Tulalip News

Puyallup Tribe tracking salmon making their way to newly restored habitat

Eric Marks, salmon biologist for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, conducts a spawning survey downstream from a new logjam.

Source: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

The Puyallup Tribe of Indians is already finding salmon using newly restored habitat on the Clearwater River.

“Its great to see salmon using the habitat so soon after the completion of the project,” said Russ Ladley, resource protection manager for the Puyallup Tribe. “In a few months, the offspring of these fish we’re seeing migrate and spawn in the Clearwater will be able to use this habitat to rear and find food.”

So far this year, the tribe has counted more than 100 chinook and 250 coho in about a mile of restored river.

The project was managed by the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group (SPSSEG).

Last summer a total of 18 large and small engineered logjams were installed in the Clearwater River about two miles up from where it joins the White River. Placement of these log jams will reconnect flows to a network of 11 existing side channels, dissipate floods, and increase instream structure and cover in the river.

“Adding the wood and instream structure to the river will encourage the river to move and create habitat in a way it always had,” said Kristin Williamson, SPSSEG project manager.

The Puyallup Tribe conducts extensive spawning surveys throughout the Clearwater for chinook, coho and pink salmon. Data from spawning surveys help natural managers assess the success of habitat projects. Fisheries managers also use the data to help build future salmon fisheries.

“Spawning surveys are a simple and essential tool for managing salmon,” Ladley said. “Nothing beats getting out on the water and counting fish.”

Just downstream from the project site the tribe also recently built a new juvenile chinook acclimation pond. The Puyallup Tribe annually transfers as many as 800,000 juvenile spring chinook from either a state or Muckleshoot tribal hatchery and raises them in several acclimation ponds in the upper White.

“Coho and chinook populations in the White River have demonstrated an encouraging upward trend over the past 15 years. Hopefully this project and other similar efforts will allow this trend to continue and extend to other species such as steelhead that that have not responded favorably,” Ladley said. “The best way to bring them back is to repair what habitat we can and protect what they have left.”

Secretary Jewell Signs Historic Agreement with Citizen Potawatomi Nation to Spur Investment, Economic Activity in Indian Country

Tribal leasing regulations remove roadblocks to economic development, represent another step furthering tribal self-determination

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior

SHAWNEE, Okla. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to self-determination of tribal nations, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today joined Citizen Potawatomi Nation Chairman John Barrett to formally approve tribal leasing regulations that will help spur investment and commercial development on the nation’s trust lands in central Oklahoma.

“The Citizen Potawatomi Nation now has the authority to decide how it wants to do business on its lands, making it easier for families to do things like buy and build houses or open businesses in the communities where they have lived for generations,” said Secretary Jewell, who also serves as chair of the White House Council on Native American Affairs. “Today’s action encourages economic development on Indian lands, generating investment, new jobs and revenues. I applaud Chairman Barrett and Vice-Chairman Linda Capps for their leadership on this initiative and look forward to working with other tribes across the nation to maintain tribal sovereignty and promote tribal self-determination and self-government.”

Today’s signing ceremony comes on the heels of the 2013 White House Tribal Nations Conference, when leaders from all 566 federally recognized tribes are invited to Washington, D.C. to interact directly with the President and senior cabinet and administration officials. The conference – the fifth for the Obama Administration – continues to build on the President’s commitment to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with Indian Country.

The Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH Act), signed by President Obama in July 2012, restores the authority of federally recognized tribes to develop and implement their own laws governing the long-term leasing of Indian lands for residential, business and other purposes. Upon one-time approval of these tribal regulations by the Department of the Interior, tribes have the authority to process land leases without Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approval, greatly expediting the approval of leases for homes and small businesses in Indian Country.

“We are thankful to Secretary Jewell, Assistant Secretary Washburn and their team at the Department of Interior for their efforts in implementing the Hearth Act and approving the Citizen Potawatomi Nation business leasing regulations,” said Chairman Barrett. “This is a step in the right direction for tribal self-governance and will empower tribal governments to take greater control of their land. CPN has created a thriving economy of retail and tourism developments and we look forward to working with other businesses to spur business and commercial development in Oklahoma.”

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation, a traditionally Algonquian-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribe has more than 30,000 enrolled tribal members, of whom more than 10,000 live in the state of Oklahoma.

“Increased economic opportunity is the best way to raise the standards of living for tribal members. Today’s formal approval of leasing regulations for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation will pave the way for just that,” said Congressman Tom Cole, who attended the ceremony and was a cosponsor of the HEARTH Act. “This is not only beneficial for tribal governments, but the entire state of Oklahoma will feel the positive impact of increased economic activity. I am grateful to Secretary Jewell, Assistant Secretary Washburn and the Interior Department for their tireless efforts in helping tribes use their own lands.”

