A pile of irrigation pipes in the Klamath. Tribal members in the Klamath Basin recently voted to approve a water sharing agreement with ranchers and other irrigators. | credit: Earthfix | rollover image for more
A Klamath Tribes vote for an upper Basin water management pact narrowly passed Wednesday.
According to Klamath Tribes Chairman Don Gentry, 564 Tribal members voted in favor, and 419 members voted against the Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement (UKBCA), which was released in March. Gentry said he wasn’t surprised by the close vote.
“This is a decision that will affect our people forever,” Gentry said. “We were concerned from the start because of the timeframe; we knew we had limited time to interact with our Tribal members.”
Three Tribal members released a formal statement earlier this week expressing frustration with the amount of time members had to review the 95-page agreement and mail in their ballots.
“The positive vote of our Tribal Members affirming the UKBCA is a monumental step in achieving the long-established goals of our people to restore and protect our Tribal fisheries and other treaty resources,” Gentry said in a statement.
Tribal approval brings stakeholders one step closer to introducing a comprehensive piece of legislation in Congress, ensuring upper Basin water needs are met for generations to come. Upper Basin stakeholders have been working for months as a subcommittee of the Klamath Basin Task Force appointed last July by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
The 27-member task force was divided into three subcommittees focused on improving three areas of Klamath water use: developing a water management plan for the upper Klamath Basin, addressing the affordability of agricultural power rates and lowering federal costs for proposed settlements.
“With approval of the agreement, Sen. Wyden will now move forward to introduce a legislative package to enact the UKBCA. The bill will also include legislation of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA), which our members voted overwhelmingly to support,” Gentry said in a news release.
The 2010 KBRA settlement and the related KHSA seek to establish reliable water supplies and affordable power rates for irrigators, restore fish habitat, let the Klamath Tribes acquire the 92,000-acre Mazama Forest and remove four Klamath River dams.
“I certainly feel positive. I know this is a critical step in the right direction,” Gentry said.
Genna Martin / The Herald Patricia Flajole (right) and son Pat look out over a flooded Highway 530 east of the Oso mudslide area on March 23, the day after the slide. The Flajole family owns a cabin just east of the slide area. The water, which had backed up because of river blockage, has mostly receded since then.
By Bill Sheets, Chris Winters, Jerry Cornfield and Rikki King, The Herald
Nearly three weeks after the devastating landslide in Oso, discussion of the fate of Highway 530 is beginning in earnest.
A series of community meetings has been scheduled for next week to gather input and discuss options for the daunting task of rebuilding the 1-mile stretch of highway that was smothered by the March 22 mudslide.
The section has been closed to the public since then, severing Darrington’s direct lifeline to Arlington and the I-5 corridor.
State and Snohomish County officials have been discussing with families of victims the delicate matter of digging out the highway while more people and belongings likely are still buried in the mud.
To date, 36 victims of the mudslide have been confirmed dead, with county officials releasing the names of three more victims Thursday.
Eight people are still missing.
“It’s kind of sacred ground for them and we want to make sure we’re going in there in the most respectful way possible,” said Travis Phelps, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
In the meantime, officials are also beginning to look at the longer-term economic effect of the slide. Residents are deeply concerned about the effects on Darrington’s economy and culture if the town remains cut off for months.
“Of course we need that road open. That’s our lifeline to the outside world,” said Kevin Ashe, a part-owner of the Darrington IGA.
The only other major route into town is on Highway 20 through Skagit County, which turns a 45-minute drive to Everett into a two-hour detour.
Crews so far have removed most of the mud from a few hundred feet of Highway 530 on the western edge of the slide area.
“We’ve made some progress but not a heck of a lot,” Phelps said.
Because much of the highway is still buried, it’s too early to tell whether the road will be salvageable, he said.
“I’m sure some of it’s been damaged and some of it’s not,” Phelps said.
On the east side, part of the highway is still under water where the North Fork Stillaguamish River pooled up behind the slide. Even if the road can be repaired, the river’s ultimate course through the altered landscape will play a large part in determining if the road can remain in its current location, Phelps said.
If the road has to be rebuilt, topography of the surrounding area will be a factor, he said. Some steep hills are located south of the current highway right-of-way.
Engineers have begun studying possible routes, he said. When these become more developed, they’ll be shared with the public at later meetings.
“We’ve started looking at the terrain,” Phelps said.
Because of all these factors, it’s impossible to estimate when the highway could reopen or how much it might cost, he said.
