Dakota protesters meet sesquicentennial wagon train
May 11th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »Dakota protesters meet sesquicentennial wagon train
Covered wagons and police cars were stopped side-by-side as protesters blocked the roadway. (Photo by Scott Russell)
May 10, 2008
Several dozen Native American protesters and allies tried to upstage a Minnesota Sesquicentennial event at Fort Snelling Saturday. Protesters said the state’s 150th birthday celebration failed to tell the whole story and demanded the state acknowledge broken treaties, land theft and ethnic cleansing.
Immediate Release: 5/10/08 Circle the Wagons
May 11th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Circle the Wagons
St. Paul, MN, May 10, 2008 — The sesquicentennial wagon train wending towards the state capital for tomorrow’s celebration of Minnesota statehood, came to an unexpected standstill this morning entering Fort Snelling when a group of Dakota people gathered in the road to dispel a few of their cherished myths. “This is a place of genocide, our ancestors were force marched here in 1862 and interned in the concentration camp for an entire winter. So many of our people died here, women and children, so much of our history is ignored and suppressed. We are here to tell the truth about this history and challenge the Sesquicentennial celebration,” said Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.D.. “All we’re asking is to be heard,” said Ben Yahola, amidst protestors holding signs with “We are not invisible,” “1862,” “Site of Dakota Genocide,” and “My grandmother died here.”
The travelers looked on or away as Dakota speakers addressed them and a gathering group of other protestors, onlookers, and, soon, many police officers from the city of Minneapolis. They stood by, some perched atop horses, for about fifteen minutes before the tensions increased.
Two skittish horses were steered by their mounted officers through the protestors, endangering everyone in their path, including several small children. Unsure of what to do, one officer radioed for backup. As reinforcements arrived, one officer said, “I thought we came down to do some thumping.” A sheriff’s SUV tried to force its way through the crowd of protestors to clear a path for the wagon train. Then, two kids and two women laid down in front of the SUV. For twenty minutes while protestors smudged, prayer drums sounded, and speakers addressed their message about the past’s atrocities, officers conferred, debating how best to remove the blockade. Dakota protestors cried the history of the atrocities committed, including land theft, ethnic cleansing, bounties placed on Dakota scalps (up to $200 dollars), the largest mass hanging in US history, the horrors of the concentration camp at Fort Snelling, and the brutalities of the war of 1862.
Then the arrests began.
“You are benefiting from the same colonial practices which justified the genocide of the Dakota people,” Waziyatawin stated as she was pressed against the hood of a patrol car before being led away. “This wagon train is a fantasy of manifest destiny, as some sort of righteous thing.” Next to go were her two minor children, Talon and Autumn Cavender-Wilson. Anita Rae, Chris Mato Nunpa, Jim Anderson and Diane Elliot followed, before the officers ceased making arrests.
By use of truncheon, officers pushed the protest aside, finally clearing the way for the wagon train to enter the camp. Imprisoned protestors were then released under charges of disorderly conduct. At least some of the wagon riders began conversing with protestors, agreeing to the need for truth telling. One young man softened his position and even apologized for his participation in the wagon train.
The protestors will also be present tomorrow at the state capital, where the kick-off celebration for the Minnesota Sesquiscentennial will begin.
For additional information, Contact:
Chris Mato Nupa, Ph.D.
Oceti Sakowin Omniciya
Tel: (320) 981-0206
Jim Anderson
Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community
(763) 753-2833
Waziyatawin Angela Wilson, Ph.D.
Oceti Sakowin Omniciya
Tel: (320) 564-4241
Scott DeMuth
Oceti Sakowin Omniciya
Diane Elliot
Fort Snelling Shame/ Star Tribune
May 10th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »| This Article from StarTribune.com has been sent to you by MonaSmith. *Please note, the sender’s identity has not been verified.The full Article, with any associated images and links can be viewed here. |
| Protesters decry ’shameful history’ TOM MEERSMAN, Star Tribune About two dozen protesters, many of them Dakota Indians, blocked the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Wagon Train for about an hour Saturday afternoon as it reached Historic Fort Snelling. The protesters said Minnesota’s 150th birthday this weekend is no cause for celebration among Indian people, whose lands were stolen from them and who endured injustice, broken treaties and imprisonment before and after Minnesota became a state. Officials planning the sesquicentennial and historians have ignored the state’s “shameful history,” said Chris Mato Nunpa, who just retired as associate professor of indigenous nations and Dakota studies at Southwest Minnesota State University. “We’re engaged in truth telling,” he said. He said the early history of Minnesota’s settlement by whites included bounties on Indian scalps, a mass execution in Mankato, and a “concentration camp” of Dakota women, children and the elderly at Fort Snelling during the winter of 1862-63. “We honor those people who passed away, and we also grieve for them,” said Allan Henderson, another of the protesters. “It’s very emotional for us.” The protesters carried signs in the rain, burned sage and beat on drums while singing, and two of them lay on the wet asphalt in front of horses pulling the first of several dozen wagons on their way from Cannon Falls to the Sesquicentennial celebration in St. Paul today. Escorting the wagon train were about a dozen Dakota County deputies on horses, who were joined by several squads from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the airport police. Joe Dalby of Bemidji, riding a mule at the front of the wagon train procession, watched as Hennepin officers arrested five adults and two adolescents and ushered them to squad cars. “I certainly appreciate their passion, but it’s too bad it has to end this way,” Dalby said. After the arrests, deputies formed a line across the road and walked through the remaining protesters, allowing the wagons to pass so they could reach a special campground a few hundred yards away. The Indian group is planning a march from Mounds Park in St. Paul to the Capitol today, where it may meet the wagon train again. Watching the event Saturday was Heather Koop of the Minnesota Historical Society, who said that she’s sympathetic to the issues being raised. “What this protest is really about is the power of place,” she said. Bob Dalbec of Bloomington saw the police cars from the highway, exited and parked to see what was going on. “Indians have a right to protest and to show their feelings,” he said. “I’m with them 100 percent.” After checking the identifications of the arrested and holding them for less than an hour, authorities released them with warning tickets. Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388 |
Videos of Wakan River/ancestral homeland
May 5th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »Video’s of the Dakota’s Wakan/"Rum" River Watershed traditional/ancestral homeland
(1.) The mouth of the Wakan/"Rum" River.
