Tulalip News

Muckleshoots buy huge forestland in 3 counties

The tribe is paying about $313 million for 96,000 acres along Highway 410 in King, Pierce and Lewis counties.

November 6, 2013

The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe has acquired 96,307 acres of forest in King, Pierce and Lewis counties for just over $313 million, its largest land purchase ever.

The transaction has both economic and cultural importance for the tribe, which bought the land from a partnership run by Boston-based investment manager Hancock Natural Resource Group .

“This acquisition is another important step toward the Tribe’s goals of increasing our land base, reacquiring portions of our homeland and diversifying our economy,” said Muckleshoot Tribal Council Chairwoman Virginia Cross in a statement.

Cross said the Muckleshoots will manage the land “for the primary purpose of long-term sustainable timber harvest, while preserving natural values including fish and wildlife habitat, plant resources and areas of cultural importance.

“This working forest will provide jobs and revenue for important tribal government programs now and for future generations.”

The majority of the land is in King and Pierce counties, where the tribe paid $282 million for 86,501 acres of the White River Forest on both sides of Highway 410 between Enumclaw and Greenwater. In northern Lewis County, it bought 9,806 acres of forest land for nearly $32 million.

The sale wasn’t a total surprise to King County officials.

In March, County Executive Dow Constantine announced an $11.1 million agreement to buy the development rights on the 43,000 acres Hancock owned in King County — the largest block of privately owned land in the county not yet protected from development.

Without that pact, Hancock or a future landowner could have built 857 homes on 40- and 80-acre lots near the route to the Crystal Mountain ski resort and Chinook Pass.

But Wednesday, county officials said that conservation deal hadn’t closed yet.

Even though Hancock and the county had both signed the agreement, closing wasn’t to take place until the company sold the land, said Bob Burns, deputy director for the county’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

“It’s a top priority for the county to complete the conservation of that forestland,” Burns said. “We look forward to working with the tribe.”

According to its website, Hancock had $11.5 billion in timberland assets under management as of March, providing insurance companies, pension funds and other big investors with a way to diversify their assets. The company did not return a call seeking comment.

Hancock bought the White River Forest land from Weyerhaeuser in 2002 in a $37.9 million sale, county records show.

The Muckleshoots, with 2,317 tribal members, have been successful in diversifying its assets beyond its 3,860-acre reservation and its Auburn casino, considered one of the top three tribal casinos in the state.

The tribe has invested in the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences in downtown Seattle. In 2007, it paid $62.5 million for the Salish Lodge & Spa overlooking Snoqualmie Falls, which hotel experts say still holds the price-per-room record in the Seattle area.

In recording the land sales, the tribe notified King County officials it plans to continue using the forestland for timber production.

The King County forestland acquired by the tribe represents about one-fifth of the 232,000 acres that receive special tax treatment for timber production in the county.

Prices for timber have rebounded since 2009, lifted by demand from homebuilders and emerging markets in Asia.

Timber from private land can be exported, unlike timber from state and federal lands.

Buying back land lost through treaties and forced sales has been a priority, according to the tribe.

“The White River Forest is an important part of the tribe’s homeland,” Cross said in her statement. “Bringing this property into tribal ownership is the realization of a long-held goal of our people.”

Material from Seattle Times archives was used in this report.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com On Twitter @sbhatt

NBA Star Kevin Durant and Nike Team Up to Support Heritage Month

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant is taking ankle support to a whole new level.

The NBA forward has teamed up for a third time with Nike’s N7 Fund to create the bold N7 KD VI signature shoe. Durant is expected to debut the shoe, which was inspired from Native American symbols, on Wednesday during the Thunder’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks.

“Playing in Oklahoma City has connected me to the mission of Nike N7 and the meaningful impact that it has with Native Americans here and across North America,” Durant said in a Nike press release earlier this year. “I believe in the power of sport to change lives, and I support helping youth in Native American communities experience the positive benefits of being physically active.”

The unveiling comes at the beginning of November, the month designated as Native American Heritage Month. And to celebrate Native American heritage, Nike’s N7 Fund is bringing together 100 youth from local tribal communities in Oklahoma City for an afternoon basketball skills clinic on Thursday, November 7th.

The bright colors used on the KD VI have significant meaning in Native culture. Turquoise is a color symbolic of friendship, and the red accents on the shoe is one of one of four colors—yellow, red, black and white—featured on the traditional Native America medicine wheel, representing movement and the four directions.

