Tulalip News

Cobell Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations Launches Web Resource

Source: Native News Network

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior announced the launch of a new, comprehensive resource for Indian landowners and tribal governments seeking information about the Cobell Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations.

The Buy-Back Program was created to implement the land consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement, which provided a $1.9 billion fund to purchase fractionated interests in trust or restricted land from willing sellers, at fair market value, within a 10 year period. The Cobell Buy-Back Program has the potential to unlock millions of acres of fractionated lands for the benefit of tribal communities.

“We know that one of the keys to the success of this program will be timely and reliable information,”

said Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at Interior.

“This website will be one important tool that we will use to communicate with tribes as we work collaboratively to implement a fair, effective and efficient process for individual owners of fractionated interests to participate in the Buy-Back Program.”

The Buy-Back Program website, will serve as a one-stop-shop for visitors interested in timely and regularly updated information about the Buy-Back Program.

The new website includes extensive “Frequently Asked Questions” and information to assist individual landowners and tribes in gathering information about how they can participate in the Buy-Back Program and understand the valuation and sale process.

Visitors can also get information about the Education Scholarship Fund for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Cobell Buy-Back Program will contribute up to $60 million from land sales to this fund, which will be controlled by a board of trustees nominated by tribal governments. The fund will be administered by the American Indian College Fund in Denver, with 20 percent allotted to the American Indian Graduate Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

As part of the launch, the Buy-Back Program is making available templates and guidance for the development of cooperative agreements that will allow for resources to be provided to individual tribal governments in order to facilitate their help with implementing the program, especially in key areas such as landowner outreach and education. Although these agreements will be tailored for each tribe, the templates will assist tribal governments with the development of an agreement that is responsive to the specific needs of the nation involved. Tribes may review and familiarize themselves with these documents and are encouraged to contact Interior Department BuyBack staff to discuss the documents before preparing or submitting an application.

“We have already begun work with a diverse group of tribes and will be engaging with additional locations and tribes in the coming weeks and months,”

added Washburn.

“To ensure that the Buy-Back Program reaches as many locations as possible over the next 10 years, we are committed to using the funds wisely and have implemented flexible purchase ceilings on each reservation to avoid premature exhaustion of available funds.”

The publication of these and other documents to assist tribal governments with outreach comes after months of government-to-government consultations and discussions with tribes to create agreements that underscore the sovereign and trust responsibilities of each party. Interior holds about 56 million acres in trust for American Indians. More than 10 million acres are held for individual American Indians and nearly 46 million acres are held for Indian tribes.

The Department holds this land in more than 200,000 tracts, of which about 92,000 (on approximately 150 reservations) contain fractional ownership interests subject to purchase by the Cobell Buy-Back Program. The Buy-Back Program plans to work with as many of the 150 tribes as possible over its 10 year period. Land research, valuation work, and outreach efforts are already underway at several locations. The Department’s goal is to make offers at one or more initial locations by the end of the year.

50 Supporters were Standing Their Ground for Veronica Brown on Saturday

Source: Native News Network, August 19, 2013

TULSA, OKLAHOMA – Outside of Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin’s office in Tulsa, on Saturday afternoon, some 50 supporters for Dusten and Veronica Brown met with others in a crowd that included child welfare workers, single fathers, and children showing their support.

Many supporters feel it is not only about native rights but about human rights.

The rally consisted of family, friends, and supporters from across the country. Many carried signs reading “Fathers Have Rights Too” and “Stop Exploiting Veronica… ” as they walked up and down the road side chanting “Standing Our Ground for Veronica Brown.”

“People are missing the parental rights issue. Dad’s should have a say,”

said Larry Shufeldt, a friend and supporter of Dusten and Veronica.

Shufeldt and his wife fostered five children and expressed his empathy for both sides.

“It is hard to give them up when it is time for them to go. But it is not about provision: who can provide what; it is about doing the right thing. Children belong with the biological parents,”

he commented.

Shufeldt along with many others believe the state has a position it should have upheld in the adoption process and the state is failing its citizens.

