Indian country Archives - Page 6 of 10

Tulalip skateboarders get a say in design plans for new skatepark

Tulalip skateboarders gather after a meeting held on May 15, with Seattle's Grindline lead designer Micah Shapiro, on design ideas for new Tulalip skatepark. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News — Tulalip skateboarders gather after a meeting held on May 15, with Seattle’s Grindline lead designer Micah Shapiro, on design ideas for new Tulalip skatepark.
Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

TULALIP – Skaters and longboarders had reason to celebrate on May 3, when the Tulalip Board of Directors made a motion to approve funding to build a skate park in Tulalip during a regular board meeting.

Tulalip Skate Park, the unofficial name the park is being called currently, will join a number of skateparks being built on reservations across Indian country, such as recently opened Port Gamble S’Klallam and Lummi Skatepark, opened in April.

A community meeting was held on May 15, at the Tulalip Don Hatch Youth Center, to discuss design ideas, site location, and park size. In attendance were nearly 20 Tulalip youth, including Tulalip Board of Directors, Marlin Fryberg Jr., Deborah Parker, Les Parks, Theresa Sheldon, Marie Zackuse and Tulalip Interim General Manager Misty Napeahi. Micah Shapiro, lead designer for Seattle concrete skatepark design and construction company, Grindline, was also in attendance.

Tulalip skateboarders show off their skills in possibly location for new Tulalip Skatepark during meeting held on May 15, with Seattle's Grindline. Photo/ Brandi n. Montreuil, Tulalip News — Tulalip skateboarders show off their skills in possibly location for new Tulalip Skatepark during meeting held on May 15, with Seattle’s Grindline.
Photo/ Brandi n. Montreuil, Tulalip News

Grindline, who built the Port Gamble S’Klallam Skatepark, creates progressive and engaging skateparks with a design philosophy that each skatepark be tailored to its users and existing surroundings, and welcomes community engagement during the design process.

“I want to support the youth and this Board of Directors wants to support the youth,” said Tulalip vice-chairman Les Parks, to the youth in attendance. “You’ve been asking for a skatepark. There has always been a reason why we can’t make it happen, but this year it is going to happen. September 1 is our deadline that we are going to impose upon ourselves.”

Two sites are being considered for the park’s location, the grassy area in front of the youth center’s council room parking area and across the street from the Greg Williams Court, by the Tribe’s old finance building area. Youth favored the site across the street from the Greg Williams Court due to parking, length of skatepark use, elimination of possible beach erosion, and the incorporation of natural elements into final design ideas.

Seattle's Grindline lead designer Micah Shapiro talks with Tulalip skateboarders on May 15 about conceptual design ideas for new Tulalip Skatepark. Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News — Seattle’s Grindline lead designer Micah Shapiro talks with Tulalip skateboarders on May 15 about conceptual design ideas for new Tulalip Skatepark.
Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

Youth presented conceptual ideas along with concerns about park use, amenities, size and safety. Youth advocated for onsite security to eliminate potential drug use or selling in the area by visitors.

Size of the park was another concern for youth, who toured local parks for ideas. The requested 10,000 to 12,000 square feet would allow for a variety of skating elements in one structure, and cost up to $400,000.

“There are a lot of possibilities that you can do with a skate park,” said Shapiro, during his presentation of finished Grindline skateparks. “What we are doing is getting community input through community outreach. The things that need to be considered when you’re designing a skatepark are flow and who the users will be. You have to look at how elements are related to each other; because you are looking at the environment you are designing in. Places to watch are parking lot access; utilities such as restrooms and lights, adjacent uses and impacts near the park. All that has to be considered.”

Tulalip skateboarders listen to budget concerns in a meeting held on May 15, about the newly approved Tulalip Skatepark. Photo courtesy / Ty Juvinel — Tulalip skateboarders listen to budget concerns in a meeting held on May 15, about the newly approved Tulalip Skatepark.
Photo courtesy / Ty Juvinel

“It will come down to budget,” said Tulalip Board Member Marlin Fryberg Jr., about park amenities, such as a request for a roof over the skatepark. “We will have to come up with different options and designs and then go from there. We are not ruling out roof, but that may have to be in phase two of the project.

A final design plan is still being drafted and will include size, location, budget, and skatepark amenities. A budget will be presented once the final design is complete.

For more information on the next community skatepark meeting please contact, Tulalip Youth Services at 360-716-4909.

Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com

Senate confirms first Native woman federal judge

by The Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) – A former U.S. Attorney from Arizona will be the first Native American woman to serve on the federal bench.

Hopi citizen Diane Humetewa easily won confirmation on May 14 in the U.S. Senate in a 96-0 vote. The four senators who didn’t vote were Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Christopher Coons (D-Del.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.)

She will fill one of six vacancies in the federal District Court of Arizona.

Humetewa currently serves as special counsel at Arizona State University, where she is also a professor.

She served as U.S. Attorney for Arizona between 2007 and 2009.

She also was an appellate court judge for the Hopi Tribe.

The National Congress of American Indians praised the confirmation, saying Humetewa has dedicated her time to serving the interests of Native peoples.