This sacred Dakota river flows out of Wakan/"Mille Lacs" Lake. The Dakota call this river by the sacred name for their lake [Wakan], which translated means Spirit or Great Spirit. The Dakota had a village located at this sacred site. Around the year 1750 French "settlers"/invaders tricked a newly arrived band of Ojibwe to violently forced the Dakota from this sacred site of theirs. However, the Dakota are beginning to return to reclaim this sacred site. The Dakota name for the sacred land surrounding the mouth of this river is Mdo-te-mini-wakan, pronounced Bdoh-Tay-Mni-Wah kahn, and translated as Mouth (of river) + Water + Spirit.
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Sioux Arrested For Protesting Hog Farm. (VIDEOS)
Apr 27th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »Ihanktowan Nation protesters arrested
Yankton Sioux Arrested For Protesting Hog Plant - Video Please Forward This Post to Everyone You Know.
This issue has been going on for more than a week. It is unlikely that you will see or hear unbiased reports about it in the media.
Reuben W. Kitto, Jr
Click to open videos
Deep Water: The Rising Seas
Apr 22nd, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »
When it comes to global warming, are we getting in too deep? Here’s a look at the top 10 U.S. cities at risk from rising sea levels.
By Shiwani Srivastava for MSN City Guides
Global warming might be the current hot topic in the news, but the threat of rising sea levels can often seem distant, uncontrollable and even abstract. Just how soon can we expect to feel the impact? And is there really anything we can do about it?
In December, the OECD – a Paris-based international organization that gathers and analyzes economic statistics and social data to benefit the global economy – released a report listing the cities worldwide that are most threatened by rising seas in the next 60 years, measured by population and property assets at risk. U.S. cities ranked surprisingly high on the list, capturing five of the top 10 spots, with all but one of the top 10 U.S. cities ranking in the top 30 worldwide.
- See a slide show of U.S. cities most at risk
So how did they figure out which cities are most at risk? Researchers looked at the combination of a "1-in-100 year" major flooding event (a commonly accepted risk assessment standard) with a sea rise of 1.6 feet by 2070 (caused by global warming) and calculated the effects. The one-two punch is potentially devastating, especially for several major U.S. cities.
That said, the OECD’s report isn’t meant to be all gloom and doom. Rather, it is meant to spur cities into preparedness to prevent another situation like Hurricane Katrina, which caused more than 1,800 deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi, and displaced hundreds of thousands more. In many ways, America and its economy are still feeling the aftershock of this natural disaster. But re-witnessing Katrina isn’t a sealed fate. While it could take up to 30 years for cities to set up adequate protection against rising seas, the technology exists to seriously lessen the damage that cities potentially face.
Slide show of 10 U.S. cities most at risk from rising sea levels
Location of Mass Graves Revealed
Apr 17th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »Breaking News:
Location of Mass Graves of Residential School Children Revealed for the First Time; Independent Tribunal Established
Squamish Nation Territory ("Vancouver, Canada")
Thursday, April 10, 2008 11:00 am PST
At a public ceremony and press conference held today outside the colonial "Indian Affairs" building in downtown Vancouver, the Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) released a list of twenty eight mass graves across Canada holding the remains of untold numbers of aboriginal children who died in Indian Residential Schools.
The list was distributed today to the world media and to United Nations agencies, as the first act of the newly-formed International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC), a non-governmental body established by indigenous elders.
In a statement read by FRD spokesperson Eagle Strong Voice, it was declared that the IHRTGC would commence its investigations on April 15, 2008, the fourth Annual Aboriginal Holocaust Memorial Day. This inquiry will involve international human rights observers from Guatemala and Cyprus, and will convene aboriginal courts of justice where those persons and institutions responsible for the death and suffering of residential school children will be tried and sentenced. . . .
Omaha Family loses everything in FIRE, please help!
Apr 16th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »This Omaha Family Lost Everything they Own in A House Fire Today at 3:00pm 4-14-08
DONATION INFO AT BOTTOM
They are in need of any kind of help, they will need to start all over they can use: Clothes, Cookware, Bedding, Jackets, Towels, Furniture, Financial Contributions are Greatly Appreciated if you find in your heart to help financially please make checks out to Barbara Omaha This Elderly Grandmother raised 9 children and 40 grandchildren and great grandchildren in this house. She is a spiritual elder she has lived in this house for 40 years she has a sweat lodge in her backyard.
Many community members have come here to pray, over the years she has helped
many people now it is time for her to receive help, as her family is homeless with nothing, all her spiritual items may not be recovered years of photos, and memories may have been lost, we lost a one year old puppy, luckily everyone got out safe, but now she is suffering and is in desperate need of help from our community if anyone wants to donate please drop off donations to her daughter Maggie’s
house the address is 3101 34th Ave South Minneapolis, MN there will be someone there at all times collecting any donations will be greatly appreciated as well as prayers, we are coming to you in a humble way asking for assistance and for help. Wolakota we are all related Thank you in advance from the Omaha Family 
She has 7 grandchildren
Nellie Omaha Age 9 girl clothes size10-12 shoe size 6
Lavonne Senogles Age 10 clothes girl 10-12 shoe size 7
Arlana Senogles Age 11 girl clothes 14-16 shoe 9 woman
Buster Senogles Age 7 boy clothes 8 shoe size 3
John Omaha Age 8 boy clothes 8 shoe size 3
Leroy Omaha age 10 boy clothes 12 shoe 5
David Omaha age 12 boy clothes 14 shoe 6
Barbara Omaha is a 4x womans shoe size 9
Amanda Senogles age 20 clothes 7 shoe size 7
Tony Senogles adult mens 30 pants med shirt shoe mens 9
Buster Senogles adult mens 42 pants 3x-large shirt shoe 11
Jim Omaha adult mens 32×34 pants med shirt shoe size 10
Kevin Smokeyday adult mens 38 pants 2xshirt shoe size 11
Brad Senogles adult mens38 pants 2x shirt shoe size 10
please drop off donations to her daughter Maggie’s house
3101 34th Ave South Minneapolis, MN (MAP IT)if you have any questions you can call me or email me:
Arlana Omaha
(952)913-0757
For some Indian tribes, casinos are a bad bargain
Apr 6th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment » They dreamed of tourists flocking to play a few rounds on a one-armed bandit before stepping outside for a spectacular, unspoiled view of America’s most famous natural wonder. But in the rush to bring badly needed jobs and revenue to the reservation, tribal officials overlooked some serious stumbling blocks - like the fact that the road in from the nearest highway is a 14-mile unpaved nightmare of fist-sized rocks, blind turns and tire-eating ruts. "We thought it would be successful, but we didn’t last seven months," says Hualapai vice-chairman Edgar Walema, sitting in the building that used to be the tribe’s casino before it closed in 1995. The building is now the terminal for a small airstrip where tourists fly in to see the canyon. "Most of the tourists come here from Las Vegas," Walema continued. "Who wants to come out and play piddly machines when their main concern is visiting the natural beauty of the canyon?" The popular image of Indian casinos is one of prosperity, of glittering lights and crowds of gamblers and wealthy tribal members.