The KD VI also features the repeating pattern of arrows that first launched on the Pendleton Woolen Mills Nike N7 blanket last month. The arrow print symbolizes energy and forward motion and has reflective built in for a surprise effect when worn in the elements.

Nike’s N7 mission is to inspire and enable two million Native American and aboriginal youth in North American to participate in physical activities. Nike’s N7 collection launched in 2009 and since then, more than $2 million has been raised for Native American and aboriginal youth sport programs.

Activists Push For Laws Similar To Smoke-Free Arizona On Native American Land

By Nick Blumberg, KJZZ

When Arizona voters banned smoking indoors several years ago, the law didn’t cover Native American land. Now, an anti-smoking activist is trying to pass smoking ban that will cover the Navajo Nation.

Dr. Leland Fairbanks is president of Arizonans Concerned About Smoking, which helped push through the Smoke-Free Arizona Act in 2006.

“55 percent of the reservation people, who are part of Arizona, voted for the Smoke-Free Arizona Initiative, but they said it doesn’t apply to them because they’re independent nations,” Fairbanks said. “So unfortunately they’ve already voted; they would like to have what we have in the rest of the state.”

Now, he’s trying to collect about 10,000 signatures to get an initiative on the 2014 Navajo ballot banning indoor smoking.

“Only Navajos who are registered voters can sign. It does include, though, Navajos who are off reservation,” Fairbanks said. “If you’re a Navajo registered voter and you’re working down here in Maricopa County or some other county, you can sign that initiative and you can vote.”

Fairbanks says the signature drive is set to begin in January.

Lummi Nation seeks federal relief following fishery closure

Lummi tribal fishermen prepare a purse seine during the 2011 Fraser sockeye fishery. The tribe has declared 2013 a fisheries economic disaster after poor returns canceled this year’s fishery worth $1.3 million.

Source: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

The Lummi Nation is seeking federal disaster relief for its fishing fleet following another year of poor returns of Fraser River sockeye salmon.

In September, the tribe passed a declaration of natural disaster under the federal Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and a fisheries economic disaster under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Despite a bountiful run in 2010, Fraser River sockeye returns have been declining for 30 years. The U.S. Department of Commerce declared it a fisheries economic disaster in 2002, 2007 and 2008.

There was no commercial Fraser sockeye in 2013. “Our traditional ties to the sockeye are irreplaceable,” said Elden Hillaire, chairman of the Lummi Fisheries Commission. “The lack of harvest interferes with our schelangen (way of life).”

Without a fishery, Lummi tribal fishermen missed out on a potential catch worth $1.3 million. In part, a declaration of a fisheries disaster would provide services and financial assistance to tribal fishermen who are trying to adapt to a changing industry.

After the 2008 declaration, the tribe received a U.S. Department of Labor grant to create a program called Lummi Fishers, which helps fishermen find training and other careers so they can make ends meet when they can’t fish.

Poor ocean conditions, shifting currents and climate change are blamed as potential causes for the Fraser run’s decline. Temperatures in the Fraser River in 2013 were the highest ever recorded; high enough to be lethal to the salmon.

The Fraser River runs through British Columbia. Nine treaty tribes in western Washington have treaty-reserved rights to catch Fraser River sockeye in U.S. waters before they migrate upstream. In addition to Lummi, they are the Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam, Nooksack, Makah, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Suquamish, Swinomish and Tulalip tribes.

First Nations to resume blockade in Canadian fracking fight

Renewed protests follow announcement that energy company will re-start shale gas exploration

A Royal Proclamation day feast brought out over 300 to the anti-fracking blockade in Rexton, New Brunswick in early October. [Photo: Miles Howe]

By Sarah Lazare, November 5, 2013. Source: Common Dreams

Elsipogtog First Nations members are heading back to the streets in New Brunswick this week to defend their land from a gas drilling company seeking to re-start exploratory fracking operations in the region.

The new wave of local anti-drilling resistance will resume an ongoing battle between the community members who faced a paramilitary-style onslaught by police last month that sparked international outcry and a wave of solidarity protests.

“This is an issue of human rights and access to clean drinking water, and it’s fundamentally about sovereignty and self-determination.” –Clayton Thomas-Muller, Idle No More

The renewed protest follows a recent announcement by New Brunswick’s premiere that SWN Resources Canada, a subsidiary of the Houston-based Southwestern Energy Company, will resume shale gas exploration in First Nations territory after it was halted by blockades and protests.