“The National Congress of American Indians congratulates Diane J. Humetewa of the Hopi Indian Tribe on her confirmation as federal judge in the U.S. District Court of Arizona. As the newest member of the federal bench, she is the first Native American woman ever appointed to serve in that position,” a NCAI press release states. “The Honorable Humetewa is impeccably qualified for her new role. She has practiced law in federal courts for over a decade – as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, as Assistant U.S. Attorney, and as the U.S. Attorney for Arizona – and is experienced in a wide array of complex proceedings, hearings, and cases. Further, Judge Humetewa has dedicated time to serving the interests of Native peoples. She has been the Appellate Court judge for the Hopi Tribe, counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and special advisor to the President on American Indian Affairs at Arizona State University. NCAI greatly appreciates the efforts of the President and Senate in achieving this historic confirmation. There are many qualified, talented people like Diane Humetewa in Indian Country who are able and willing to serve. We eagerly anticipate many more nominations of Native people to the federal bench and other offices.”

The overburdened District Court of Arizona remains one of the busiest in the country, having declared a judicial emergency in 2011

The hidden tourneys: Independent basketball in Indian Country

By Brandon Ecoffey , Native Sun News Managing Editor

Tourneys like this one hosted as a fundraiser in Batesland, have become part of Native American basketball culture. PHOTO BY/Brandon Ecoffey

PINE RIDGE— The notoriety of the unique passion and style with which Native people play the sport of basketball has grown with the successes of college athletes like Jude and Shoni Schimmel. However the oversimplification of the term “Rez Ball” that has been tied to the two star guards for the University of Louisville has left out many aspects of Indian Country’s connections to the game, including those that are fostered at independently run basketball tournaments all across the country.

Stereotypical portrayals of Native America are often infused with images of black and white photographs from the pre-reservation era showing tribal members in traditional regalia. In representations of contemporary Native America the mainstream news cycle is often flooded with photographs of dire poverty and gang life. These elements do exist in Indian Country but what is often left out is the everyday life lived by many in predominately Native communities that is infused with the sport of basketball.

Although basketball was first brought to most reservation communities by Christian missionaries as an incentive or outlet to the harsh assimilationist policies within boarding schools the sport has been embraced throughout Native America.

For some like Beau Cuevas, a Mni Coujou Lakota, who has played the game his whole life basketball, holds a special place within him.

“For me it’s a way to relax because on that court nothing else matters it’s you and 9 others guys going to battle. It’s the only other place besides Inipi (sweat lodge) and Sundance that I feel at home, it’s a brotherhood,” said Cuevas.

One phenomenon that has been present in Indian Country since as early as the 1900’s has been the formation of travelling teams made up of Native American ball players. Possibly the earliest recorded Native American independent basketball team in history hailed from Fort Shaw, Montana. The team that was comprised of women competed in the 1904 World’s fair in St. Louis and helped to create interest in the game of basketball.

Throughout the year athletes from around Indian Country participate in both local and national basketball tournaments held in all parts of the U.S. The participants in these reservation or urban Indian community based tournaments vary from former high school stars, to successful Divisions 1 athletes, street ball legends and even potential NBA prospects like Luke Martinez who played at the University of Wyoming.

Occasionally in tournaments where tribal enrollment verification is not required high caliber non-Native participants are also brought in by Native teams to compete as demonstrated by sightings of former University of Wisconsin star Jordan Taylor at a tournament held at Indian Center in Minneapolis, MN and former South Dakota State University forward Tony Fiegan who played in one in Rapid City, SD last spring.

Cooper Kirkie a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe who is one of the many talents who travel across the country to play in these tournaments says that the talent level playing is comparable to that of the NBA’s Developmental league or some of the pro leagues in Europe.

“With more and more Natives playing division 1 ball it is really getting to be good talent in these tournaments. The ones who are playing college ball and don’t go on to play after are the first round draft picks for these teams. Usually someone sees them play and someone else will know their auntie or cousin and call them up and bring them out,” said Kirkie.

Kirkie has travelled to over a dozen states including Florida, Washington, and Wisconsin to play in Native tournaments and feels that his desire to travel, that he inherited from his Grandmother, would have went unfulfilled without basketball.

“I am really blessed to be able to travel and see different parts of the country that without basketball I may not have ever been able to experience,” he said. “There are just so many good players out there is feels good to be able to go to other nations and compete against what they have. It is like counting coup. It isn’t about being violent or disrespectful it’s just going out and doing our best.”

With the arrival of gaming and energy dollars in to Indian Country the dynamics of these teams have begun to change as well as the sponsorships. The team Kirkie is on receives its funding from tribal members who are enrolled in a Florida based casino tribe who pays for the team to fly to and from tournaments throughout the year with per cap dollars generated by the tribal members’ casinos. The sponsorship money is a welcome relief from days past when Cooper was forced to gather money on his own.

“I remember when I first got started and I had to either save up money all the time or approach the tribe and ask them for $200. Sometimes they would give us that and we would get together some food stamps and we would travel on that,” he said. “The thing about our sponsors is that they are really good hearted people who do this because they like to see us play and they like to spend family time together with us. It isn’t like if we play a bad game that this is going to stop. It isn’t about that and it feels good playing with no pressure and being with family.”