The signing, which took place at the Potawatomi National Cultural Heritage Center in Shawnee, is the sixth tribal leasing ordinance approved by the Department of the Interior under the HEARTH Act. Previous pacts were signed with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (February 1, 2013); Pueblo of Sandia (March 14, 2013); Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (April 11, 2013); Ak-Chin Indian Community (November 10, 2013); and Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians (November 10, 2013). Additional tribal leasing authority applications are under review.

Today’s ceremony comes almost a year after Interior issued new regulations to complement the HEARTH Act by streamlining the department’s leasing approval process. The final regulations, issued November 27, 2012, capped the overhaul of antiquated BIA regulations for leasing 56 million surface acres that the federal government holds in trust for Indian tribes and individuals.

The new regulations fundamentally change the way the BIA does business, providing clarity by identifying specific processes – with enforceable timelines – through which the BIA must review leases. The regulation also establishes separate, simplified processes for residential, business, and renewable energy development, rather than using a “one-size fits all” approach that treats a lease for a single family home the same as a lease for a large wind energy project.

“The very essence of self-determination is that it should be the tribe that decides how its lands may be used for the good of its members, and that is what the HEARTH Act and Interior’s comprehensive reform of Indian land leasing regulations does,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “These parallel efforts have a real impact for individuals and families who want to own a home or build a business. These initiatives help strengthen self-reliance and secure the well-being of future generations.”

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Local Native American says Native American Month doesn’t go far enough

November is Native American MonthCredit Photo from Native American Month Webpage — November is Native American Month
Credit Photo from Native American Month Webpage

WFBO.org

November 25, 2013

By Eileen Buckley

The month of November has been declared Native American Month, a time set aside to recognize the significant contributions of America’s first citizens. But as WBFO’s Eileen Buckley reports, one local Native American says it is not enough in dealing with the current struggles of those living on native territories.

“We live in a time where we are still struggling to assert our autonomy and our distinction. It’s one thing to say we want to honor our heritage, but we are still here,” said John Kane, radio host of Let’s Talk Native in Buffalo.

Kane is often outspoken on Native American issues. While Kane applauds the federal government and President Obama for declaring November Native American Month, he tells WBFO News the “level of invisibility” for Native people continues to exist. He points to the federal government probes of Native American cigarette sales as one example.

“The Tonawanda Seneca Chiefs retail facility, who got charged for purchasing cigarettes for the smoke shop out there in a sting that was set up in Kansas City. There is an attempt the state and federal officials to use anti-organized crime bills and anti-terrorism laws to criminalize the very things we do on our territories,” said Kane. “This is the stuff that I think people have to understand.”

But it’s important to note that this past June federal officials announced that after three years of litigation, lawsuits by several Native American cigarette retailers to stop a federal law seeking to restrict internet sales of cigarettes and sales to children, was dismissed by a federal judge.

In a news released issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Buffalo, dated June 12, 2013, U.S. William Hochul stated “With the end of this litigation, the federal government can now begin to enforce the full breadth and scope of the PACT Act and help insure that our nation’s children are protected from the sales of cigarettes to minors,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “The PACT Act will also allow for the proper tax revenues to be collected on the sales of cigarettes by each state, revenues which will be used to finance additional health programs to combat the devastating health effects felt by Americans due to the availability of cheap cigarettes.”

Still Kane accuses underlying racism against Native Americans. He said they are treated only as a “relative of the past”. Kane notes while debates over the use of the word Redskins for professional and high school sports teams remains important, it doesn’t go far enough in preventing stereotypes.

“That’s why people put us on the side of a football helmet. There were two high schools, this past week — two separate high schools who cited the ‘Trail of Tears’ as a way to make a comment against a team that they were playing that were called the Indians. One of them said ‘Hey Indians, get ready to leave on a Trail of Tears'”, said Kane.

Kane places blames much of the mainstream media saying they ignore Native American voices and fail to write and broadcast about what is really happening within their Native American territories.

Montana tribes will be the first to own a hydroelectric dam

High Country News

Nov 25, 2013

by Sarah Jane Keller

Most of the people who run Kerr Dam on northwest Montana’s Flathead Reservation sit hundreds of miles away, and some are even across the country, in the offices of Pennsylvania Power and Light.

But that’s likely to change in 2015, when the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have the option to buy the dam, thereby becoming the country’s first tribal hydroelectric owners and operators. Rocky Mountain Power Company built the 205-foot-tall impoundment on the Flathead River, four miles downstream of Flathead Lake, against the will of many tribal members in 1938. Gaining control of Kerr Dam will have significant economic and cultural benefits for the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille – the three tribes of the Flathead Reservation.