Supporters are convinced if the Indian Child Welfare Act, most commonly referred to as ICWA, played a part in the adoption process at all, Veronica would be with family right now in Oklahoma and this would not be an issue. Cherokee Nation citizens believe it is not a fight for one Cherokee child but a fight for all native children not just in Oklahoma but across the nation.

“We are not fighting for one Cherokee Child we are fighting for all children,”

said Lorraine Sacks, a member of Cherokee Nation.

“There are too many children that don’t have anyone to fight for them and here is a biological father doing just that and no one seems to respect it.”

A member of Muscogee Creek Nation, Johnnie Diacon relates all too well,

“I know what it is like to be adopted. I am learning things now that I should have learned as a child about my culture. Fortunately, I was adopted by another native, I had a Cherokee Father who taught me what Creek words he knew but it never filled the gap and loss of my culture. I don’t want Veronica to go through that kind of suffering and loss.”

Many supporters feel it is not only about native rights but about human rights and the right to keep a biological family intact even if the family is native or even Cherokee.

“To the Cherokee’s, a Cherokee child is the tribe’s child and we will defend and protect our children. And that is exactly what we are doing even if Oklahoma doesn’t,”

says Sacks.

“We are standing our ground for Veronica Brown.”

Eat Insanely Fresh Native Salmon: Four Tribes Open Fishery On Columbia River

Courtesy Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish CommissionA tribal fisher loads fall chinook into their boat on the Columbia River near Hood River, Oregon. — Courtesy Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
A tribal fisher loads fall chinook into their boat on the Columbia River near Hood River, Oregon.

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Starting August 19, fishers from the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribes will drop their gill nets in the Columbia River.

During the 2013 fall commercial season, this first gill net fishery can harvest up to 200,000 fish or an estimated 2.5 million pounds of salmon. The fresh catch of salmon, steelhead and coho will be sold commercially directly from Indian fishers to the public. Sales to the public should last into October with peak abundance from just before Labor Day through mid-September. Much of the harvest is sold to wholesale fish dealers and can be found in stores and restaurants around the Northwest and beyond.

Fisheries biologists estimate that the 2013 fall chinook return will be well above average with 677,900 fall chinook entering the Columbia and over 575,000 destined for areas upstream of the Bonneville Dam. Fishery managers also predict a record return of wild Snake River fall chinook and over 130,000 coho.

“Many of the salmon returning to the Columbia River are the direct result of tribal restoration efforts, joint state and tribal programs and several tribal and federal partnerships that are increasing the abundance of salmon in upriver areas,” said Paul Lumley, executive director for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

During the harvest, managers actively monitor the returns so they can adjust the harvest levels as needed to keep the fisheries within strict harvest limits established under the US v. Oregon fisheries management agreement.

The tribal fishery offers an ample supply of fish for the public through over-the-bank sales. Common sales locations include: Marine Park in Cascade Locks, Lone Pine in The Dalles, North Bonneville—one mile east of Bonneville Dam, and Columbia Point in Washington’s Tri-Cities area.

Individuals interested in purchasing tribally caught fish should keep the following tips in mind:
•   Sales from tribal fishers generally run from 10 a.m. to dusk.
•   Price is determined at the point of sale.
•   Most sales are cash only.
•   Buyers should request a receipt.
•   Tribal fishers can advise on topics including fish freshness and preparation.

The public is urged to call the salmon marketing program at (888) 289-1855 before heading up the river to find out where the day’s catch is being sold. More information is available on the salmon marketing website http://www.critfc.org/harvest. Follow @ColumbiaSalmon on Twitter for updates.

E-cigarettes: New ‘smoke,’ same concerns

Sharon Salyer, The Herald

EVERETT — Laura Montejano is convinced that electronic cigarettes helped wean her off her long-standing pack-and-a-half-a-day smoking habit.

Even while standing in the middle of Tobacco Joe’s, an Everett Mall Way smoke shop, Montejano proudly proclaimed that it had been 104 days since her last cigarette.

Montejano, 37, from Woodinville, pointed to her phone ap that calculates exactly what cessation of $7-a-pack cigarettes has meant in her life — a savings of at least $728.