Some tournaments are of the small scale where local teams converge to compete against fellow tribal members for jackets, sweaters, and occasionally t-shirts. However independent basketball has begun to take on a new feel with the onset of the same casino and energy dollars that sponsor Kirkie’s team being funneled in to the circuit with some tournaments awarding as much as $10,000 and custom designed Pendleton jackets to the winners. Recently the team Iron Boy which featured former Cheyenne Eagle Butte standout and Pine Ridge Native Daelan High Wolf took home the $10,000 prize at the March Madness tournament in Dells, Wisconsin.

The reasoning behind the creation of these tournaments varies from event to event. Some are local fundraisers while others are for competition but one authentically Native aspect of the Native Independent basketball circuit is using the game and the events as a way of memorializing lost loved ones. Travis Albers hosts a tournament each year in Bismarck, North Dakota honor of his brother Tanner who past away from cancer several years ago. Tanner was a star player in South Dakota alongside Travis, both would play together at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck. Just this last year Tanner was inducted in to the school’s hall of fame. For Travis who himself is veteran of the independent hoops trails the memorial tournament he runs is bigger than just basketball.

“Me and my brother had been playing basketball together since we could walk. It was something we did together, we did everything together,” said Albers. “When I have this tournament it isn’t just basketball. I want people to come and talk about memories they had of him and to talk about how he treated them good and remember things other than basketball.”

Travis and Tanner would play together with each other at all levels of the game including college and then with one of the more storied independent teams, Iron Five, for more than ten years together. For Travis the independent game has changed but it is still something that serves a purpose within Native communities.

“We have have a lot of athletes who could go on to play at higher levels but for whatever reason they sometimes get pulled back. But for those on the reservation they are still stars. Some of them are like NBA players to us but the tournaments are good ways to gather to remember the ones the passed away,” he said.

NCAI celebrates anniversary of VAWA’s 2013 passage

By Cherokee Phoenix staff reports

WASHINGTON – The National Congress of American Indians marked the one-year anniversary of a great victory for tribal nations and Native women on March 7.

President Obama, joined by Vice President Biden, members of women’s organizations, law enforcement officials, tribal leaders, survivors, advocates and members of Congress, signs the Violence Against Women Act in March. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press)

It was on that day in 2013 when President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. At the signing ceremony, the president underscored the “inherent right (of tribal governments) to protect their people.”

For the first time since the 1978 Oliphant decision, VAWA 2013 restored tribal authority to investigate, prosecute, convict and sentence non-Indians who assault their Indian spouses or partners in Indian Country. The law created a pilot project that enabled three tribes to recently begin exercising this authority.

“Today is a day to celebrate what we have achieved together and commit ourselves to ensure the ongoing success of this important law. It acknowledges that tribal nations are the best equipped to ensure public safety in our communities and provides the tools we need to protect Native women,” NCAI President Brian Cladoosby said.

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Tulalip Tribes of Washington and the Umatilla Tribes of Oregon–began exercising special criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes of domestic and dating violence, regardless of the defendant’s Indian or non-Indian status in February.

“VAWA 2013 is a tremendous victory. I am grateful to those who have stepped up to take the lead in the implementation phase,” Terri Henry, Tribal Councilor of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and co-chair of the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women, said. “I want to congratulate the three tribes participating in the pilot project and remind everyone, we still have work to do.”

However, VAWA does not mark the end of the NCAI’s efforts to combat domestic violence in Indian Country, NCAI Executive Director Jackie Pata said. “Tribal nations remain steadfast in the important work of protecting our Native women and securing our communities,” she said.

Talking Points: Sen. Heitkamp Discusses Native Issues

Courtesy Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s OfficeSen. Heidi Heitkamp, right, was in attendance for the Champions for Change ceremony in Washington, D.C. recently. Heitkamp is pictured with office intern and one of the five Champions for Change Danielle Finn. — Courtesy Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s Office
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, right, was in attendance for the Champions for Change ceremony in Washington, D.C. recently. Heitkamp is pictured with office intern and one of the five Champions for Change Danielle Finn.

Vincent Schilling, ICTMN

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp is the first female elected from North Dakota. Since taking the oath of office on January 3, 2013, Heitkamp has shown herself to be a strong advocate fighting for the needs of Indian country as she has been since her role as state Attorney General beginning in 1990.

As a member on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Heitkamp has pledged to stand for Native American families and has worked to ensure the U.S. government lives up to treaty and trust responsibilities.

Last October, Heitkamp introduced a bill to improve the lives of Native American children that has received bipartisan support as well as another bill with Republican Senator Moran that would end the IRS’ practice of taxing crucial programs and services that aim to support the health and safety of Native families. Additionally she is an advocate for the Violence Against Women Act and better transportation and infrastructure on reservations.

In a conversation with ICTMN, Heitkamp shared her stance on the importance of working for the betterment of Indian country and why we should all fight for the needs of our children.

Can you tell us about your bill regarding the Commission on Native Children?