HUALAPAI INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. (AP) - To leaders of the Hualapai Indian Tribe, opening a casino on the south rim of the Grand Canyon (PHOTOS)seemed like a great idea at the time.
That image is true for a select few tribes fortunate enough to be close to large cities and thousands of gamblers. Successful casinos like the Mashantucket Pequots’ Foxwoods near New York and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux’ Mystic Lake near Minneapolis are the exception, however, tribal leaders say.
"I call it the Pequot principle," said U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs spokesman Rex Hegler. "There’s about five tribes that have done very well, but there’s 554 tribes in the country. People that think there’s nothing the tribes need now are confused."
Most other tribal casinos make little more than enough to cover their payrolls. And several tribes like the Hualapais have seen their casino dreams crushed into dust, the victims of their remote locations, competition from other types of gambling or intergovernmental squabbling.
For them, casinos have become a trickster’s gamble, another in a long string of losing bets on economic development.
"Most of the tribes (with casinos) are marginally successful at best," says Jacob Coin, executive director of the
National Indian Gaming Association. "They’re not pulling in the hundreds of millions of dollars that most people tend to think about when they think of Indian gaming."
The Hualapais had to lay off about 15 people when their casino closed - a big impact for a tribe of about 2,000 with about two-thirds of its members in poverty, Walema said.
"There were a lot of disappointments because other reservations were making it big," Walema said. "For us, it just didn’t pan out."
It didn’t pan out for the Kaibab-Paiute
tribe, either, whose casino near the Arizona-Utah border closed in 1996. Or the Lummi tribe, whose casino in Washington state closed in 1997.
The biggest factor, Coin and tribal leaders say, is the old business adage of location, location, location. Most reservations are, by design, in remote locations far from cities, freeways and airports.
"When you have a population base of 65,000 within 45 miles, you aren’t going to do as well as a Foxwoods or a Mystic Lake," said Jerry Allen, assistant general manager of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe’s casino near Sequim, Wash.
The tribe’s Seven Cedars Casino in a remote area of the Olympic Peninsula now has about 200 employees, down from a peak of 475, Allen said. The tribe also is hurt by an agreement with Washington state that bans slot machines, Allen said.
Casinos in Canada, Oregon and Idaho do offer the slot machines, which are more popular with gamblers and less costly to run than the blackjack and craps tables at Seven Cedars, Allen said.
"We have a real slot sandwich here so it’s a real challenge to keep people at home playing the table games," Allen said.
South Dakota’s Oglala Sioux Tribe has a similar complaint. The tribe could use a bigger casino than the one it has
under a state agreement, because the tribe’s Pine Ridge reservation is home to one of the nation’s poorest counties, said tribal treasurer Dale Looks Twice.
"I wish we could make more money than we are right now, but it all depends on the machines," Looks Twice said. "If we could get the state to allow more machines, then we could bring more money into the tribe."
Poverty statistics such as unemployment and homelessness actually increased on the Pine Ridge reservation after the tribe’s Prairie Wind casino opened.
"Many of the people who live off the reservation thought, ‘Here’s my chance of getting a job,’ so they all came back home," Coin said. "So that bumped up the numbers on how many people would be counted as unemployed and homeless." 
Tribal officials worry that the perception of successful Indian casinos will prompt Congress to cut funding for tribal programs. Tribes are fighting proposals this year that would cut off federal funds to relatively wealthy tribes and have successfully fought a bid to tax casinos and other tribal enterprises.
"Gaming is providing some opportunities, but tribes are still roughly 40 years behind similar communities in infrastructure needs and other areas," said Hegler, the BIA spokesman. "We have 49 percent unemployment in Indian Country right now."
The Hualapai tribe, for example, has only three police officers to patrol a reservation of 1,550 square miles.
"Unfortunately, back in Washington you have a lot of legislators making decisions about Indian Country without having any reservations in their jurisdictions," Allen said. "When you see the Pequots or some of these other ones, it overglamorizes everything and does a disservice to Indian Country in general because it is, by and large, the exception to the rule."
With the proliferation of Indian casinos, the public is beginning to view tribes as casino operators, not governments, said Hopi tribal chairman Wayne Taylor Jr.
"While tribal gaming successes have provided no direct tangible benefits to non-gaming tribes, the non-gaming tribes nevertheless share the brunt of the Congressional backlash and unfavorable public perception," Taylor told the National Gambling Impact Study Commission last summer.
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BIA Official Memo To Prospective Indians
Apr 6th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »U.S. Department of the Interior On The Web Bureau of Indian Affairs on Indian Ancestry and prospective applicants.
Thousands of people throughout the United States have some degree of Indian blood. However, unless such an individual has at least one parent legally entitled to 
membership in a federally recognized Indian tribe, it is improbable that he/she can qualify for special federal services available to Indians or share in assets owned by an Indian tribe. The burden of proof of Indian ancestry rests with the individual claiming possession of Indian blood.
Many people are descended from eastern tribes that disbanded before the present Government of the United States came into being in 1789. As a result, there are no existing Indian groups with which these individuals can affiliate. Other, descended from western tribes, but cannot substantiate their claim to membership in an Indian tribe due to lack of early family records.
Contrary to popular belief, Indians do not receive payments from the federal government simply because they have
Indian blood. Funds distributed to a person of Indian descent may represent income from his/her own property collected for him/her by an agent of the United States. Other disbursements to individuals may represent compensation for lands taken in connection with governmental projects, comparable to payments made to non-Indians for the acquisition of land for governmental purposes. Some Indian tribes receive income from the utilization of tribal timber and other reservation resources, a percentage of which may be distributed as per capita among the tribes membership. Individual tribal members also share in the money paid to the tribes by the federal government in fulfillment of treaty obligations. Money available for payments belongs either to the tribe or to an individual and is held in trust by the federal government. In this event, Government checks are issued in making payment to individuals or to the tribes.
To be eligible to receive payment from tribal funds, a person, in addition to possessing Indian blood, must be a recognized member of the Indian tribe whose money is being distributed. Generally, responsibility for establishing this membership lies with the tribe and the individual. Indian tribes establish their own enrollment criteria.