The economic damage isn’t limited to just the highway. Damage to houses and other properties that were destroyed in the slide area is estimated at $6.77 million, according to a county assessor’s report released Thursday. About $919,000 of that was from the flooding.
More than 34 houses were destroyed and at least 10 manufactured homes, in addition to vacant lots, camping sites and other kinds of buildings, according to the report.
Because of the extent of the slide and the flooding, some areas have not been assessed yet, especially east of the slide near where a berm is being built.
While the federal government likely will reimburse the costs of rebuilding Highway 530, the longer-term recovery period is likely to come out of local pockets.
The economic hit to Darrington could be serious due to the reduced access and increased costs of getting to the town.
One worry, for example, is at what point people who commute into Darrington for jobs, or those who commute from Darrington to Arlington or the rest of the county, will decide the hassle of the commute isn’t worth the job.
In looking toward the longer term, the Puget Sound Regional Council has recommended that $5 million in federal funding be used to support economic recovery in Darrington.
The PSRC, an intergovernmental body that distributes about $240 million in federal transportation funding annually, will perform an unusual workaround to free up money that can contribute to Darrington’s recovery.
The PSRC’s federal money is earmarked for specific transportation projects, but some of those projects won’t come to fruition this year, leaving the PSRC money without a designated project. Snohomish County identified an ongoing project — the North Road project between Lynnwood and Mill Creek — that was funded with $9.8 million in local funds on top of $3.2 million in federal money.
By directing $5 million more in federal money to the North Road project, the PSRC will free up the same amount in county money from that project, which can in turn be redirected to projects in the Darrington area.
“County money is much more flexible than these federal dollars,” PSRC spokesman Rick Olson said.
The county money will then be targeted at projects that will have an economic benefit for Darrington.
Darrington’s plan to add curbs, gutters, sidewalks and a storm drainage system to Fir Street has been identified as one immediate need. Other projects that might be considered are upgrading the Whitehorse Trail or more street improvements in the town itself.
These projects would not be eligible for disaster funds, but by directing more county money to them, they would have a positive economic impact and take a little of the burden off Darrington. An upgraded Whitehorse Trail, for example, could be a tourist draw for the town, Olson said.
The issue moves to the PSRC’s executive committee next week, where it stands a good chance of passing.
“I think the PSRC has a good history of counties supporting each other, especially in times of need like this,” said Snohomish County Councilman Dave Somers, who sits on the committee.
These smaller measures may help soften the impact of the closure of Highway 530, but it will by no means eliminate it.
After the collapse of the Skagit River Bridge on I-5 last May, a temporary span was in place less than a month later.
Highway 530 is an altogether different animal, Phelps said. Some kind of temporary road may be considered, but it is still too soon to make that decision.
“Here we have a much bigger emergency response underway,” he said.
There’s no one federal agency to turn to for help. Money could potentially come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Highway Administration and others, Phelps said.
“It’s going to be kind of an ongoing discussion,” Phelps said.
Meetings
Snohomish County and the state Department of Transportation have scheduled three meetings to discuss the situation regarding Highway 530, which was blocked by the March 22 landslide.
*7-9 p.m. Monday, April 14, at the Darrington Community Center, 570 Sauk Ave.;
*7-9 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, at Oso Community Chapel, 22318 Highway 530;
*6-8 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, in the Main Hall at the Stillaguamish Senior Center, 18308 Smokey Point Blvd., Arlington.
File photo. Sheriff’s deputies, Grant County employees and state Fish and Wildlife officers are patrolling 80 miles of Columbia River shore. Anna King Northwest News Network
The drawdown of water behind Wanapum Dam in central Washington is exposing dozens of human gravesites and hundreds of Native American cultural artifacts.
Grant County officials are working overtime to protect these sensitive sites. And that work isn’t cheap.
Grant County utility district says its spending about $600,000 a month protecting 80 miles of Columbia River shore. Sheriff’s deputies, Grant County employees and state Fish and Wildlife officers are patrolling the riverbanks to keep gawkers and illegal looters away.
At the same time, a team of 25 archaeologists is finding and cataloging sites along the river shore.
Grant County utility district’s Chuck Berrie says the area has a high density of ancient human remains.
“We know of over 20 cemeteries now along that stretch of the river. And there is a lot of people that just have no idea its illegal – looting it’s a big deal.”
Utility district officials hope to know the root cause of the dam’s crack around June. By then protecting the shoreline and cultural resources could rack up to more than $2 million.