I don’t think there’s any aspect of Indian country that would be left untouched as we talk about children. It really comes to me from the words of Sitting Bull, who said “Let us now sit down and decide what kind of life we can make for our children,” I am paraphrasing, but if we stay focused on kids and our children we will make good choices and we will hopefully get better attention to the challenges for Native American families.

The important part of this commission is that we need to be looking at it from a holistic standpoint. You see people talk about Indian education or protection of our children or health care for our children or making sure that we have good transportation so that our kids can get to school. All of these things have a direct effect, but we worry about the programs and not about the outcomes.

For instance, I feel that Native languages are a huge component of the child bill because I think it is a way that we begin to grasp that cultural connection to heal families to provide the pride to move forward.

You played a key role in the Violence Against Women Act, you specifically pushed for tribal governments to gain authority to prosecute non-Native perpetrators, how are things going?

Currently three tribal courts have been selected as a sort of first pass – from there we will learn what tribal courts need to do as a court that has the authority and the jurisdiction to act over non-Native offenders.

We are taking those first steps but it is not enough to pass legislation. We have to be vigilant about making sure that that legislation is given its full effect. I think at this point, We are all grateful this is on track but we need to make sure that these test pilot tribal courts work.

None of these courts are in my state, I am really looking forward to seeing this implemented in my state so that Native American women do not and are not treated as second class citizens as it relates to the pursuit of justice.

I spent a lot of my time as Attorney General with domestic violence programs and it was one of the reasons why I ran for AG.

Can you speak on transportation infrastructure on reservations?

Obviously we are always road challenged in North Dakota. It doesn’t matter if you are at Township – We have issues with roads just given our weather patterns. One of the concerns that I have, Are the stories such as roads not getting plowed so that children cannot go to school or maybe grandma needs to get in for her diabetes treatment, but she cannot get out for groceries.

The frustration that I have is that we probably could see better cooperation between County and State officials along with tribal authorities – but the federal highway folks need to step up and do a better job allocating resources.

There is a great deal of concern about retention of overhead costs, so that these dollars don’t actually go back to the tribes, but are retained within the programs in Washington, D.C.

I realize that when we talk about roads, it is not going to fill up the room, but it might be (what is) most important to a Native American family. It is so important that we talk about this now as we’re looking at, again, reauthorizing the Highway Bill.

You are working to end the taxation of tribal programs through the IRS with Sen. Moran, can you explain?

We are very concerned about an IRS agent questioning the judgment of a sovereign entity as they relate to what constitutes general welfare. I think there’s a fair amount of a lack of understanding as to what tribal governments do and how culturally significant a lot of this is. To suggest that a family who receives funeral dinner and funeral services aught to be taxed on those services is to ignore the pervasive poverty on a reservation, but also it ignores the cultural significance of that expenditure.

I think that this is a great bipartisan effort. We hope that the IRS is starting to get it, but it is more important that we are not fighting this fight a year from now or two years from now and that we get some federal legislation that makes the intent of Congress clear in that it respects tribal sovereignty as it relates to their expenditure decisions.

One of the 2014 Champions for Change is your intern Danielle Finn.

She is a star! We are a little biased in that she is an intern in our office. She is going off to law school; she has tons of options. We are so proud of her and her family is so proud of her. We are just excited to see across the board that these champions for change are part of a hopeful program.

We see all of this wonderful opportunity for expansion of tribal leadership and it really makes us hopeful that there are so many people. I think we need to remember that there are some kids who are getting left behind. We need to celebrate these superstars and amazing kids, but we also need to know there are also very many students And young people who with the right set of circumstances could have equal achievement.

That motivates me as well. When you see these Champions For Change and think that it is not just them but there are probably hundreds of champions for change when given an opportunity.

We just need to keep that in mind and this is what my child’s commission bill is all about.

Isadore Boni: AIDS Stigma Holding Back Progress in Indian Country

Courtesy Wellbound StorytellersIsadore Boni, San Carlos Apache, was diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis C in May 2002. After his disease escalated to AIDS in November 2004, he was cured of hepatitis C in 2013. Now he is an advocate for HIV prevention and HIV/AIDS treatment and care. — Courtesy Wellbound Storytellers
Isadore Boni, San Carlos Apache, was diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis C in May 2002. After his disease escalated to AIDS in November 2004, he was cured of hepatitis C in 2013. Now he is an advocate for HIV prevention and HIV/AIDS treatment and care.

Isadore Boni, Indian Country Today Media Network

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), of persons diagnosed with HIV, more than 38 percent of American Indians and Alaskan Natives progressed to an AIDS diagnosis in less than 12 months, which is the highest percentage among all racial/ethnic groups.

Many question why American Indians and Alaskan Natives progress so fast to an AIDS diagnosis, which also contributes to Natives having the shortest survival time among all racial/ethnic groups. AIDS/HIV awareness activist Isadore Boni blames the stigma attached to the disease.

“Stigma in Indian country in general is still very very strong,” Boni said. “Stigma prevents people from getting tested, prevents people from accessing the care they need and it stops people who are positive from going through the process of acceptance. That is more important than anything. Stigma to me in my opinion, is the reason, that Native people, have the highest death rates, among all other people according to the CDC.”

