share; for December, Chad Charlie was another indigenous poet who shared a poem inspired his experience growing up in the generational trauma and disconnect that exists on every reservation.
Rowley, who is of Haida, Tlingit, Blackfoot, and Cree descent, was born and raised in SeattleWashington. Moving to Portland to attend PortlandStateUniversity, Rowley has completed his undergraduate degree in Political Science, finishing with a Masters of Fine Arts from PacificUniversity. He currently lives between Portland and Tulalip.
For more information on this and other programs contact the HibulbCulturalCenter and Natural History Preserve by phone at (360) 716-2600, or online at http://www.hibulbculturalcenter.org/.
On most measures of educational success, Native American students trail every other racial and ethnic subgroup of students. To explore the reasons why, Education Week sent a writer, a photographer, and a videographer to American Indian reservations in South Dakota and California earlier this fall. Their work is featured in this special package of articles, photographs, and multimedia. Commentary essays offer additional perspectives.
Like many Native American students, Legend Tell Tobacco, a 10-year-old on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge reservation, must outrun the odds against his educational success
Ten hours after leaving in the dark for the 15-mile ride to Loneman School, Legend Tell Tobacco bounds down the steps of the yellow school bus and runs back home.
He takes off in a full sprint, black hair flopping, down Tobacco Road, a half-mile-long stretch of dirt named for his family. He slows to a trudge when the rutted road rises steeply to reach his house on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, a place where the promise of youth is often stifled by the probabilities of failure.
A starkly beautiful place, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is home to the Oglala Lakota Nation where education for most remains a yet-to-be fulfilled promise for moving families out of profound poverty.
Legend just turned 10 and is in the 4th grade, and yet, he must constantly confront obstacles that could cause him to stumble into one of the grim statistical categories for which Pine Ridge—like much of the nation’s Indian Country—is well known:
High school dropout.
Unemployed.
Dead before 50.
Legend grins widely when announcing that he reads the same “chapter books” as 7th and 8th graders. He likes math, too, especially multiplication.
“Most of all,” he says, “I love to run.”
After a long day at Isna Wica Owayawa, the Lakota name for Loneman School, the laughing shrieks of his cousins beckon. But his aunt, Mary Tobacco, asks about homework. “I don’t have any,” he says quietly, stubbing his silver sneakers into the dirt. She raises an eyebrow and asks again. “No, really,” he says.
“Be back at six for dinner,” she tells him firmly, as he darts off to play in the horse corral.
Ms. Tobacco, a college graduate, prays this nagging and nurturing will keep her nephew on a course to high school graduation, a college degree, and a decent job. More urgently, she prays she’ll get a call from Red Cloud, the private Jesuit school where she believes Legend would get the best shot at succeeding. He’s on the waiting list.
“The two most important things I want for Legend,” she says, “are for him to get his education and for him not to drink. But I don’t know if I can completely protect him from ending up on a path that so many other youth on this reservation take.”
On the 2.8 million-acre Pine Ridge Indian Reservation—home to nearly 40,000 members of the Oglala Lakota Sioux nation—alcoholism and suicide, especially among young people, occur at alarmingly high rates. Families that have been poor since the U.S. government forced tribes onto reservations more than 120 years ago see few prospects for breaking out of seven or eight generations of profound poverty.
Outrunning those odds for Legend and other American Indian youths living on and off reservations is perpetually challenging. Over the past decade, as the high-stakes school accountability era saw every other racial and ethnic subgroup of students make steady, if small, improvements in education outcomes, Native American youths, on the whole, stalled or lost ground.
“The state of American Indian education is a disaster,” says David Beaulieu, a professor of educational policy and community studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe-White Earth.
The Cobell settlement provided $1.9 billion for Indian landowners who want to sell their fractionated interests. The program is entirely voluntary.
The Obama administration initially planned to make the first purchases by the end of this year. That doesn’t appear to be happening as the Interior Department recently said it would expand outreach efforts through March 2014.
“This is a major step forward toward strengthening tribal sovereignty by supporting consolidation of tribal homelands,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a press release last month. “We are moving quickly to establish individualized cooperative agreements, which address the specific needs of each tribe and provide resources for tribal communities to implement the program. Although the task ahead is challenging, we have been given a historic opportunity to work together with Indian Country to meet this challenge.”
The Indian Land Consolidation Act requires DOI to pay “fair market value” for the fractionated interests. Once they are acquired, the land will placed in trust for tribes.
Wednesday’s hearing takes place at 2:30pm in Room 628 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. It coincides with a nomination hearing for the Special Trustee for American Indians.
The Hopi Tribe of Arizona lost a bid to stop the auction of sacred property in France.
The Drouot auction house sold 32 masks today, the Associated Press reported, after a judge approved the sale. One item went for $136,000, the AP said.
The U.S. Embassy in Paris asked the auction house to delay the sale. The collection also included items from the San Carlos Apache Tribe and Zuni Pueblo.