Officials say it’s not clear yet, if they’ll raise power rates to cover this expense.
A federal fisheries management panel has approved what some charter captains are calling the best ocean fishing season in 20 years.
It’s a big turnaround from the recent past when ocean salmon fishing was sharply curtailed or not allowed at all.
Fishery managers are predicting strong returns of wild and hatchery-raised salmon to the Columbia, Klamath and Sacramento Rivers this year. These runs provide the backbone for the ocean salmon fishing season. This year’s spawners benefited from good river flows when they were young and productive ocean conditions as adults.
Coho Charters owner Butch Smith of coastal Ilwaco, Washington is looking forward to a seven day a week summertime fishery in the ocean.
“Fishing for both Chinook and coho salmon are some of the best we have had for a long time,” said Smith. “Salmon fishing — the fishing industry — to my town is like Boeing and Microsoft is to Seattle. It’s very important. It is the lifeblood.”
The good times may not last because of drought conditions in southern Oregon and California. Poor spawning and juvenile survival conditions today will probably dampen future returns. This could lead to varying degrees of restrictions coast wide in coming years.
“Hopefully, we’ve still got a couple more of these good cycles left before we happen to see an unfortunate downturn,” said Smith.
Meeting at a hotel in Vancouver, Wash., the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted the 2014 season quotas unanimously on Wednesday after days of lengthy negotiations between commercial troll and recreational fishing representatives, treaty tribes and government regulators.
Members of the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho block the passage of a “megaload” being shipped by Omega Morgan in August 2013. | credit: Jessica Robinson / Northwest News Network
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Rivers United and the Nez Perce Tribe are in mediation with the U.S. Forest Service to end a lawsuit concerning megaloads on U.S. Highway 12 in northern Idaho.
Kevin Lewis of Idaho Rivers United said Wednesday the groups are seeking to have the federal agency come up with specific rules concerning gigantic loads traveling on the northern Idaho route that includes a federally designated Wild and Scenic River corridor as well as tribal land.
The groups sued the Forest Service last year, and U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in September granted a preliminary injunction halting shipments.
His ruling required the Forest Service to conduct a corridor review, and the agency on Monday released a document attempting to assess impacts the giant loads have passing through the rugged area.
OSO — President Barack Obama has confirmed reports from Gov. Jay Inslee, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene and U.S. senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell that he will visit the scene of the Oso mudslide on April 22.
On April 8, the White House issued the following statement:
“On Tuesday, April 22, President Obama will travel to Oso, Washington, to view the devastation from the recent mudslide and meet with the families affected by this disaster, as well as first responders and recovery workers. Further details about the President’s travel to Washington will be available in the coming days.”
Earlier that day, Inslee had issued a statement of his own, reporting that the President had informed him that morning of his planned visit.
“This will give the President the opportunity to see firsthand the devastation wrought by the slide, as well as the incredible community spirit flourishing in Oso, Arlington and Darrington,” Inslee said. “From the earliest days following the slide, the President has closely monitored events in the area, and shown his concerns for the victims and their families. He and his team have been important partners in the response effort, and I believe this visit will strengthen those ties, as we face the tough work ahead.”
DelBene had also been informed by Obama that same day of his upcoming visit.
“Additionally, the President informed me that he will move quickly to sign into law legislation that was recently passed by Congress, to save the historic Green Mountain Lookout near Darrington,” DelBene said, in a statement issued on April 8.
Murray and Cantwell issued a joint statement that day, expressing their appreciation to Obama for his decision to visit the area on April 22.
“We are confident that President Obama will see what we have seen: The tremendous resolve and determination of the people of Oso, Darrington and Arlington in the face of tragedy,” Murray and Cantwell said. “The President’s visit is another important step in demonstrating the federal government’s ongoing commitment to supporting the families, first responders, volunteers and businesses, as they recover from this disaster. We appreciate the decision to make major disaster resources available, and by the IRS to grant tax relief, and we’ll continue to work for the federal government to provide every resource possible for these communities.”
While half of the world’s species are disappearing, while the remaining 48 hunter/gatherer societies are literally fighting for their survival, while 32 million acres of rainforest are cut down a year, and while three hundred tons of topsoil are lost a minute, we are again at war with those who would destroy the planet.