It’s also given tribal member Daniel Howlett the chance to come home. When he left the Flathead Valley to study business and renewable energy management in Denver, he never expected to have a career on the reservation. Now, he’s a power-marketing coordinator for his tribe’s new energy company, which plans to offer 1.1 million megawatt hours of electricity from the dam annually, enough to power roughly 79,000 homes each year.

The Confederated Tribes already run the reservation’s utility company, have a top-notch natural resources department, and oversee the first tribally administered wilderness in the United States. Obtaining the dam will be another major step in self-determination, probably with impacts far beyond Montana.

Other tribes, such as the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon and the Seneca Nation in New York, are vying for full or majority ownership of hydroelectric dams on their land. They are keeping track of the Kerr Dam purchase, which will shape outside perceptions of tribal energy development. “I think a lot of eyes across the nation, and certainly Indian Country, will appreciate the milestone significance of this achievement,” says Pat Smith, a former attorney for the Salish and Kootenai.

Senate Passes Resolution Honoring Native American Heritage Month

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

On November 21, the Senate passed a resolution introduced by Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-WA) to honor the Nation’s first Americans during Native American Heritage Month.

The resolution passed the Senate on November 20.

“The contributions that American Indians have made to the foundation of the United States are significant and continue today,” Cantwell said. “From influencing the documents that founded our Nation to serving in World War II as code talkers, American Indians have helped shape the face of our Nation.”

Cantwell was joined in introducing Senate Resolution 305 by 24 bi-partisan colleagues, including Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), John Barrasso (R-WY), Mark Begich (D-AK), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Michael Crapo (R-ID), Al Franken (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), John Hoeven (R-ND), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Harry Reid (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Thune (R-SD), Mark Udall (D-CO), Tom Udall (D-NM), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The resolution recognizes the month of November 2013 as Native American Heritage Month; along with the Friday after Thanksgiving as Native American Heritage Day in accordance with the Native American Heritage Day Act of 2009; and urges the people of the United States to observe National Native American Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Day with appropriate programs and activities according to an SCIA release.

“Since time immemorial, American Indians have occupied the lands we now know as the United States. To date, the federal government recognizes 566 distinct tribal nations across the country. While these Indian tribes share many attributes, each tribe is unique. The contributions that American Indians have made to the foundation of the United States are significant and continue today. From influencing the documents that founded our Nation to serving in World War II as code talkers, American Indians have helped shape the face of our Nation. It is fitting that we are honoring the code talkers this week with a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony, as Native Americans have served in the military at a higher rate per capita than any other group in the country,” Cantwell said in her floor speech.

“Native American heroes played a significant role in World War II. Among them was Charles Chibitty of the Comanche Nation, who aided the successful landing at Normandy and the capture of an enemy flag in a French village, for which he was recognized by the French government. The code talkers came from many tribes, including the Navajo, who played a crucial role in the Pacific. The Choctaw, Sioux, Assiniboine, Apache, Hopi, Mohawk and many other tribes gave this Nation their dedication, determination and courage. They will never be forgotten.

“As we celebrate National Native American Heritage Month, I encourage my colleagues to take some time and think about the federal government’s responsibilities to our first people. I ask my colleagues to support this resolution designating November 2013 as National Native American Heritage Month and November 29 of this year as Native American Heritage Day, and I encourage all Americans to recognize the important contributions American Indians have made to this great Nation,” she concluded

National Museum of the American Indian Healing After Tragedy

Rob Caprioccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network

The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), a Smithsonian Institution museum on the National Mall filled with Native artifacts and representations of contemporary Indian experiences, is coping with the aftermath of a tragic death there November 23.

The apparent suicide occurred while the museum was open with hundreds of visitors inside. Witnesses told local news outlets that an adult male jumped from a top floor of the building onto the main atrium of the space, where traditional Indian ceremonies are regularly held.

The museum was evacuated after his fall, and the museum re-opened the following day for regular business hours.

John Gibbons, a spokesman for the Smithsonian, told the Associated Press the man was visiting the facility with his family. “He was visiting with his family, but was alone at the time,” Gibbons said. His family was someplace else in the building.”

One concern that museum staffers are working to address—beyond the immediate safety and clean-up issues—is making sure the space won’t be emotionally affected into the future.

“We did have a smudging on Sunday and we will have a blessing on December 5 for all staff to attend,” said Leonda Levchuk, a spokeswoman for the museum. Smudging is a part of many traditional Native American ceremonies, in which tobacco and cedar and other herbs are used to purify and cleanse.