Some early records or censuses of Indian bands, tribes, or groups are on file at the National Archives and Records Service,(WEBSITE) Natural Resources Branch, Civil Archives Division (Eighth and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20408). These records, identified by tribes, are dated chiefly from 1830 to 1940. To search records, the Archivist must be given the name of the Indian in question (preferably both his English and his Indian name), his date of birth, and the name of his tribe. Names of his parents and grandparents should also be given. If ancestry is unknown, there are private research sources that are available. The credibility of the research service should be established before securing the service by contacting local offices of the Better Business Bureau.
The Central Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not maintain comprehensive lists of persons possessing Indian blood or enrollment data of every federally recognized Indian tribe. However, copies of census and membership rolls may be on file in the Bureau’s field offices. A list of these offices can be obtained from the directory "AREA OFFICES." The Area Office list identifies the states over which a particular Area Office has jurisdiction.
If proof of membership in a particular tribe is desired, inquiry should be made to the particular tribe.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs publishes a list of federally recognized Indian tribes in the Federal Register. The latest publication was on October 23, 1997, (60 F.R. 55270), which can be obtained from most libraries, or accessed on the World Wide Web, Internet, at http://www.doi.gov/bia/tribes/entry.html, under the heading "Federally Recognized Native American Tribes, 10/23/97".
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8000 Drums - Sacred Sites Run 2008 - Racine, Wis.
Mar 31st, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »
All about the Upper Sioux Tribe
Mar 22nd, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »
The Reservation tribal headquarters is located five miles south of Granite Falls, Minnesota, on the Minnesota River in Yellow Medicine County. The reservation is 115 miles west of Minneapolis.
History
This land we call Pejuhutazizi Kapi (The place where they dig for yellow medicine) has been the homeland for our people, the Dakota Oyate (Nation), for thousands of years. We have always occupied this area bordering the Minnesota River Valley, with the exception of a short period of time in the late 1800’s following the US/Dakota Conflict of 1862. At that time they were either exterminated, forcibly moved to reservation elsewhere, or fled to avoid harm.
Many Dakota died during that difficult time. Some of those who survived the forced removal defied
the State and Federal Governments be not remaining on the assigned reservations located outside of Minnesota, but rather chose to return to our ancient homelands in the Minnesota River Valley.
In 1938, 746 acres of original Dakota lands in Minnesota were returned to our people, and the Upper Sioux Indian Community came into existence. Provisions for governing the Upper Sioux Indian Community were adopted, and a Board of Trustees was elected to carry out the responsibilities identified in these Provisions. In 1995, the Provisions were modified and the governing document in now called the Constitution of the Upper Sioux Community.
Since its formal designation as an Indian community, Upper Sioux has struggled with poverty, substandard housing, inadequate health care, and the subtleties of racism. Tribal leaders continually strived to improve the standard of living and the quality of life on the reservation. The population was small, and Upper Sioux’s share of program monies from the federal government was minimal, yet elected tribal leaders still managed to provide the “bare-bones” programs in housing, health care, and education. Through the 1970’s and 80’s, conditions improved very little despite many vocal supporters, both Indian and non-Indian, and we continued to struggle for survival on our small tract of land along the Minnesota River.
In the late 1980’s the legal standing of tribes as a sovereign nations had been acknowledged in the highest federal courts. In 1990, following these court decisions, the Upper Sioux Community did as many other tribes had done—we exercised our rights as a sovereign nations to capitalize on a financial opportunity by building and opening Firefly Creek Casino.
In the years since, our business has helped to revitalize and energize the Upper Sioux Community, allowing us an opportunity to obtain economic independence. Through obtaining an additional 654 acres of Dakota ancestral lands, the community can work towards meeting the growing demands of an increasing population, now at 482. We are finding ways to preserve our dignity, our culture and our traditions, free from the burden of meeting basic survival needs.
More Information
Upper Sioux website: http://www.uppersiouxcommunity-nsn.gov
SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUNITY HELPS GRAND PORTAGE GROW
Mar 22nd, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community, a federally-recognized Native American tribe, issued the following news release:
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has awarded a $1 million grant to the Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe for renovation of the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino. The Lodge was first built in 1974. The first phase of the work will include the lodge and its lobby area. The second phase may include renovations to the casino itself.
"The whole community here really appreciates that Shakopee helped us. Some of these projects would not come to be without their assistance. This really fits into our long-term goal of improving Grand Portage into a destination point for travelers," said Grand Portage Chairman Norman W. Deschampe.
"Our Community supports tribal economic development. The Grand Portage Band has a great project here, and we are pleased to help it along," said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks.
The Grand Portage Reservation, established in 1854 by treaty with the United States government, is one of six Ojibwe (Chippewa) reservations that comprise the federally recognized Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. The reservation lies along 18 miles of Lake Superior’s coast and consists of forested mountains, thriving wildlife, the inland sea of Lake Superior, and cliffside corridors. Grand Portage is as close to Canada as it is to the nearest town. The reservation also features the reconstructed Grand Portage National Monument, a fur trade fort of the 1700s. The Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe has 1,198 band members.
In 2003 the SMSC awarded Grand Portage a $1.5 million economic development grant for a new, modern trading post and convenience store on Highway 61 in front of Grand Portage Lodge and Casino in northeastern Minnesota.
Out of cultural and social traditions to assist those in need, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has become a leader in promoting tribal sovereignty through economic development grants and loans. Already in fiscal year 2005, the SMSC has awarded economic development grants of $1 million each to the Yankton Sioux Tribe (South Dakota), the Lower Sioux Community (Minnesota), the Santee Sioux Nation (Nebraska); the Ponca Tribe (Nebraska); the Upper Sioux Community (Minnesota), and the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa (Minnesota).
Other major SMSC donations this fiscal year include: $750,000 to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation; $500,000 to United Sioux Tribes Technical College; $350,000 to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe; $250,000 to the Bennett County Activity Center for a district of the Pine Ridge Reservation; $250,000 to the Minneapolis American Indian Center; $250,000 to the Cheyenne River Youth Project; $150,000 to the Yankton Sioux Tribe; and $50,000 to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
In fiscal year 2004, the SMSC donated more than $10.27 million to charitable organizations and Indian Tribes. Over the past six years the SMSC has donated more than $42 million to charitable organizations and Indian Tribes. The SMSC utilizes its financial resources from gaming and nongaming enterprises to pay for all of the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to housing, roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its Tribal members in education, health, and welfare. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota is the owner and operator of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, Playworks, Dakotah! Sport and Fitness, and other enterprises on the reservation south of the Twin Cities.