Elsipogtog members announced Monday they will join with local residents and other First Nations communities—including the Mi’kmaq people—to “light a sacred fire” and stage a protest to stop SWN from fracking.

“SWN is violating our treaty rights. We are here to save our water and land, and to protect our animals and people. There will be no fracking at all,” said Louis Jerome, a Mi’kmaq sun dancer, in a statement. “We are putting a sacred fire here, and it must be respected. We are still here, and we’re not backing down.”

“The people of Elsipogtog along with local people have a very strong resolve and will be there as long as they need to be to keep the threat of fracking from destroying their water,” said Clayton Thomas-Muller, a campaigner with Idle No More, in an interview with Common Dreams.

Community members previously blocked a road near the town of Rexton in rural New Brunswick to stop energy companies from conducting shale gas exploration on their land without their consent.

In early October, the government imposed a temporary injunction on the New Brunswick protest, bowing to pressure from SWN.

Claiming the authority of the injunction, over 100 Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched a paramilitary-style assault on the blockade in late October, bringing rifles and attack dogs and arresting 40 people.

First Nations communities and activists across Canada and the world launched a wave of actions in solidarity in response to the attack.

“Within 24 hours of the paramilitary assault on the nonviolent blockade by the fed police, Idle No More and other networks organized over 100 solidarity actions in over half a dozen countries,” said Thomas-Muller.

Days later, a Canadian judge overruled the injunction on the protests. Yet the federal and provincial governments continue to allow SWN to move forward fracking plans on indigenous lands, in what First Nation campaigners say is a violation of federal laws protecting the sovereignty of their communities.

“This is an issue of human rights and access to clean drinking water, and it’s fundamentally about sovereignty and self-determination,” said Thomas-Muller. “Support for the Elsipogtog and their actions to reclaim lands in their territory is something that is powerful and united from coast to coast and around the world.”

Crowdfunded science suggests that coal-hauling trains cause air pollution

By John Upton, Grist

Coal dust is blowing off rail cars and over neighborhoods located near train tracks that are used to haul coal in the Pacific Northwest.

Air monitors placed near the tracks in a Seattle residential area detected spikes in large particles of pollution when coal-hauling cars chugged by. They also picked up an increase in diesel particulate matter. These preliminary research findings suggest that plans to increase the amount of coal hauled from mines in Montana and Wyoming to proposed new shipping terminals in Washington and Oregon will worsen air pollution.

How do we know this? Because 271 people donated $20,529 through the research-focused crowdfunding site Microryza to help buy air monitors and pay for the labor of researchers and a technician.

The work was led by University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor Dan Jaffe. He released the preliminary findings on Monday. A paper with the research results is still under peer review, but Jaffe said he felt he owed it to his donors to release his findings as soon as they were available.

From KUOW:

“We did find an increase in large particles in the air when coal trains pass by and it does suggest that it’s coal dust and it’s consistent with coal dust from those trains,” said the UW scientist, Dan Jaffe. …

Jaffe gathered air quality samples at two sites next to train tracks in the Northwest. He tested 450 trains as they passed — roughly 10 percent of which were carrying coal.

A spokesperson for BNSF Railway raised questions about the crowdfunded research: “How is it being done? How is it being funded? What standards are in place? Who is involved in that? So [crowdfunding] is a really new concept when it comes to scientific research.”

This highlights a challenge that scientists will face when they pursue crowdsourced funding: Donors will desire quick results, but the peer-review system takes time.

Jaffe, though, isn’t worried about it. “I’ve published over 120 papers in the scientific peer reviewed literature,” he said. “I know the drill. If I didn’t feel our results would hold up to peer review scrutiny there’s no way I’d be releasing them now.”

Most Peninsula tribal reservations will ban marijuana as it legalizes in state

By Arwyn Rice, Peninsula Daily News

If you live on or visit a reservation on the North Olympic Peninsula, don’t bring marijuana.

At least four of the six tribes in Clallam and Jefferson counties will not recognize Washington state’s 2012 legalization of recreational marijuana.

The use and possession of pot will remain illegal on tribal lands controlled by the Makah, Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam and Quileute tribes, their representatives told the Peninsula Daily News.

The Hoh tribe in West Jefferson County has yet to make a decision.