The museum, which opened in 2004 as part of the Smithsonian after decades of planning and fundraising, is a space that deals with Native religion and spirituality.

No staffers want Native Americans who regularly visit the space to feel that its energy has been negatively affected. Real estate agents have talked about similar concerns when trying to sell properties where tragedies, like suicide, have occurred.

Some who have coped with such circumstances have gone so far as to hire priests and other religious experts to exorcise spaces after suicide, as did singer Olivia Newton-John after a contractor died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at her house in August.

Beyond this emotional aspect, there is concern among some staffers that the suicide could potentially affect tourists desire to visit if they fear safety issues at the museum. The man would have had to climb over a four-foot wall and rail at the area he was seen by witnesses, according to news reports.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the incident.

Elwha exhibit at Burke explores reborn river

Oceanographer Daniel Hernandez strains to pull on the end of a seining net on the Elwha River in an effort to count the fish in a designated area.

An exhibit based on the Elwha book by Seattle Times’ Lynda Mapes and Steve Ringman opens Saturday at the Burke Museum.

By Keith Ervin, Seattle Times

Chinook salmon returned to the Elwha River this fall in numbers not seen in many decades.

Other creatures have followed the salmon in returning to the Olympic Peninsula valley after an 8-mile stretch of the river was reconnected to saltwater when the Elwha Dam was removed.

A Burke Museum exhibit that opens Saturday tells the story of a river, the people who have depended on it, the scientists who study it, and the changes wrought first by the construction of two dams and now by the biggest dam-removal project in U.S. history.

“Elwha: A River Reborn,” based on the book of the same name by Seattle Times reporter Lynda Mapes and photographer Steve Ringman, runs through March 9.

Mapes will speak, and members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe will talk and perform at the opening of the exhibit, which combines photographs, artifacts from an ancient Klallam village, a million-year-old salmon fossil and hands-on activities.

Children can play the part of a scientist or a journalist in “Camp Elwha,” an interactive exhibit inside a tent.

At the heart of the exhibit is the river, where salmon, steelhead and lampreys lost 70 miles of spawning grounds when dams blocked their passage more than a century ago.

It is also the story of the regeneration that has taken place since the Elwha Dam was removed in 2011 and will continue after demolition of the upstream Glines Canyon Dam is completed next year.

Mapes and Ringman followed the story, first in the pages of this newspaper and then in their 2013 book copublished by Mountaineers Books and The Seattle Times.

“This is a profoundly hopeful story,” said Mapes, who is currently a fellow in the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT.

“It shows that in the right place and with the right conditions, you really do have a chance to start over. You can take a place that’s been used for industrial development, even for a very long time, and have nature come booming back. “

An iconic image for her was a water ouzel in a restored tributary delicately holding a coho salmon egg in its beak “as if it were a glass of fine cabernet.”

George Pess, a NOAA fisheries biologist and a source for Mapes’ reporting, said that as salmon have returned, otters, bears, lampreys and many other animals have come back.

“Everybody kind of got the signal, whether it’s smell or sight, everybody knew something was happening that hadn’t happened in a long time that was important to the ecosystem,” Pess said.

Restoring the salmon to something resembling their once-legendary glory will take years, Pess said.

Bringing back towering trees where lake silt has replaced the humus-rich soil of a long-gone forest, Mapes said, will take much longer.

Although that won’t happen quickly, she said, “One of the things that struck me is how ephemeral the works of man are and how incredibly resilient nature is.”

The exhibit was created by the Burke Museum in collaboration with The Seattle Times, Mountaineers Books and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.

Mni water is life By: Matt Remle

By Matt Remle; Source: Last real Indians

In the beginning was Inyan and Inyan was surrounded in total darkness. Inyan began creation by draining its blood creating a massive disk around itself. Inyan called this disk Maka, the earth, which was half of the disk. The other half was Mni, water. Inyan continued to drain its blood creating Mahpiya, the sky, Anpetu Wi, the sun and daytime, Hanhepi Wi, the moon and nighttime. As Inyan continued to drain its blood life began on Maka with the grasses, plants, flowers, trees and so on.

The last of Inyan’s creation was Winyan and Wicasa, woman and man. Winyan, woman, was created first and created to be like Maka, the earth, to give and nourish life. Wicasa, man, was created to be like the universe to protect and provide nourishment. After creating Winyan and Wicasa, and creation was complete, Inyan became dry and brittle and broke and scattered all over Maka.

The base word of Mni, one of Inyan’s first creations, is ni. The word ni means “to be alive”. Water is life.