Mendota Mdwakanton Dakota Community’s letter of support:
Mar 14th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »Mendota Mdwakanton Dakota Community’s letter of support:
August 12, 2004
To Whom It Should Concern:
I believe that renaming the river "Wakpa Wakan" or "Spirit River" is a great stride in mending the circle that we share with all four colors of man. We, as Dakotas, are very happy that there are people out there that are trying to understand that by using names like "rum" and "devil" to label sacred sites and places is degrading to our children, our elders and also to our ancestors. These places were already named in our language by our people because of their special meaning. When we have to tell our children why these places have been named after a poison or the worst words in their language. It is demoralizing to us to have to explain why a place is named after the same things that helped to steal our land and language. To have to be reminded of the cultural genocide that has been perpetrated on all Indian people. So, in changing the name back to the Dakota language, it will help in the healing process that our people continue to deal with.
Many schools and teams have already changed their names in respect to our children and adults. It promotes us to be proud of our heritage, language and culture, to respect themselves and being Indian in our own homeland. I am writing in support of the name change of the Rum River.
We, as the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota, request the County Commissioners in the affected counties to support our hope of righting this wrong. Please do the respectful and moral thing and change this disrespectful and culturally damaging name.
Respectfully yours,
Jim Anderson Cultural Chairman
Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community
******************************************************************************************************************************************************
In a Star Tribune newspaper artcile about the movement to change the derogatory Rum River name Jim Anderson was quoted as saying: "It’s another derogatory term." "Naming a sacred river after what they were binging up to our people is wrong. We’re in favor of the name change."
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
In a Mille Lacs Messenger newspaper article, subtitled: "300 gather to note the toll by alcohol abuse", Melvin Eagle, a prominent member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is quoted as saying: "Alcoholism is not our traditional way. We need to try to pull together and away from alcohol because it is destroying our people." Now-a-days, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe live at the headwaters of the "Rum River". Rum and other alcoholic beverages are still destroying Native people located on the headwaters of the "Rum" River.
During prohibition there was a movement to change the name of the "Rum River". A lot of people did not want geographic places to have names that helped the alcohol industry to advertise and sell its addictive products that were harmful to society, as was the case with the "Rum" River.
When a geographic place is located near a Native community that is plagued with alcoholism - we especially do not what it to be named Rum, Whiskey nor by any other alcohol beverage. This is another reason why we initiated and are spearheading the movement to change the name of the "Rum River". The headwaters of the Wakan/"Rum" River are located next to the Mille Lacs Band Of Ojibwe, a Native community suffering with the plague of alcoholism.
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MORE ABOUT OUR MISSION’S PURPOSE
We believe that the restoration of the river’s original name would help uplift the Indian community, which has been historically plagued by alcoholism.
When Europeans came to the Americas they brought rum and other alcoholic beverages with them. At the time, the Natives had no cultural controls in place for their usage. Hence, because of alcohol abuse, things for the Natives moved into degradation and multitudes of premature deaths. This situation was made even worse by the White’s frequent use of alcohol in ruthless genocidal attacks, alcohol was given to the Natives in order to kill, subdue, or cheat them.
We believe that by drawing attention to the "Rum River" name-change issue "white guilt" will increase, because of a heightened awareness of the catastrophic consequences caused by white settlers introducing and selling alcohol to Native Americans; and that this increase of "white guilt" will, in a lot of ways, cause white Euro-Americans or the dominate culture to offer all Native Americans their long over due restitution justice. Especially when it comes to making amends to help Native Americans to free themselves from the plague of alcoholism.
We believe that, by reverting the derogatory name of the "Rum River" back to its original Native American name (Wakan), we would be honoring the importance of spirituality for American Indians.
We believe that the "Rum River" name has become like a joke - an antagonistic joke that’s very antagonistic, and that by changing the river’s name we would be putting an end to a source of racial antagonism.
Derogatory name changes supported by Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community Pow Wow
Mar 14th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »
Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community Pow Wow in Minnesota. Jim Anderson, the Cultural Chair for the Mdewakanton Dakota community and a leading activist for Minnesota’s Dakota people, asked Thomas Dahlheimer set up a stand and display information about my work. Anderson addressed the pow wow participants about the bill to change 14 derogatory location names across Minnesota including Rum River (Photo by Thomas Dahlheimer)
LIFE AND CONDITIONS ON THE PINE RIDGE OGALA LAKOTA
Mar 13th, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »
LIFE AND CONDITIONS ON THE PINE RIDGE OGALA LAKOTA
(SIOUX) RESERVATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA
This and other articles may be viewed on the internet at the website,
The Writings of Stephanie M. Schwartz
www.SilvrDrach.homestead.com
A Special Resource Report: Regarding life, conditions, and hope on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Reservation of SD
www.SilvrDrach.homestead.com/Schwartz_2006_Oct_15.html
The Writings of Stephanie M. Schwartz
www.SilvrDrach.homestead.com
A Special Resource Report: Regarding life, conditions, and hope on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Reservation of SD
www.SilvrDrach.homestead.com/Schwartz_2006_Oct_15.html
The Arrogance of Ignorance; Hidden Away, Out of Sight and Out of Mind
By Stephanie M. Schwartz,
Freelance Writer
Member, Native American Journalists Association
© October 15, 2006 -Brighton, Colorado
This is an article of facts about the lives of modern-day American Indians, a topic most mainstream American news organizations will not discuss. It is not a plea for charity. It is not a promotion for non-profit organizations. It is not aimed for pity. It is not even an effort to detail cause and effect. It is, however, an effort to dispel ignorancex. a massive, pervasive, societal ignorance filled with illusions and caricatures which, ultimately, serve only to corrupt the intelligence and decent intent of the average mainstream citizen. Only through knowledge and understanding can solutions be found. But facts must be known first. Then, it is the reader’s choice what to do with those facts.
Hidden away, out of sight but dotting the landscape of America, are the little known or forgotten Reservations of the Indigenous People of our land. Sadly, the average U.S. mainstream resident knows almost nothing about the people of the Native American reservations other than what romanticized or caricaturized versions they see on film or as the print media stereotypes of oil or casino-rich Indians. Most assume that whatever poverty exists on a reservation is most certainly comparable to that which they might experience themselves. Further, they assume it is curable by the same means they would use.