And with each cigarette typically taking about seven minutes to smoke, she’s freed up the equivalent of more than eight days of time.

“My kids are thrilled; I’m thrilled,” she said.

She credited her personal vaporizer, also known as an e-cigarette, with allowing her to quit. “Having this was such a huge thing,” she said.

The tubular, battery-driven machine has a small tank of nicotine-laced liquid. When someone takes a draw, it creates a puffy white cloud.

It looks similar enough to smoking that questions are being raised both locally and in other parts of Washington: Is this non-tobacco activity banned under the state’s tough indoor smoking ban?

Both Pierce and King counties treat e-cigarettes like regular cigarettes, passing ordinances specifically banning their use indoors in public places.

“Prior to this, we were getting complaints from bars and restaurants having clients using these products in their business,” said Scott Neal, a tobacco prevention manager for Public Health — Seattle and King County.

If a customer saw someone across the room exhaling a plume from their e-cigarette, they might mistakenly believe that regular smoking was allowed, he said. “It became a problem for bar owners,” Neal said.

Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District, said the agency interprets current bans on smoking in public places to include e-cigarettes.

“We’re advising restaurant and bar owners that they should not be permitting use of these devises in their premises,” he said.

Goldbaum said he will likely recommend that the health district’s board consider taking action specifically banning indoor e-cigarette use in public places.

“We believe it would be helpful to have a local ordinance that clearly defines that so there’s no question,” he said.

To date, the state hasn’t taken any action to regulate e-cigarettes except to prevent their sale to anyone under the age of 18, said Tim Church, a state Department of Health spokesman.

“Right now, local jurisdictions seem to be taking this on and coming up with regulations and ordinance that work for their communities,” Church said.

Questions have been raised over whether e-cigarettes are perceived as a safe alternative to smoking.

“There’s a lot of unknowns about these electronic cigarettes,” Goldbaum said. “We honestly don’t know if they’re harmful and if so, how harmful they may be.”

The few studies that have been done on the products show that some carcinogens or toxins can be detected at very low levels in the vapors, he said.

That raises questions about long-term health effects for the user, or vapor, and second-hand exposure, Goldbaum said.

Yet even Goldbaum acknowledges that e-cigarettes almost certainly pose less health risk than tobacco-filled cigarettes

Annie Peterson, who works as a healthy communities specialist for the Snohomish Health District, said she has concerns that if e-cigarettes are promoted as harmless, “that’s a big draw for youth.”

Peterson said she’s also questions whether some of the candy-like flavoring and labeling of the nicotine liquids used in e-cigarettes, with names such as bubblegum, could also be subtle attempts at marketing to teens.

Kids may not realize that nicotine addiction can occur with e-cigarettes, too, she said.

Nevertheless, sales of e-cigarettes is growing rapidly, with the products available online and at area retailers.

Jeremy Wilson, 33, a Naval officer stationed in Hawaii, and his wife, Elizabeth Wilson, 32, who served in the naval reserves, have announced plans to open an e-cigarette business in the Everett Mall next month.

Joe Baba, owner of Tobacco Joe’s, said the store first began offering e-cigarettes in January, initially just with disposable e-cigarettes and later expanding to reusable vapors.

“I found myself in the middle of a landslide of demand, being one of the only retailers in the Everett area,” he said.

The store has a “vapor bar,” where customers can have free samples of more than 20 flavors of “juice” as nicotine containers are known.

Starter kits can be purchased for $34.99. The most expensive vapors, with longer battery life, sell for $150. The vapors can be adjusted so that consumers “can choose their level of nicotine down to zero,” Baba said.

Baba said a number of customers have said they’ve been able to convert from cigarette smoking to vaping. “It’s a real joy to see,” he said.

Baba said the switch from traditional to e-cigarettes reminds him or the evolution of technology, “like cell phones versus land lines.

“For the first time in 200 to 300 years,” he said, “cigarettes finally have some real competition.”

Back to School Backpack Distribution

Backpacks, school supplies, and fun – August 29th at Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary from 11a.m. – 6p.m.