Great Pacific garbage patch

Located in the Northern Pacific Ocean lies the Great Pacific garbage patch, also referred to as the Pacific Trash Vortex, and it is a massive patch that is described as a highly concentrated mixture of plastics, chemical sludge and other debris that has become stuck in the currents of the Northern Pacific Gyre. The toxic stew comes from a mixture of trash and debris coming from the coasts of Asia and North America, as well as, debris from cargo ships crossing the Pacific. While the exact size of the garbage patch is hard to determine, estimates range from 5,800,000 sq miles to up to being twice the size of the United States.

The impacts from this toxic debris are especially harsh on marine life as debris from the patch is found in the stomachs of fish, birds, turtles and other aquatic life. The Great Pacific garbage patch also works to block sunlight from reaching algae and phytoplankton, of which the entire marine food web is based on.

The decline in phytoplankton is particularly worry some, in that not only do they help provide the base of the marine food web, but they are responsible for producing half of the world’s oxygen supply. It is estimated by researchers that since the Industrial revolution phytoplankton populations have decreased by 40%.

A similar vortex of trapped garbage debris has also been found in the Atlantic ocean.

Map by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Dead Zones

A dead zone occurs in the world’s oceans, mainly coast lines, and lakes when oxygen is depleted in those waters to the point that the marine life in those areas dies-off. Dead zones are caused by excessive human pollution. Dead zone’s are particularly prevalent on the Eastern coast of the United States, as well as, the coasts of Europe, China, Japan, New Zealand and South America.

The Gulf of Mexico, off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, hosts the world’s largest dead zone with estimates ranging to being larger than the state of Connecticut.

Dead zones have also been found off the coast of Oregon, St. Lawrence River and Lake Erie.

Map of Aquatic Dead Zones

KXL Pipeline

If constructed, the Keystone XL pipeline would cross two major aquifers, the Ogallala and the Texas Carrizo-Wilcox. The Ogallala aquifer is the largest in the western North America region. The Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer provides drinking water to roughly twelve-million people in Easter Texas. Construction of the KXL pipeline threatens the possibility of water contamination in these regions due to possible leaks, ruptures, or other activity.

Tar Sands

Fresh water plays an essential role in the development of the oil sands process. In 2010, averages of 3.1 barrels of fresh water were needed to produce 1 barrel of oil sands. Over the course of a year the amount of fresh water used averages 170 million m3 per year2, which is roughly over 40% of the City of Toronto’s total fresh water consumption per year.

Fresh water used for Tar Sands operations comes mainly from the Athabasca River, home to the Dene and Cree First Nations. In addition to drying up fresh water sources tar sands mining causes massive amounts of toxins to be released in the water supply.

Syncrude Aurora Oil Sands Mine, near Fort McMurray, Canada. (SOURCE: goodcanadiankid.com)

Fracking

Like the tar sands production process, fracking uses huge quantities of fresh water. Highly pressurized water, mixed with chemicals, is injected into shale formations to break up and release oil and natural gases. Once used, the now contaminated water is left in massive open air pits.

In the small town of Barnhart, Texas the double impact of climate change and fracking has literally dried out the town’s water supply. In less than two years fracking companies used over 8 million gallons of fresh water leaving the town dry.

It is estimated that by year’s end another 30 small Texan towns will see their water wells go dry due to fracking.

Coal Exports

The proposed coal exports seek to bring coal from the Powder River basin via rail to the Pacific Northwest where it will be exported primarily to China. The trains will cross numerous rivers, creeks, streams, and lakes where the uncapped coal has the potential to spill and pollute. The largest of the export terminals is proposed for Cherry Point, WA sacred grounds to the Lummi Nation. If built, the massive export terminal would threaten not only sacred sites, but also threaten the entire ecosystem of sea life in the area.

Know water know life, No water no life

Above is but a snapshot of just a few of the ways in which Mni, life, is under assault and or threatened. On a global scale Mni has been under assault due to militarism, corporate activity, toxic waste facilities, nuclear power plants (tens of millions of gallons of nuclear waste has seeped into the ground water at the Hanford Nuclear Power Plant in WA State) and other forms of pollution. It is no cliché to say that water is life and the impacts from its desecration are real. It would seem that of all the issues we, as children on Maka, could agree on is that Mni, water, is sacred and its protection in essential.

We have moved into a time where we must remember who and what we are as children of Maka, as relatives to All Our Relations. The children of profit are stepping up their assault on all life and it is essential that we collectively stand together with our first mother and all our relatives to fulfill our responsibilities to give, nourish and protect all life.

Mitakuye oyasin Wakinyan Waanatan (Matt Remle)