Boni, a San Carlos Apache tribal member, spoke to college students at Haskell Indian Nations University for their AIDS Awareness event.

Native AIDS Survivor Finds Empowerment Through Honesty, Fights for HIV Confidentiality Law

Apache AIDS Survivor Runs Fifth Half-Marathon

Regardless of the statistics, Boni has gone on to lead a healthy and productive life. Since being diagnosed with HIV, he recently finished his fifth P.F. Chang’s half marathon this past January in Phoenix, Arizona, where he resides.

“I want the students to know, even the most educated and most successful people have HIV and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a death sentence,” he said. “The sooner you get tested, the longer you can live.”
According the CDC, Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaska Natives had the 3rd and 5th highest rate of new HIV infections, respectively.

One concern of Boni is making sure when someone does find out they are positive for HIV that they have support.

“Sharing with people makes me stronger,” Boni said. “It is also medicine, whether it’s words or a hug, that to me is medicine. That support, is more stronger than any medication that I have been taking.”

The National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is March 20. Organizers are looking for tribal communities to host events to help increase awareness. Anything from hosting talks, walks, runs or by going with someone to take a test as a form of support, National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day has materials ready for anyone at their website at www.nnhaad.org.

This article was originally published by Wellbound Storytellers. Read more blogs about healthy living written by Natives throughout Indian country at WellboundStorytellers.com.

Whitewashing Redskins Tour Gets Navajo Code Talkers Assoc. Endorsement

Gale Courey Toensing, Indian Country Today Media Network

Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, has been trying to sway public opinion to support his football team’s racist name for years now. He’s dangled money in front of needy schools in and around Pine Ridge. He tried—unsuccessfully—to get Haudenosaunee leaders to say disparaging things about Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter, who launched the Nation’s campaign to change the offensive name. He got Jennifer Farley, former high level White House employee during the George W. Bush administration, who was on the receiving end of gifts from disgraced former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, to facilitate a meeting with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and other Indian leaders—who have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements about what’s been said and done at the meetings. He’s waved tempting 50-yard-line D.C. game tickets and Super Bowl tickets under the noses of lobbyists and leaders, and presented a poorly orchestrated series of online endorsements by fans who are supposedly Native (mostly claiming Cherokee heritage) in an effort to prove the team’s ugly name is not offensive to Indians.

And now, in a sad turn of events, he’s managed to snare the endorsement of seven World War II veterans. After months of courting support in Indian country, Snyder finally chalked up a big success: Seven octogenarian Navajo Code Talkers have endorsed the Redskins name and mascot. But judging from the reaction in Indian country, it could be his greatest misstep yet in this sordid campaign.

The endorsement was approved at a meeting of the Navajo Code Talkers Association (NCTA) in Window Rock, Arizona on February 28 – and was met with outrage from the descendants of code talkers actively involved in the association and devoted to honoring the legacy of their fathers and grandfathers. Much of their ire is directed at Association Chairman Peter MacDonald, who they allege has “hijacked” the NCTA and manipulated the code talkers to endorse the name for his own benefit.

In an interview with Indian Country Today Media Network, MacDonald vigorously denied having any financial involvement with the Redskins team. “There’s been all kinds of rumors and innuendos and theories going around about what our relationship with the Washington Redskins is all about. We wanted to set the record straight. There have been calls that Redskins paid us money… this is all totally wrong. Let me say this: The Redskins’ invitation and visit by Navajo Code Talkers was totally, totally funded by Redskins… to honor the Navajo Code Talkers. It was completely initiated by the Redskins as part of their annual tribute to all armed forces.

“The Navajo Code Talkers weren’t paid one cent to be there, nor were there any promises made about donations… ”

Reports of the NCTA endorsement showed up on Facebook late in the afternoon of February 28, and the news spread quickly. Here are a few typical posts. (Both the Facebook link and people’s names have not been used in order to protect their privacy.)

“People are crying. I almost threw up when I read it.”

“Sad day… so much for honor.”

“Rather give more attention to the medicine man association… code talkers have become nationalist puppets and fall for anything.”

Several Navajo descendants and other Navajo citizens expressed suspicion about MacDonald and his motives. Their common theme was, “He divided the Nation.” A former Navajo Nation president, MacDonald was removed from office by the Navajo Tribal Council in 1989 under suspicion of accepting kickbacks from contractors and corporations. The chaos that followed led, a few months later, to a riot in Window Rock in which two MacDonald supporters were shot to death and tribal police officers were injured. “It was an event that would forever change life for many people on the Navajo Nation,” the Navajo Times reported.

MacDonald was tried and sent to federal prison in 1992 for 107 violations of U.S. law, including charges of fraud, extortion, riot, bribery, and corruption. He served eight years of a 14-year sentence and was released in January 2001, when his sentence was commuted by then-President Bill Clinton on his last day in office.

MacDonald was voted president of the NCTA in January 2012.