The distribution is open to Native American students in the kindergarten through 12th grade that are enrolled Tulalip tribal members or other Natives enrolled in the Marysville School District. Tulalip tribal I.D. and/or tribal affiliation verification required for all.

For more information contact:

Jessica Bustad, 360.716. 4902 or jbustad@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Doug Salinas, 360.716.4909 or dsalinas@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

A Room With Avanyu: Massive Water Serpent Found in Hotel!

Keeva by Ehren Kee Natay at Nativo Lodge in Albuquerque

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Ehren Natay is a jewelry maker with street-artist DNA — and for a recent project at the Nativo Lodge in Albuquerque he let his flair for outrageous oversize images run wild. He was selected to design one of four “Artist Guest Rooms,” and Natay summoned the Tewa deity Avanyu, guardian of water, who takes the form of a water serpent with horns and feathers. Natay chose to paint Avanyu in a Japanese style, with the serpent suggestive of a Yakuza dragon tattoo and the churning water reminiscent of a Hokusai woodblock print. On another wall, a cartoony Pojoaque Pueblo-style Buffalo Dancer holds a bow and casts a watchful eye on Avanyu. Over the bed is a photograph of Natay himself wearing a mask of his own construction, printed on metal.

For more information on the project, titled “Keeva,” visit the Nativo Lodge’s Facebook page and the New Mexico Travel Blog.

Hatchery Facelift Boosts Salmon Runs

Facility upgrades raise the survival rate

Newly built fences below the hatchery dam and fish ladder prevent sea lions from going upstream, while allowing salmon to pass through. Photo/Andrew Gobin

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

Tulalip−Though marauding sea lions have been a constant nuisance to hatchery operations, it is now apparent they stand to threaten the success of hatchery runs as they have become more aggressive, pushing further upstream into holding areas for returning salmon. Through a series of upgrades to the facilities at the Bernie ‘Kai Kai’ Gobin Hatchery at Tulalip, changes are being made to optimize salmon returns.

Newly built sea lion fences at Battle Creek and below the hatchery dam and fish ladder prevent sea lions from going up stream, while allowing salmon to pass through.

“At low tide, the sea lions are belly-crawling up Battle Creek and taking females out of the holding area,” said Jesse Rude, hatchery assistant manager. “We can’t have a shortage of eggs, otherwise we have no fish to hatch.” Rude further noted that, “these fences are first of their kind. No other system like it is known to be used, or in existence.”

At the damn, a small pond with a barricade of rocks sits below the fish ladder, behind the new fence. This allows the salmon to get behind the fence where they are protected, while keeping the salmon from going upstream too early; another new technique the hatchery is trying. “Incidentally, this is good for the fishermen too, keeps the fish out in the bay to be caught,” noted Rude.

At the top of the ladder, a mechanized holding pen and fish lift are installed. The lift looks similar to a car elevator from a parking garage, and can lift comparable weight loads. This allows the salmon to be pulled out and processed more quickly than pitching fish by hand.

The last major upgrades were the installation of birdnetting, to keep birds from getting an easy meal in the lower ponds and creeks, and the new larger pond at the hatchery.

“With the larger pond, we are able to do a lot more Chinook,” said Rude, referring to larger quantities of eggs, and later smolt, that the pond can hold relative to the area needed to have a productive salmon hatch.

“Last year we hatched 1.5 million Coho, and we released a record 1.3 million fish.” Typically, the rate of survival is 50% to 60%; meaning only half of what is hatched actually gets released.

Ironically, the upgrades from 2005 and 2006 led to the record-breaking release of Coho. The snow built up on the birdnetting, breaking the nets and dragging the support posts, and the Jersey barriers that anchored them, into the fish ponds.

“We had to move all of the fish up to the new larger pond,” Rude explained. As a result, the Coho run was over-wintered, meaning they were more mature than normal when released.

They were free of predation back up in the pond as well. Rude said, “the otters are like rats in the ponds. They are everywhere and they eat the fish. The last couple of years we’ve had to hire predator control to manage the otters.”

When asked about the success of over-wintering and potential continuation, Rude said they would be trying similar methods with all of their runs this year.