Representatives of the Quinault did not respond to Peninsula Daily News requests for information on their policy toward marijuana.

Voters statewide legalized pot by approving Initiative 502 a year ago by a 56 percent to 44 percent margin.

The state is finishing procedures and regulations on marijuana in non-tribal areas.

Pot remains illegal on federal lands, including Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest.

“Like the state of Washington and the United States, the Makah tribe is a separate sovereign,” a letter from Makah tribal authorities to tribal members said.

“We have a treaty that confirms our sovereignty and self-determination.

“A big part of that sovereignty is that state laws do not apply to the tribe and its territory.

“As a state law, I-502 could not and does not legalize marijuana within the Makah Reservation.”

Both Makah and federal law lists marijuana as a controlled substance. Possessing, using, buying and selling it is a federal crime, and a tribal crime, said Meredith Parker, general manager of the Neah Bay-based Makah tribe.

“So, on the reservation, the answer is easy: Every little bit of pot is illegal,” the notice to tribal members said.

“We will continue to follow federal law. It is part of the tribal policy as well,” said Sam Hough, Lower Elwha Klallam assistant general counsel.

“It is already a dry reservation,” Hough added.

Likewise, marijuana will not be welcome at 7 Cedars Casino, Cedars at Dungeness and other properties held by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.

“We believe we are on reservation/trust land held by the United States on our behalf, and since marijuana is illegal by federal law, it is illegal on our lands,” said Ron Allen, Jamestown S’Klallam tribal chairman.

The Quileute tribe, based in LaPush, also will observe federal marijuana laws, said Jackie Jacobs, Quileute spokeswoman.

The Hoh tribe is holding off a decision, said James Jaime, the tribe’s executive director.

“We don’t have a policy at this point in time,” Jaime said.

“We are waiting to see what the federal policy is in regard to the state law.”

The Washington State Liquor Control Board, charged with creating state’s marijuana regulations, added a rule that requiring notification of tribal governments if a vendor applies for a permit on tribal land.

The Yakima tribe, with the largest reservation in the state at 1.2 million acres, recently announced that marijuana sales and consumption would not be allowed on their lands.

Brian Smith, spokesman for the state Liquor Control Board said new state rules have no prohibitions against issuing permits on the Yakama reservation, but such permits would be impractical

“Why grant a license when the federal government is going to come in and take them down?” Smith asked.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tulalip Tribes donate $6.9 million to community

Tulalip Tribal Board Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. thanks the surrounding community for supporting the Tribes’ efforts to support organizations that support the surrounding community in turn.— image credit: Kirk Boxleitner — Tulalip Tribal Board Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. thanks the surrounding community for supporting the Tribes’ efforts to support organizations that support the surrounding community in turn.
— image credit: Kirk Boxleitner

By Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe

TULALIP — The Tulalip Tribes announced a record-setting $6.9 million in donations this year, to more than 280 Washington state nonprofits and community groups, during their 21st annual “Raising Hands” celebration, in the Orca Ballroom of the Tulalip Resort Hotel and Casino, on Saturday, Oct. 26.

“We’re here to share stories of goodwill, and of how we came to journey together,” Tulalip Tribal Board Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. said. “We look back on how much progress we’ve made, thanks to the leaders of the past, who built our foundations. We’re so grateful to be able to follow their example, and to share in the goodwill and work that you do. Look around you,” he told those seated in the Orca Ballroom that evening. “We’re all doing the same work, which is bettering the community. It wasn’t that long ago that Tulalip needed help, and we appreciated the helping hands we received, so now that we’re in a position to do so, we’re proud to help those who help others.”

After a performance by Quil Ceda Elementary student singers, Tulalip Tribal Board member Glen Gobin noted that the Tribes’ financial generosity is a sign of their growing fortunes.

“We’ve given more than $57 million to different charities over the years,” Gobin said. “Fifty years ago, the Tribes’ total budget was $200,000 for the whole year. We had 750 organizations request funds from us in the past year. There’s a lot of good organizations out there, but we can’t give to everybody.”

Tulalip Tribal Board Vice Chair Deborah Parker told the representatives of those recipient organizations to take pride in being “hard workers who contribute to the community every day,” just as she expressed pride in being able to “stand beside you and help celebrate your successes.”