***

In November, Navajo Nation Councilman Joshua Lavar Butler condemned what he called team officials’ “antics to use our beloved and cherished Navajo Heroes as pawns in their Public Relations battle to perpetuate this indignity and ignorance.”

Butler has drafted a legislative resolution opposing the Redskins name and distancing the Navajo government from the NCTA. He stressed that people should differentiate between the NCTA and the Nation’s government. “I must remind the public that the endorsement is not from the Navajo Nation government or the Navajo Nation as a whole,” he said.

“I know this really hurts our inter-tribal relationships around the country,” Butler added. ”As a council member, I’ve been very involved statewide and on the national level with advocacy efforts with other tribal leaders and something like this, it does affect unity and our working relationships inter-tribally.”

The Navajo Nation is not a member of the National Congress of American Indians, which recently published a white paper called “Ending the Legacy of Racism in Sports & the Era of Harmful ‘Indian’ Mascots,” but it does partner with NCAI on issues of common concern.

“The NCTA is putting us in an awkward position because some tribes, especially on the east coast, are fighting this aggressively. At the end of the day, we have to work with those tribes as well and the NCTA is sending the wrong message by endorsing the utilization of that term,” Butler said. “It’s very upsetting, it’s shameful, it’s wrong, it’s derogatory and the Redskins should be ashamed of themselves.”

***

MacDonald and members of the NCTA met Snyder last fall after he began his tour of Indian country, seeking support for his team name and mascot. A friend of Snyder’s told the Washington Post that the trips to Indian country were motivated by Snyder’s “feelings about the pain and depression – depression is the word he has used with me – of Native Americans who have no jobs, who have obesity issues, whose children are suffering.”

The trips also coincide with launching of a national campaign against the team name supported by the Oneida Indian Nation (which owns ICTMN) called “Change the Mascot.”

In recent months, Snyder and his team officials have visited the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, a tribe under fire from other tribes for building a casino on Hickory Ground, a site that’s sacred to the Muscogee Creek Indians, and the poverty-stricken Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico, among other tribes. Redskins spokesman Tony Wyllie told the Washington Post that Snyder and company have taken more than a dozen unpublicized trips around Indian country.

RELATED: The Battle For Hickory Ground

While those trips were unpublicized, Snyder’s pursuit of the Navajo Code Talkers was no secret. In late November, the Redskins plane flew MacDonald, and members George James Sr. and George Willie Sr. from Gallup, New Mexico to D.C. for the November 25 Washington-San Francisco game to “honor” them, accompanied by a blitz of media attention.

Suzan Harjo wrote of the event: “The Redskins’ ‘honoring’ of Navajo code talkers consisted of four frail veterans standing in the end zone and receiving a round of applause. Three of the four Navajo elders wore Redskins jackets, with the new-clothes price tags still hanging at their wrists. These seniors probably thought this was another in a long line of recent recognitions of their WWII achievements some 70 years ago, rather than any implied endorsement of the team’s name.”

On hearing about the Code Talkers endorsement of the Redskins, Harjo honed in on MacDonald’s involvement. “He has a long history of exploiting his people,” she said, “and I think this is an example of that.”

***

MacDonald has a simple explanation for the endorsement: he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with the name, and he claims other Navajo feel the same way. “So far as we’re concerned, so far as people are concerned here at Navajo, redskins have always meant Native Americans or Indians to us – nothing more. So I don’t know who decided to make that a slur word or offensive. To us, redskins, whiteskins, blackskins, yellowskins, brownskins – we here on earth did not create the color of human skins; it was the Great Spirit that created us with different colors and we honor His creation and have no problem with anyone using those colors to identify the Lord’s creation.”

Asked if he’d mind if his grandchildren were called redskins, he said, “No! As a matter of fact we have schools right here on Navajo Nation – Red Mesa school – it’s a Navajo high school. The school [nickname] name is Redskins.”

He said he was not familiar with the origins of the name, or the 1755 Phips Proclamation in Maine that detailed the bounty prices the colonial government paid for Indian scalps, “but humans around the world have different colored skin – what’s wrong with calling them by the color of their skin?” he said.
The suggestion that most Native Americans and others see the name as a hateful racist word set MacDonald on an anti-media diatribe. “You press people! I don’t know what’s wrong with you! We have so many issues with Native American people – states, the federal government stealing our water, taking our land. There’s poverty and high unemployment on Indian reservations. Why don’t you go over there and report those things? Is the change of [the] name going to change poverty on Navajo? Will that create thousands of jobs?

“There’s the cancer rate, as well as diabetes, alcoholism, the suicide rate – all much higher than outside society. It’s a third-world nation in the back door of the United States. Report that! Forget about this name change business. We can talk about that after we put the Indian back on equal footing with the rest of the world.”

MacDonald brushed aside the fact that studies show the offensive name is emotionally and psychologically harmful to Indian children. “The children here at Navajo at Red Mesa don’t want to change their name, they want to remain redskins,” he said.

***

The NCTA endorsement of the Redskins name passed by a vote of 7-0-0, meaning only seven code talkers attended the meeting. MacDonald said there are currently around 40 code talker members and all of them were notified of the meeting, but several descendants said their fathers and grandfathers were not notified.