But that is the arrogance of ignorance.
Our dominant society is accustomed to being exposed to poverty. It’s nearly invisible because it is everywhere. We drive through our cities with a blind eye, numb to the suffering on the streets, or we shake our heads and turn away, assuming help is on the way. After all, it’s known that the government and the big charities are helping the needy in nearly every corner of the world.
But the question begs: What about the sovereign nations on America’s own soil, within this country, a part and yet apart from mainstream society? What about these Reservations that few people ever see?
Oddly enough, the case could be made that more Europeans and Australians know and understand the cultures and conditions of our Indigenous people better Americans do.
Moreover, what the Europeans and Australians know is that there are a number of very fortunate Native American Nations whose people are able to earn a very good living due to casino income, natural resource income, a good job market from nearby cities, or from some other source. They also know, however, that a staggering number of residents on Native American reservations live in abject, incomprehensible conditions rivaling, or even surpassing, that of many Third World countries.
This article chronicles just one Nation: the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Nation of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Yet the name and only a few details could easily be changed to describe a host of othersx. the Dineh (Navajo), Ute Mountain Ute, Tohono O’odham, Pima, Yaqui, Apache, the Brule’ Lakota (Sioux) x.the list is long.
But this is not an article of hopelessness. Despite nearly-insurmountable conditions, few resources, and against unbelievable odds, Nation after Nation of Indigenous leaders and their people are working hard to counteract decades of oppression and forced destruction of their cultures, to bring their citizens back to a life of self-respect and self-sufficiency in today’s world.
In the meantime, these words will serve simply to dispel a few illusions and make public part of that which is hidden away, out of sight, out of mind, in the richest country in the world. It seeks to dispel the arrogance of ignorance.
Demographic Information
- The Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Indian Reservation sits in Bennett, Jackson, and Shannon Counties and is located in the southwest corner of South Dakota, fifty miles east of the Wyoming border.
- The 11,000-square mile (approximately 2.7 million acres) Pine Ridge Reservation is the second-largest Native American Reservation within the United States. It is roughly the size of the State of Connecticut. According to the Oglala Sioux tribal statistics, approximately 1.7 million acres of this land are owned by the Tribe or by tribal members.
- The Reservation is divided into eight districts: Eagle Nest, Pass Creek, Wakpamni, LaCreek, Pine Ridge, White Clay, Medicine Root, Porcupine, and Wounded Knee.
- The topography of the Pine Ridge Reservation includes the barren Badlands, rolling grassland hills, dryland prairie, and areas dotted with pine trees.
- The Pine Ridge Reservation is home to approximately 40,000 persons, 35% of which are under the age of 18. The latest Federal Census shows the median age to be 20.6 years. Approximately half the residents of the Reservation are registered tribal members of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Nation.
- According to the most recent Federal Census, 58.7% of the grandparents on the Reservation are responsible for raising their own grandchildren.
- The population is slowly but steadily rising, despite the severe conditions on the Reservation, as more and more Oglala Lakota return home from far-away cities to live within their societal values, be with their families, and assist with the revitalization of their culture and their Nation.
Employment Information
- Recent reports vary but many point out that the median income on the Pine Ridge Reservation is approximately $2,600 to $3,500 per year.
- The unemployment rate on Pine Ridge is said to be approximately 83-85% and can be higher during the winter months when travel is difficult or often impossible.
- According to 2006 resources, about 97% of the population lives below Federal poverty levels.
- There is little industry, technology, or commercial infrastructure on the Reservation to provide employment.
- Rapid City, South Dakota is the nearest town of size (population approximately 57,700) for those who can travel to find work. It is located 120 miles from the Reservation. The nearest large city to Pine Ridge is Denver, Colorado located some 350 miles away.
Life Expectancy and Health Conditions
- Some figures state that the life expectancy on the Reservation is 48 years old for men and 52 for women. Other reports state that the average life expectancy on the Reservation is 45 years old. These statistics are far from the 77.5 years of age life expectancy average found in the United States as a whole. According to current USDA Rural Development documents, the Lakota have the lowest life expectancy of any group in America.
- Teenage suicide rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation is 150% higher than the U.S. national average for this age group.
- The infant mortality rate is the highest on this continent and is about 300% higher than the U.S. national average.
- More than half the Reservation’s adults battle addiction and disease. Alcoholism, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and malnutrition are pervasive.
- The rate of diabetes on the Reservation is reported to be 800% higher than the U.S. national average.
- Recent reports indicate that almost 50% of the adults on the Reservation over the age of 40 have diabetes.
- As a result of the high rate of diabetes on the Reservation, diabetic-related blindness, amputations, and kidney failure are common.
- The tuberculosis rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation is approximately 800% higher than the U.S. national average.
- Cervical cancer is 500% higher than the U.S. national average.
- It is reported that at least 60% of the homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation are infested with Black Mold, Stachybotrys. This infestation causes an often-fatal condition with infants, children, elderly, those with damaged immune systems, and those with lung and pulmonary conditions at the highest risk. Exposure to this mold can cause hemorrhaging of the lungs and brain as well as cancer.
- A Federal Commodity Food Program is active but supplies mostly inappropriate foods (high in carbohydrate and/or sugar) for the largely diabetic population of the Reservation.
- A small non-profit Food Co-op is in operation on the Reservation but is available only for those with funds to participate.
Health Care
- Many Reservation residents live without health care due to vast travel distances involved in accessing that care. Additional factors include under-funded, under-staffed medical facilities and outdated or non-existent medical equipment.
- Preventive healthcare programs are rare.
- In most of the treaties between the U.S. Government and Indian Nations, the U.S. government agreed to provide adequate medical care for Indians in return for vast quantities of land. The Indian Health Services (IHS) was set up to administer the health care for Indians under these treaties and receives an appropriation each year to fund Indian health care. Unfortunately, the appropriation is very small compared to the need and there is little hope for increased funding from Congress. The IHS is understaffed and ill-equipped and can’t possibly address the needs of Indian communities. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Education Issues
- School drop-out rate is over 70%.
- According to a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) report, the Pine Ridge Reservation schools are in the bottom 10% of school funding by U.S. Department of Education and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
- Teacher turnover is 800% that of the U.S. national average
Housing Conditions and Homelessness
- The small BIA/Tribal Housing Authority homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation are overcrowded and scarce, resulting in many homeless families who often use tents or cars for shelter. Many families live in old cabins or dilapidated mobile homes and trailers.