There have been many wars fought on behalf of our life-giving land in North America. The overwhelming majority of those killed in defense of the land have come from peoples like the Sioux, the Cheyenne, the Nez Perce, the Sauk, and the Apache. Native Americans have long stood in the way of this destructive culture. It is time that we join with Native Americans and other dominated peoples around the world who are at war. It is time that we, the privileged in this settler culture, step off our pedestal and onto the battlefield to place our bodies in harm’s way like so many indigenous people have before us and continue to do today.
***
As a young white radical, I have admired the long traditions of resistance found in Native communities. I find myself wondering what could have been had Tecumseh won or if Crazy Horse was not betrayed. I find myself wishing I could have been there with Geronimo or King Phillip or Chief Joseph to shoot back at the pale skin and pale blue eyes I share with so many of the soldiers, miners, and settlers who have butchered Native peoples over the centuries.
But, mostly, my heart just breaks. And breaks and breaks again when I recall the long list of lost battles and cold-blooded massacres.
My heart breaks when I think of that frigid morning in December, 1890 when Lakota Sioux led by Spotted Elk woke up next to Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota to find themselves surrounded by 500 soldiers of the US 7th Cavalry. Some of the older women and the frailest children would have been wrapped in robes made from the skins of buffalo hunted to near extinction by the very soldiers taking positions over the camp.
They look up at the four rapid fire Hotchkiss guns pointed down on them from the hills above with their frosty breath foreshadowing the thick fog of gun smoke that would blanket the field in just a little while.
My heart breaks again looking at the photographs of Lakota men, women, and children strewn across the frozen ground. I see Spotted Elk’s body frozen in a half-sitting position in the snow. His legs bent one way, and his bullet-riddled torso bent another way. His arms curl up as his dead biceps tighten in the cold.
My heart breaks when I read eyewitness accounts from the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 where Colorado-territory militia killed 200 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women, and children who thought they occupied their camp under the protection of the US Army. I read of soldiers putting six-shooters to the heads of infants and “blowing their brains out.” I watch as white men jump off their horses with knives in hands to cut ears, noses, fingers, and testicles off corpses to take home as souvenirs.
***
Lierre Keith, the brilliant environmental and radical feminist writer, often diagnoses the problem with modern mainstream environmental activism saying, “We’ve got to stop thinking like vandals and start thinking like field generals.”
If we are to have any chance of surviving the devastation, we must espouse courses of action based on strategic objectives. In other words, we have to act like we’re fighting to win a war.
Even mainstream environmentalists recognize that one of the biggest threats to life on Earth is the use of fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide – the worst of the greenhouse gasses responsible for climate change. Scientists predict an 11 degree Fahrenheit average temperature rise by 2100 due to the effects of runaway greenhouse gas emissions.
If we are going to win this war of survival, we are going to have to stop both the present use and spread of fossil fuels. Many argue that the task is impossible. Many argue that we’ll never get people to voluntarily give up fossil fuels. We fill our cars with gas. Homes are heated by coal. The plastic screens we read the daily news on are made with oil. Giving up fossil fuels means giving up our very way of life.
But, what if the world is forced to give up fossil fuels because they cannot get access to them?
***
The truth is the fate of the world is bound up in wars like the ones being fought by the Sioux and their allies and the Wet’suwet’en. The United States was built on stolen land and is maintained through the theft of indigenous resources both at home and abroad. So, not only should mainstream environmentalists pledge their support to indigenous peoples to reverse genocidal historical trends, they should throw their bodies down next to indigenous peoples in order to survive.
The brutally brilliant Confederate cavalry general, Nathan Bedford Forrest explained the simple key to winning battles when he said, “Get there first with the most.” On a Civil War battlefield, this meant identifying strategic locations to be controlled and then arriving with more soldiers and firepower than your enemy. At the Battle of Gettysburg, for example, Union forces recognized the way two hills – Little and Big Round Top – on their extreme left flank commanded a view of the entire battlefield. Robert E. Lee and his right hand infantry general, James Longstreet, recognized it, too. Whoever controlled those hills could place artillery on their heights and rain deadly cannon fire on enemies in the fields below.
Ultimately, Union forces arrived at the top Little Round Top just minutes before Longstreet’s infantry and were able to beat off a Confederate attack, turning the tide of the battle in favor of Union forces in what many historians call the pivotal moment of the entire war.
The goals of these camps line up perfectly with Forrest’s idea to “get there first with the most.” The camps are being set up in strategic locations to stop the ability of the pipeline to function. If the oil is going to flow, big oil pipelines are going to have to defeat activists dug in at these camps.
Right now, indigenous peoples and their allies are there first with the most. They can win if we help them.