Ron Kinsel, son of Code Talker John Kinsel, added that his dad did not approve of the endorsement of the Redskins name or the way the vote was conducted. “It was done without the association’s awareness. They were trying to pass it without a quorum,” Kinsel said.

MacDonald told ICTMN that the association’s bylaws define a quorum as 10 percent of the total member and therefore the seven-member vote was legitimate. However, Section 13 of the NCTA bylaws says, “The greater of ten (10) voting members or ten (10) percent of the voting members” constitutes a quorum, meaning that 10 members were required for the vote. The bylaws also mandate that “Notice of any meeting shall be given by oral or written notice delivered to each member. . . not less than ten (10) days nor more than fifty (50) days before the date of the meeting.”

The NCTA endorsement has mobilized the code talkers’ descendants into action. A meeting for concerned descendants of Navajo Code Talkers has been scheduled for Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. at Cafe Iina at the Navajo Nation Museum. Duvonne Manuelito, whose late grandfather James Manuelito was one of the original 29 code talkers, said it’s an opportunity for all the code talkers’ descendants to come together and plan a strategy to protect their fathers’ and grandfather’s legacy. “We need to let people know there’s another side to what’s going on.”

Yankton Sioux Tribe road projects take a new path

By Associated Press

MARTY, S.D. (AP) — As the Yankton Sioux transportation planner, Wesley Hare Jr. received reports of a dangerous intersection often used by tribal members.

Accidents and near-misses were occurring because of a blind spot near the junction of S.D. Highway 46 and a Bureau of Indian Affairs road leading to Marty, Hare said.

Hare contacted the South Dakota Department of Transportation about the problem.

“A (DOT) person was out there, and he observed for a week and saw the near misses,” the tribal planner said.

A road turnout was constructed for safety reasons, Hare said. “We have gotten a lot of feedback and good comments on it,” he added.

The Yankton Sioux isn’t the only tribe with such issues. Transportation needs remain a challenge for Indian Country. In order to share their experiences, nine tribes from across South Dakota have created the Tribal Transportation Safety Summit.

The Yankton Sioux Tribe recently hosted the fourth annual summit at Fort Randall Casino. The two-day meeting drew around 100 officials — double the first summit and the largest turnout in the event’s history, Hare said.

The nine tribes that took part were the Rosebud, Oglala, Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Flandreau, Sisseton-Wahpeton and Yankton.

The Yankton Sioux highway department not only cares for tribal roads but also partners with Charles Mix County and the state’s transportation department, he said. “As far as tribal roads, we have only 28 miles. But in conjunction with the county and state, we have maybe 1,200 miles,” he said.

During last month’s highway summit, Hare learned of the vast road miles that other tribes maintain.

“Marty to Greenwood is only six miles for us,” he said. “But communities (in other parts of South Dakota) may be 30 to 50 miles apart, and they have to take care of those long stretches.”

The Federal Highway Administration has encouraged these types of tribal conferences across the nation, according to June Hansen the tribal liaison of the state’s transportation department.

“During the annual meetings that SDDOT holds with each of the nine tribes, the topic of transportation safety and ideas to improve safety was a recurring theme,” she said. “The SDDOT was happy to partner with the nine tribes and a number of other agencies (on setting up the summit).”

Those agencies include the federal transportation agency’s South Dakota division office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, South Dakota Department of Public Safety and the Northern Plains Tribal Transportation Assistance Program.

“The real heart of each of these summits is the host tribe, and all the host tribes have done an outstanding job with each of the summits,” Hansen said. “That is especially true for Wesley Hare and his staff with the Yankton Sioux Tribe. They really outdid themselves with some truly unique and special events like the honoring of the YST Code Talkers from World Wars I and II.”

At last month’s summit, the tribes also talked about cooperation between their road and police departments to cut down on drunk driving and related fatalities.

The Yankton Sioux presentation was given by Hare and Louis Golus Jr., the road maintenance supervisor. Besides the Highway 46 turnout, Yankton Sioux Tribe successes include the installation of reflectors around Marty and the road leading to Greenwood.

Among other projects, the Yankton Sioux Tribe has worked with other entities on a Lake Andes walkway and welcome signs around Charles Mix County, acknowledging the Yankton Sioux traditional homeland.

In addition, the transit program, started in 2011, has grown rapidly, Hare said. The transit operates 18 hours daily, running a route of 16 stops. The tribe constructed 14 shelters for passenger waiting for rides.

Passengers rely on the transit for reaching destinations ranging from jobs and medical appointments to the Boys and Girls Club and Fort Randall Casino.

“Forty-five percent of our people don’t have any (personal) transportation at all,” he said. “The transit is a really growing program. The first year, during a month’s time, we had between 500 and 600 riders. Now, we are over 2,000 riders a month. It has just shot up.”

In his work with the federal government, Hare noted a shift from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to tribes. Tribes now take care of planning, hiring their own engineers and doing their own construction. In addition, funding goes directly to tribes rather than funneled through the bureau.

That isn’t to say the bureau and tribes have become disengaged, Hare said. “We keep in touch with the BIA in Aberdeen. We still use them for a lot of technical assistance,” he said.