- According to a 2003 report from South Dakota State University, the majority of the current Tribal Housing Authority homes were built from 1970-1979. The report brings to light that a great percentage of that original construction by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) was “shoddy and substandard.” The report also states that 26% of the housing units on the Reservation are mobile homes, often purchased or obtained (through donations) as used, low-value units with negative-value equity.
- Even though there is a large homeless population on the Reservation, most families never turn away a relative no matter how distant the blood relation. Consequently, many homes often have large numbers of people living in them.
- In a recent case study, the Tribal Council estimated a need for at least 4,000 new homes in order to combat the homeless situation.
- There is an estimated average of 17 people living in each family home (a home which may only have two to three rooms). Some larger homes, built for 6 to 8 people, have up to 30 people living in them.
- Over-all, 59% of the Reservation homes are substandard.
- Over 33% of the Reservation homes lack basic water and sewage systems as well as electricity.
- Many residents must carry (often contaminated) water from the local rivers daily for their personal needs.
- Some Reservation families are forced to sleep on dirt floors.
- Without basic insulation or central heating in their homes, many residents on the Pine Ridge Reservation use their ovens to heat their homes.
- Many Reservation homes lack adequate insulation. Even more homes lack central heating.
- Periodically, Reservation residents are found dead from hypothermia (freezing).
- It is reported that at least 60% of the homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation need to be burned to the ground and replaced with new housing due to infestation of the potentially-fatal Black Mold, Stachybotrys. There is no insurance or government program to assist families in replacing their homes.
- 39% of the homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation have no electricity.
- The most common form of heating fuel is propane. Wood-burning is the second most common form of heating a home although wood supplies are often expensive or difficult to obtain.
- Many Reservation homes lack basic furniture and appliances such as beds, refrigerators, and stoves.
- 60% of Reservation families have no land-line telephone. The Tribe has recently issued basic cell phones to the residents. However, these cell phones (commonly called commodity phones) do not operate off the Reservation at all and are often inoperable in the rural areas on the Reservation or during storms or wind.
- Computers and internet connections are very rare.
- Federal and tribal heat assistance programs (such as LLEAP) are limited by their funding. In the winter of 2005-2006, the average one-time only payment to a family was said to be approximately $250-$300 to cover the entire winter. For many, that amount did not even fill their propane heating tanks one time.
Life on the Reservation
- Most Reservation families live in rural and often isolated areas.
- The largest town on the Reservation is the village of Pine Ridge which has a population of approximately 5,720 people and is the administrative center for the Reservation.
- There are few improved (paved) roads on the Reservation and most of the rural homes are inaccessible during times of rain or snow.
- Weather is extreme on the Reservation. Severe winds are always a factor. Traditionally, summer temperatures reach well over 110*F and winters bring bitter cold with temperatures that can reach -50*F below zero or worse. Flooding, tornados, or wildfires are always a risk.
- The Pine Ridge Reservation still has no banks, discount stores, or movie theaters. It has only one grocery store of any moderate size and it is located in the village of Pine Ridge on the Reservation. A motel just opened in 2006 near the Oglala Lakota College at Kyle, South Dakota. There are said to be about 8 Bed and Breakfast or campsite locations found across the Reservation but that number varies from time to time since most are part of a private home.
- Several of the banks and lending institutions nearest to the Reservation have been targeted for investigation of fraudulent or predatory lending practices, with the citizens of the Pine Ridge Reservation as their victims.
- There are no public libraries except one at the Oglala Lakota College.
- There is one radio station on the Pine Ridge Reservation. KILI 90.1FM is located near the town of Porcupine on the Reservation.
Transportation
- There is no public transportation available on the Reservation.
- Only a minority of Reservation residents own an operable automobile.
- Predominant form of travel for all ages on the Reservation is walking or hitchhiking.
- There is one very small airport on the Reservation servicing both the Pine Ridge Reservation and Shannon County. It’s longest, paved runway extends 4,969 feet. There are no commercial flights available. The majority of flights using the airport are Federal, State, or County Government-related.
- The nearest commercial airport and/or commercial bus line is located in Rapid City, South Dakota (approximately 120 miles away).
Alcoholism
- Alcoholism affects eight out of ten families on the Reservation.
- The death rate from alcohol-related problems on the Reservation is 300% higher than the remaining US population.
- The Oglala Lakota Nation has prohibited the sale and possession of alcohol on the Pine Ridge Reservation since the early 1970’s. However, the town of Whiteclay, Nebraska (which sits 400 yards off the Reservation border in a contested "buffer" zone) has approximately 14 residents and four liquor stores which sell over 4.1 million cans of beer each year resulting in a $3million annual trade. Unlike other Nebraska communities, Whiteclay exists only to sell liquor and make money. It has no schools, no churches, no civic organizations, no parks, no benches, no public bathrooms, no fire service and no law enforcement. Tribal officials have repeatedly pleaded with the State of Nebraska to close these liquor stores or enforce the State laws regulating liquor stores but have been consistently refused.
Water and Aquifer Contamination
- Many wells and much of the water and land on the Reservation is contaminated with pesticides and other poisons from farming, mining, open dumps, and commercial and governmental mining operations outside the Reservation. A further source of contamination is buried ordnance and hazardous materials from closed U.S. military bombing ranges on the Reservation.
- Scientific studies show that the High Plains/Oglala Aquifer which begins underneath the Pine Ridge Reservation is predicted to run dry in less than 30 years due to commercial interest use and dryland farming in numerous states south of the Reservation. This critical North American underground water resource is not renewable at anything near the present consumption rate. The recent years of drought have simply accelerated the problem.
- Scientific studies show that much of the High Plains/Oglala Aquifer has been contaminated with farming pesticides and commercial, factory, mining, and industrial contaminants in the States of South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Sovereignty and Tribal Government
- By Treaty, the Tribal nations are considered to have sovereign governmental status. They have a special government to government relationship with the United States. Interactions with the U.S. Government and the Department of Interior (and its Bureau of Indian Affairs) are supposed to be through Treaty negotiations and most Federal programs (such as Indian Health Services) were purchased by the Tribal nations (usually with land) and guaranteed by Treaty. This is specifically true for the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Nation of the Pine Ridge Reservation.
- The Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Tribal government operates under a constitution consistent with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and approved by the Tribal membership and Tribal Council of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Tribe. The Tribe is governed by an elected body consisting of a 5 member Executive Committee and an 18 member Tribal Council, all of whom serve a four year term.