***
As so often happens, Native Americans are leading the fight to save the world. Battle lines are being drawn in British Columbia and South Dakota where indigenous peoples and their allies have vowed to prevent the construction of pipelines carrying fossil fuels across their lands.
In South Dakota, the Oglala Lakota and Rosebud Sioux (many of whom descend from the survivors of the Wounded Knee Massacre) are building resistance camps to combat the Keystone XL pipeline. They are calling the pipeline “the Black Snake” and are operating the Moccasins on the Ground project where participants are trained in the skills, tactics, and techniques of nonviolent direct action. These skills include blockading heavy equipment, workshops on strategic media, street medic training, knowing your legal rights with respect to civil disobedience, and building solidarity and alliances.
In British Columbia, the Wet’suwet’en have dug into the path of seven proposed pipelines from the Tar Sands Gigaproject and LNG from the Horn River Basin Fracturing Projects in the Peace River Region at Unist’ot’en Camp. (http://unistotencamp.wordpress.com/no-pipelines/) Unist’ot’en Camp is calling for volunteers to help patrol their land, build permaculture, and raise permanent bunkhouses in the path of the pipelines.
***
There’s another feeling I get when I think of the massacres of indigenous peoples. It is even stronger than the staggering sadness. It is the desire to do whatever it takes to stop this culture from destroying indigenous cultures and destroying the land.
I used to imagine that I could go back in time and offer my help. I would learn how to shoot and offer my rifle to Crazy Horse or learn how to ride and ask Chief Joseph if he could use my help. As I listened to the rhythmic thump of soldiers’ boots marching on where they thought my friends’ village was, I would imagine approaching a fat officer in a powdered horse-hair whig with a smile coming from my white face. I would tell the officer I knew where the Indians were, only to lead him on a wild goose chase while he trusted me because I was white.
I have grown up now. I realize that there are wars being waged against the land and those who would protect the land. I realize that I can work to stop the black snakes that are being built to slither through this land, to choke her original people, and to wring the last few drops of oil from her.
All of us who have benefited from the rape of the earth and the destruction of so many of her people are being called. We are being called to kill the black snakes by those already engaged in mortal combat. We must do whatever it takes to stand with indigenous peoples and stop the pipelines.
President Barack Obama is expected to visit the site of the deadly landslide in Snohomish County, Wash., later this month.
The scheduled April 22 visit would be exactly one month after the disaster struck. It’s a rare visit to the region for the President, not counting political fundraisers.
Presidents often travel to the sites of natural disasters to comfort victims and encourage first responders. It’s a tradition that dates back to at least the 1960s. At that time, Lyndon Johnson famously toured the aftermath of Hurricane Betsy in Louisiana. Historians called that trip to the swing state both a humanitarian and a political gesture.
Obama declared the Oso landslide a federal disaster area. But until now, his only public comments came during his trip in Europe last month.
“I would just ask all Americans to send their thoughts and prayers to Washington state and the community of Oso and the family and friends of those who continue to be missing,” President Obama said on March 25.
The Washington Governor’s office says the President will visit families and recovery workers during his visit to the site of the landslide.
Obama last visited Washington state last November. He attended two closed-door fundraisers for Congressional candidates. He also visited the Northwest during the 2012 presidential campaign.
SEATTLE — A Tulalip woman charged with killing one daughter and neglecting another pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to one count of murder and another of criminal mistreatment.
Christina Carlson, 37, will likely receive eight to 13 years in prison when she is sentenced. That’s scheduled for July.
Had she been found guilty at trial, Carlson could have received a life sentence.
Carlson previously pleaded not guilty to the charges and was scheduled for a pre-trial hearing later this month.
Some of Carlson’s family members left the courtroom in tears as assistant U.S. attorney Tate London described the condition that Carlson’s daughters were found in.
Carlson showed no emotion and only answered “yes” when Magistrate Judge James Donohue asked whether she understood the charges and the plea agreement.
She was charged with second-degree murder in the death of her 19-month-old daughter, Chantel Craig. The toddler and her older sister, 3, were all but abandoned in a car on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in October 2012.
The toddlers were buckled in their car seats for hours. They had sores all over their bodies and were covered in feces, lice and maggots. Investigators believe they likely had gone days without food or water.
Chantel wasn’t breathing when paramedics reached her. An autopsy determined that she suffered from severe malnutrition. Her sister was treated for dehydration and skin sores from prolonged exposure to feces and urine.
The investigation into Chantel’s death includes more than 3,000 pages of reports and numerous video and audio files.