Other upgrades include expanded feed and storage facilities, covered or shaded ponds, a concrete fish weir put in at Battle Creek, and expanding and repairing the birdnetting for all hatchery creeks and ponds.

Seeping Alberta Oil Sands Spill Covers 40 Hectares, Still Leaking

Source: ICTMN

As debate rages south of the 49th Parallel over developments such as the Keystone XL pipeline, bitumen from four underground oil spills is quietly seeping into wetlands and soils in the oil sands in northern Alberta—and has been for at least three months, if not longer.

Bitumen leakage now totals at least 1.2 million liters—about 8,024 barrels, or 317,000 gallons, the Alberta Energy Regulator, a provincial agency, said in an August 16 update. And despite claims by the operator, Canadian Natural Resources Limited, that the spills are contained and being remediated, recent provincial statements indicate that that is not the case.

“It’s ongoing. The spill is still ongoing,” said Cara Tobin, a spokesperson for the provincial agency Alberta Energy Regulator, to the website DesmogCanada.com on August 6. “There is still bitumen coming up from the ground.”

The spills at Canadian Natural Resources’ Primrose facility first came to light in mid-July, but they had been ongoing for weeks, and one may even date back to last winter, the Toronto Star reported on July 19. The operations lie on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range, which is also an active weapons-testing site for the Canadian military and thus restricted to public access.

Documents brought to light by the Star show that 26,000 barrels of bitumen combined with surface water had been removed between May, when cleanup began, and mid-July, when the spills came to light via a television station. More than 4,500 barrels were straight bitumen, the Star reported. The latest update nearly doubles that number.

“Everybody [at the company and in government] is freaking out about this,” said a whistle-blowing government scientist to the newspaper back in July. “We don’t understand what happened. Nobody really understands how to stop it from leaking, or if they do they haven’t put the measures into place.”

The company issued a statement on July 31 saying that it was remediating the spills.

“Each location been secured, clean up, recovery and reclamation activities are well underway,” the company said. “The bitumen emulsion does not pose a risk to health or human safety.”

Nearby Cold Lake First Nation, whose residents are Dene, was of a completely different mind.

“We are extremely alarmed with the environmental damage from the blow out that occurred at Cold Lake Weapons Range as this is in the federally recognized traditional territory of Cold Lake First Nations and close to CLFN Indian Reserve 149C,” said Cold Lake First Nation Chief Bernice Martial in a statement on August 7. “We contacted Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) to express CLFN’s concerns and we are now demanding answers and want factual information on the contamination of four recent surface releases of bitumen emulsion from oil wells.”

Canadian Natural Resources did admit that “unfortunately some animal fatalities have occurred including 16 birds, 7 small mammals and 38 amphibians. Two beavers, two birds and two muskrats are currently being cared for prior to being returned to their natural environment.”

Critics of the process being used to extract the bitumen suspect that the leaks stem from a method of “steaming” the ground in a process not unlike fracking (hydraulic fracturing of rock that loosens oil and gas deposits in shale). Steaming entails injecting highly pressurized water into the sands to melt the bitumen so that it can be pumped to the surface. Canadian Natural Resources said that its process is not the cause—the company does not use enough pressure to cause that type of leakage, a spokesman told the Star, and blames instead improperly capped wells from other companies’ defunct operations.

The Dene are demanding not only answers but inclusion in the evaluation and cleanup process as well.

“Our community needs to be respectfully involved in the remediation of this environmental disaster as our health and safety hangs in the balance,” Martial said. “We live, hunt, fish in the area and need to know the damage that has been done to our land, water and wildlife.”

Oklahoma governor seeks end to Native American adoption fight

By Heide Brandes, Reuters

(Reuters) – Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin on Wednesday stepped up pressure on the biological father of “Baby Veronica,” a 3-year-old Native American girl caught in a protracted adoption custody battle, warning him to cooperate with the girl’s adoptive parents or face charges for interfering.

After initially declining to sign an extradition warrant for biological father Dusten Brown to face felony charges in South Carolina, where the girl’s adoptive parents live, Fallin warned Brown that if he did not meet the adoptive parents, Matt and Melanie Capobianco, in Oklahoma, she might force him to go to South Carolina.