Tulalip Tribal Board member Theresa Sheldon thanked a number of organizations in attendance for helping to educate the public on the larger problems facing the world, “just as we’ve had to re-educate people, to correct them about our history as Native Americans, to let them know that Columbus Day isn’t something that should be celebrated, and that dressing up as a Native American for Halloween is inappropriate. We have to do that re-education because so much of our history is not taught in books.”

The Tribes support regional efforts to improve education, health and human services, cultural preservation, public safety, the environment and the economy. This year’s local recipients included the Arlington Community Food Bank — which received a donation in an amount between $7,501 to $10,000, to help with their construction of a new food bank, providing emergency food assistance to 12,000 people of all ages — and to the Marysville School District, which received a donation of more than $10,000, to support educational programs at Quil Ceda Elementary and Totem Middle School. The Cascade Valley Hospital Foundation received a donation in an amount between $2,501 to $5,000, to help fund their purchase of an advanced medical simulation manikin, with which to train hospital staff in crucial emergency responses.

“And of course, our most importance resource is our youth,” Mel Sheldon said. “It’s the little ones of today who will lead us down the road to the future. We’re all in this together.”

November 6, 2013 syəcəb

SYS 11062013 Nov 06 2013 Download

Billy Frank: Keith Harper nomination historic for Indian Country

The following is an open letter from Billy Frank, Jr. regarding the nomination of Keith Harper to be the United States Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Dear Friends,

It is with great pride that I write this letter in support of my good friend Keith Harper, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, whom President Barack Obama has nominated to be the United States Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council, with the rank of Ambassador.

If anyone knows a thing or two about protecting human rights in Indian Country, it’s me. I was first hauled off the river for exercising my treaty rights at the age of fourteen. I’ve been tear-gassed, tackled, punched, pushed face-first into the mud, handcuffed and dragged soaking wet to jail in defense of my boost basic of human rights as a Native. I am 82 years old and I have worked and collaborated with a wide variety of people in my life. I cannot think of a better representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council than Keith!

Keith and I have worked closely together on a number of issues facing Frank’s Landing Indian Community. Keith represented the Landing when our smoke shop fell under attack by the Nisqually Tribe, when all we were doing was operating like other tribal communities. Keith stepped in and successfully protected the Landing in federal court. Moreover, when the Landing did not have the resources at the time, Keith worked with us by contribution hundreds of hours of work on a pro bono basis. He has proven to me that he is not only an exceptional attorney but he try gets what is important to Native people. More importantly for this position, I know he understand the struggle for basic human rights on the global stage.

Everyone knows about Keith’s work on the Cobell trust case of course, but not a lot of people know about all of the other ways he’s advocated on behalf of Indian Country. He’s helped the Native American Church, tribes with treaty claims, impoverished tribes seeking federal recognition, tribes enforcing water rights and he’s worked on protecting tribal natural resources.

Keith has all of the talents to be a very effective Ambassador and he will become the first member of a federally recognized tribe to assume an Ambassadorial position. I can’t tell you how proud that makes me and how important a message it sends to our families and children all across Indian Country. This appointment is truly historic!

Thus, it is with great sadness that I learned that questions were raised about Keith’s work. I would tell anyone in the Senate considering Keith’s nomination that they can trust Keith at his word and that he has always worked for the betterment of all Indian Country.

I was even more saddened by the hit pieces written about Keith by a single report, Rob Capriccioso. First, let me give you some history on what I learned about Rob and his reporting. He used to write a blog called BigHeadDC which was a topic of a Huffington Post piece: www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/26/escort-throws-cold-water-_n_74227.html.

Rob is named in that piece as the perpetrator of a fraud. In there he is noted as reporting that Senator Trent Lott had a relationship with a male escort. But as that piece explains, it was simply not true. Rob’s report was called “fabricated” and false.”

I’ve also discovered that this is far from Rob’s only questionable incident as a reporter. He was also a freelance writer for an online magazine called “Radar” where he reported that the infamous DC Madam had called Sam Donaldson. Radar refused to publish this salacious report because the DC Madam said herself that the one entry on phone records of Sam Donaldson was a wrong number: radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/10/donaldsons-digits-wrong-number-php.

It would appear this report has a long history of writing questionable stories. For some reason, he has decided to target a person who I know has spent his career defending Indian Country.

Again, I strongly support the confirmation of Keith as the United States Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council. I know he will serve his country well and make all of Indian Country proud.

Respectfully yours,

Billy Frank