Prosecutors allege that Carlson withheld basic necessities of life from her children. In the hours before Chantel died, Carlson allegedly was sending text messages, attempting to buy drugs, court papers said. Witnesses reported seeing Carlson smoking heroin days earlier in the car while the girls were in the back seat.
Tests conducted on the older girl’s hair showed evidence that the child had been exposed to opiates.
Carlson and the girls had for months been the focus of on-again, off-again searches by state and tribal child welfare workers. Their grandmother called Child Protective Services in December 2011 with concerns that the girls were being neglected.
Carlson had lost custody of at least three other children because of her drug use and neglect, court papers said.
In a terrible coincidence, state social workers closed the investigation hours before Chantel died. They hadn’t been able to find her or Carlson. The woman and her daughters had for weeks been living in her car down a dirt road on the reservation.
Christina Rose Jazmine Good Iron (Standing Rock), left, and Adonica Little (Ogalala), right, sit in front of Oglala Lakota College in Rapid City, South Dakota.
On April 2 the Department of the Interior announced that quarterly transfers of nearly $580,000 are set to begin this week to the American Indian College Fund. The Cobell Education Fund is part of the historic Cobell Settlement fund of 2012, which will provide financial assistance to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary education and training.
“The Scholarship Fund is an important tool to help students across Indian country pursue higher education opportunities imperative to their success in the workplace and to the creation of the next generation of Indian leaders,” said Interior Solicitor Hilary Tompkins in a press release. Tompkins helped negotiate the Cobell Settlement on behalf of the Department of the Interior.
“While there was much debate in the settlement negotiations, there was no debate among the parties that we must do something to support Indian students in their aspirations and dreams,” she said.
According to the Interior, the scholarship fund is financed in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations. The program was created by the Cobell Settlement, which provided copy.9 billion to purchase fractionated interests in trust or restricted land from willing landowners. As an incentive to participate in the land consolidation program, a percentage of each purchase is donated to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund.
The American Indian College Fund in Denver, Colorado will be in charge of administering the scholarship fund monies to eligible students interested in enrolling or currently enrolled in tribal colleges, technical and vocational programs and undergraduate and graduate programs.
Eligible students must be enrolled in an accredited, non-profit, U.S. institution that awards graduating students either bachelor’s degrees or career and technical certificates, or students that are pursuing post-baccalaureate graduate or professional degree as a full-time degree-seeking student at an accredited institution in the U.S. Online degrees are covered as long as they meet the above requirements.
In accordance with the programs guidelines, 20 percent of the funds will be allocated to support graduate students through the American Indian Graduate Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
According to Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, the organization is currently only able to provide scholarships to 75 percent of its current applicants, so the disbursement is a welcomed asset.
“We are thrilled to be able to remember and implement the vision of Elouise Cobell so that the Cobell Scholarship Fund can lift up tribal students and their families, and also know that we have a long way to go,” she told Indian Country Today Media Network.
“Current U.S. Department of Education data shows that less than 13 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives earn a college degree compared to 28 percent of other racial groups,” she continued. “No doubt this is due to economic disparity, especially in reservation communities, as well as education disparity. We believe these scholarships will be a good start in providing Native people with a post-secondary education, which we see as the solution to ending poverty and its problems.
“We know there are many tribal students who have yet to access available scholarships so the need for scholarships will continue to rise.”
Crazy Bull also said that though the scholarships will help, the $580,000 is not a guaranteed amount per quarter as the Department of the Interior will contribute up to $60 million over the course of the Land Buy-Back Program. “Payments may vary each quarter depending on land sales and the value of those lands sold,” she said.
Currently the College Fund is still working to meet its goal of 60 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives having earned a higher education by 2025 and will still relentlessly continue to pursue fundraising goals.
“If we were to fully fund tribal college students, 20,000 students at an average cost of copy6,000 a year, we would need $32 million a year for scholarships,” Crazy Bull said. “There are at least another 160,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students attending college across the U.S. The vast majority of them have great need for financial support.
“Tribal people have a right to access education in whatever manner works for them and wherever they choose to go to school.”
“While the Cobell Scholarship Fund has criteria like all scholarships generally do, the funds will make a difference with access and we hope that the funds can serve as a resource for students to stay in school. Our student persistence and graduation rates are a focus of tribal educators and we know one of the most significant barriers is adequate financial support,” Crazy Bull said.
Students interested in applying for the American Indian College Fund Scholarships should visit the College Fund website.