Hope
- Currently, there are various efforts underway to implement innovative techniques and solutions to Reservation problems. These projects include community volunteer groups, alternative education programs, wind or water energy initiatives, substance abuse programs, cultural and language programs, employment opportunities, cottage industries, promotion of artists and musicians, small co-op businesses, etc. However, funding for these programs is highly limited.
- There are several very small projects now working to help with the housing shortage. Some of these involve using donated mobile homes, community-built sod housing, other community-built housing (such as Habitat for Humanity), exploring possible use of unused FEMA mobile homes, and other alternate solutions. Unfortunately, funding is highly limited.
- The Tribal Council Housing Authority is working as hard as it can to build new homes and repair existing structures but it is limited by the small, limited amount of funding available.
- There are a few reputable small non-profit organizations attempting to sincerely assist the people of the Pine Ridge Reservation in their efforts to resolve and mitigate existing problems. However, funding for these programs is currently highly limited.
- There is one small independent (non-IHS) clinic on the Reservation at the community of Porcupine. It was founded and is controlled by the Lakota community. It just recently obtained its first dialysis machine and runs an aggressive program to combat diabetes. However, funding is very limited and is obtained locally and through grants.
- The Oglala Lakota are a determined, intelligent, and proud People who are working hard to over-come their Reservation problems. Against all odds, with minimal resources, they are slowly working to re-claim their self-sufficiency, their culture, and their life.
These statistics concerning the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Reservation were compiled from recent Political, Educational, Government, Non-Profit, and Tribal Publications. An earlier version was published by the same author in 2002 entitled, “Hidden Away, in the Land of Plenty.”
Contact the author if you wish a list of the resources and publications used for this report.
Stephanie M. Schwartz may be reached at SilvrDrach@Gmail.com
This and other articles may be viewed on the internet at the website,
The Writings of Stephanie M. Schwartz
www.SilvrDrach.homestead.com
This article may be reprinted and reproduced unedited with proper attribution and sourcing for non-profit, educational, news, or archival purposes.
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Native American programs in Genesee County search for students amidst complaints heritage is ignored
Feb 21st, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »by RoNeisha Mullen | The Flint Journal
Thursday February 21, 2008, 4:21 PM
FLINT TWP. — Local Native American education programs are seeing declining numbers, a sad statement on families rejecting their heritage, some educators say.
"For so long, Native Americans had been taught to deny their culture because they’d be tormented," said Jean Keen, a Native American specialist with the Carman-Ainsworth/Westwood Heights program.
"Now, we’re having a hard time getting them to embrace it. They don’t understand the point. Schools spend a lot of time chasing families they know are eligible."
Such local programs are trying to find more students but that can be difficult in the face of the cultural apathy, not to mention declining Native American numbers.
"A lot of our students don’t know that they are of Native American heritage," said Sue Diebel, a Carman-Ainsworth teacher who’s part of an advisory group over the program. "Tribes are becoming extinct because the older people are dying and the young people don’t know their culture."
At least six districts in Genesee County have federally funded Native American education programs, offering free tutoring, after-school activities that focus on culture and awareness, and summer day camp.
The Carman-Ainsworth/Westwood program expects to see a drop of 30 students next school year, from about 525 to 495. That means a loss in cash for the program, which receives about $250 per student.
Keen is looking to reduce the $132,973 annual budget by $7,000.
In order to enroll, parents of students must verify their Indian heritage and youngsters must identify their tribe and family background.
According to the 2000 census, 6,870 people in Genesee County define themselves as at least part Native American. Flint Township was home to 556 of them.
Enrollment also is dropping for the Flint School District’s Native American program, but not necessarily over cultural issues, one official says.
"People are leaving public schools," said Veda Balla, program officer of Indian Education for Flint. "Also, people of mixed ancestry are only reporting one race, which means we don’t know that they’re Native American because they didn’t report it."
Balla who’s been with the district since 1992, said she’s had as many as 700 students enrolled in the program at one time. This year there are 311 and next year only 226 are expected.
Balla said she’s pretty good at scaling back, but "worse-case scenario I’d cut my own hours to save money."
Proponents say those kind of reductions are too bad, given the obvious benefits of the program and one-on-one time that students get.
Antoinette Aubrey, parent member and chairwoman of the Carman/Westwood program, has three children in Westwood, including two in special education. Aubrey said the program helps her children academically.
"If you read something to him, he doesn’t comprehend it," Aubrey said of her son who attends McMonagle Elementary.
"But if you put it in front of him and show it to him, he understands it better. He’s almost up to his grade because through the tutoring and this program, he gets the help he needs."
Diebel said the after-school cultural programs can only introduce heritage, not teach it. She said parents should teach their children to embrace their culture.
"If you have even one drop of Native American blood take pride in that because those are the people who were here first," Diebel said. "You are the ones who can keep what is left of your tribe alive."
Cultural Council funds Native American program
Feb 21st, 2008 Posted in NEWS & POLITICS | no comment »Rochester - The Rochester Cultural Council has awarded $589 in funding to support the Native American Educational Outreach Project at the Robbins Museum of Archaeology, located at 17 Jackson St. in Middleborough.
Funding from the Rochester Cultural Council will cover the costs of transportation to and admission at the museum for local third-grade students and their teachers who wish to visit the Robbins Museum.
Exhibits at the museum cover over 10,000 years of Native American history and culture, and, according to Robbins Museum education liaison Mary Concannon, contextualize instruction on Massachusetts history, providing insight into and understanding of the dynamic role Native Americans have played in shaping our Commonwealth.
“The Robbins is the only museum dedicated to Native American history in Massachusetts,” Concannon said. “A key goal of our programming is to make our exhibits and educational materials relevant to students and easy-to-use by educators. So, if teachers want to book a tour, we will work with them to find a day and time that fits within their schedules and meets their learning goals.”
Visits are part of the Museum’s Artifacts and Archaeology program, and will include a tour of the museum, hands-on activities, and the opportunity for students to handle and analyze Native American artifacts. Information on how the Native American Educational Outreach Project connects to the Massachusetts Frameworks can be found at www.massarchaeology.org/foreducators.
The museum is open Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To schedule a tour during these or other hours or for more information, contact the Robbins Museum Education Department at 508-947-9005 or e-mail to: education@massarchaeology.org
The Native American Educational Outreach Project has been funded by a grant from the A.D. Makepeace Fund of Wareham. The Middleborough Cultural Council is a local body supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. To learn more about the Robbins Museum go online to: www.massarcheology.org. Send inquiries to: info@massarcheology.org.