Hare was elected chairman for the Northern Plains Tribal Technical Assistance Program, which serves 26 tribes. Adequate funding remains a concern at all levels, he said.

In that respect, the annual highway summits take on growing importance as tribes make the most of their resources, Hansen said.

“The networking between the various tribal agencies that work to improve transportation safety — whether they are from the engineering, education, enforcement or emergency services — has grown each year,” she said.

Mike Connor Confirmed as Interior Deputy Secretary

Mike Connor pictured with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

Rob Capriccioso, ICTMN, 2/28/14

Mike Connor has been confirmed to become the Obama administration’s next deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, the number two position at the agency under Secretary Sally Jewell.

Connor was confirmed February 27 by a vote of 97 to 0 in the Senate.

“Mike is exactly the right person to help lead this Department—thoughtful, smart, organized and full of energy,” said Jewell in a statement. “His wealth of knowledge, experience and collaborative approach to complex challenges will be of great benefit to me and to this Department. Mike is a true public servant, and this new role will tap all of his experiences for the benefit of the American people.”

“Mike Connor is a dedicated public servant with the experience and background needed to help meet our nation’s goals for energy independence and our environment,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) in a statement. “He is passionate about finding solutions on a range of issues important to New Mexico, including land and water conservation and addressing climate change.

“Mike is a staunch ally of Indian country and has a strong record of working effectively and collaboratively with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents,” Heinrich added.

Connor has in the past worked for Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), served at the Secretary of the Interior’s Indian Water Rights Office as director from 1999 to 2001 and as deputy director there from 1998 to 1999, and he worked as a lawyer at multiple offices at Interior from 1993 to 1997, including the Southwestern Regional Solicitor’s Office, the Division of Indian Affairs, and the Solicitor’s Honors Program. He has served as the commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation at Interior since 2009 where he implemented five Indian water rights settlements.

Connor has received strong tribal support to replace David Hayes, who retired from the position in 2013 after tribal officials raised concerns about his role in some Indian-focused dealings, especially involving the stalled Carcieri land-into-trust legislative fix situation. Many tribal leaders hope Connor will be particularly strong on Indian energy and water issues, given his background.

While not an enrolled tribal citizen, Connor does have roots with the Taos Pueblo, as his maternal grandmother was an original member of Taos Pueblo’s water rights task force.

According to Interior officials, Connor is the first person with ties to Indian country to serve in the number two position at the department, which oversees many of the nation’s federal Indian affairs.

Support in Indian Country Growing for ‘Anti-Bullying Pink Shirt Day’ on February 26

Vincent Schilling, ICTMN, 2/24/14

On Wednesday, February 26, students, teachers and notable figures all over the world will promote the anti-bullying campaign “Pink Shirt Day.” The day is commemorated by anti-bullying advocates who will wear pink shirts to promote awareness about bullying in school and the effects of bullying on children in today’s society.

The campaign, which was started in 2007 by two students in Nova Scotia who sought to protect a fellow classmate, is now garnering support from Indian country, particularly by Fashion Designer Jill Setah and the design company Native Northwest.

In Setah’s online blog First Nation’s Fashions, she encourages her fans to don pink t-shirts Wednesday in honor of Pink Shirt Day, a cause she backs for personal reasons. “As a First Nations Woman I was bullied in elementary school for being First Nations. I would cry every day in class as the teacher would do nothing,” she wrote to Indian Country Today Media Network via email.

“As a First Nations designer, my kids and I are making our own pink shirts for Pink Shirt Day,” she added.

On February 14, 2014, Native Northwest a three-decades-old company that creates art by First Nations and Native American artists, debuted their version of a ‘Pink Shirt Day’ t-shirt.

Two teachers sport pink Native Northwest t-shirts. (Native Northwest)

Haida artist Andrew Williams designed the t-shirts emblazoned with a Haida design and the word RESPECT. Money raised will go to aboriginal women’s shelters for abused women and for family events at Friendship Centres, Native Northwest’s website states. The shirts are available online and retail for copy5 + shipping, or you can buy them in person at 1644 West 75th in Vancouver.

Presently, the largest bastion of support comes from Canada’s CKNW 980 AM News radio station which mans the www.PinkShirtDay.ca website and promotes the Pink Shirt Day campaign. According to the site, “Last year over 160,000 people committed on Facebook to wear pink and help stop bullying.”

“Boys and Girls Clubs proudly participate in Pink Shirt Day because it promotes awareness, understanding and openness about the problem and a shared commitment to a solution. BGCGV relies heavily on community support to deliver our daily Club programs. Supporting Pink Shirt Day supports everyone who has experienced bullying as well as Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Vancouver’s anti-bullying programs.”

Setah expressed the message she and her children hope to share:

“I want my kids to learn to stand up for those who are not strong enough to speak for themselves. I want my kids to have enough confidence to not care what others think of them, I also want them to always LOVE, Always have RESPECT for themselves and others, Always have COURAGE, Always have HONESTY, Always have WISDOM, Always have HUMILITY and most of all ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH!”