“Mr. and Mrs. Capobianco deserve an opportunity to meet with their adopted daughter. They also deserve the chance to meet with Mr. Brown and put an end to this conflict,” Fallin said on Wednesday. “If Mr. Brown is unwilling to cooperate with these reasonable expectations, then I will be forced to expedite his extradition request and let the issue be settled in court.”

The case has highlighted overlapping parental claims in two states and the clash between a Native American culture seeking to protect children from being adopted outside their tribes and U.S. legal safeguards for adoptive parents.

Veronica’s birth mother, who is not Native American, arranged the adoption with the Capobiancos before the girl was born. Veronica lived with them after her birth in 2009. Brown intervened in 2010 before the adoption process was final, and a South Carolina family court ordered that Veronica be turned over to Brown in December 2011.

Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation who was not married to the birth mother, argued that the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 allowed him to have Veronica, who is 3/256th Cherokee.

The law was intended to keep Native American children from being separated from their families.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ruling, and the adoption was finalized in South Carolina in July.

But Brown refused to give up Veronica and was arrested on August 12 in Oklahoma on a charge of “custodial interference.”

South Carolina is seeking his extradition.

Veronica is believed to be staying with Brown’s relatives in Oklahoma.

The adoptive parents are in Oklahoma this week to try to visit Veronica and resolve the case. After the couple were denied the opportunity to see her, they called on Brown on Wednesday to meet with them and reach a compromise.

“I look forward to when we can restore our private life with Veronica,” Melanie Capobianco said at a news conference Wednesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “We want to ensure a lifelong relationship with her Oklahoma family as well. We want to see a resolution for Veronica.”

Cherokee Nation leaders said on Wednesday that Brown has the right to have his arguments heard in court hearings in Oklahoma and asked that he be allowed his “due process.” Brown is scheduled for a hearing September 12 to contest his warrant.

“We will continue to stand by Dusten and his biological daughter, Veronica, and for what is right,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker.

Troy Dunn, a lawyer who specializes in locating and reuniting birth families and adopted children, joined the Capobiancos in seeking a compromise.

“I think it may be possible to structure an arrangement to allow Veronica to be the most loved girl,” Dunn said. “A resolution can be sculpted if Dusten is willing to participate.”

(Additional reporting by Harriet McLeod in Charleston, South Carolina; Editing by Karen Brooks and Ken Wills)

Crow Tribe introducing new ‘Scout’ currency

By Ed Kemmick; Source: Buffalo Post

The Crow Tribe in Eastern Montana is gearing up to mint sets of copper, silver and gold coins it hopes will slowly replace the dollar as the reservation’s main currency.
Billings Gazette reporter Ed Kemmick has the full story on the “Scout”:

“We’re not looking to trade clams or wampum anymore,” Ceivert LaForge said. “We’re looking at trading gold and silver.”

LaForge, director of the tribe’s LLC Department, which helps people establish small businesses on the reservation, will join with other tribal leaders to introduce the new currency during the grand entry for the Crow Fair powwow Friday night at 7.

LaForge has been working on the project since March with Eddie Allen, director of Sovereign Economics, a Dallas-based business that helps “nations, states, communities and groups around the world” establish their own currencies, according to the company’s website.

The new currency will be introduced gradually, LaForge said, and could eventually be used to pay tribal employees.

Business that have contracts with the tribe could also be asked to accept partial payment in scouts, he said.

One obvious benefit of having a Crow currency would be to encourage tribal members to spend their money on the reservation, LaForge said, which could in turn prompt people to open more small businesses on the reservation.

Allen said the slogan of the Lakota Nation effort to use its own currency is “Keep it on the rez.”

Though the currency is designed to be used on the reservation, Allen said, it could be used by anyone anywhere who finds another person willing to accept it in return for wares or services.

To help finance the launching of the Crow currency, the tribe commissioned the minting of 1,000 silver medallions commemorating the Battle of the Little Bighorn and began selling them during Crow Native Days in June.

Those 1-ounce medallions are not considered currency and are being sold at $50 each, mainly to coin collectors or people with an interest in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Allen said.