Kim Kalliber, Author at Tulalip News

Trafficking Native Children: The Seamy Underbelly of U.S. Adoption Industry

Suzette BrewerTulsa attorney Don Mason, a member of the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma — Suzette Brewer
Tulsa attorney Don Mason, a member of the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma

By Suzette Brewer, ICTMN

Jeremy Simmons was heartbroken, baffled and confused. He had been living with his girlfriend, Crystal Tarbox, in Mannford, Oklahoma, when she became pregnant in August, 2012. But in March of this year, he says she moved out when she was seven months pregnant. Without a trace, she was gone.

For the next two months, Simmons, 27, searched for Tarbox, who was 23 at the time and already the mother of two small children. Worried about her and their unborn baby, he says he asked everyone he knew about her condition and whereabouts, and tried every possible means to find her. Her relatives, who are members of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, were also unaware of what was about to happen.

But Tarbox, like Christy Maldonado, the birth mother of Baby Veronica, had disappeared, refusing any contact or financial help from Simmons. As Baby Veronica’s case, Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, was being discussed at the U.S. Supreme Court, Simmons was driving around northern Oklahoma looking for his pregnant girlfriend, completely unaware of what was transpiring without his knowledge or consent.

RELATED: The Fight for Baby Veronica: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and all Baby Veronica coverage.

Baby Veronica Case: Capobianco Expert Recants Damning Report on Father

It was not until two days after his daughter, Deseray, was born in May that Simmons, who is non-Indian, learned the truth from the baby’s maternal grandmother. Janet Snake called Simmons to alert him that his daughter had been put up for adoption and pleaded with him to find a lawyer to put a stop to it.

Simmons contacted Tulsa attorney Don Mason, who is not only a battle-hardened veteran family law practitioner, but also a member of the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma. He serves as chief judge in their the Delaware Tribal Court in Bartlesville and is also chief public defender in Pawnee Nation Tribal Court in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Mason is an expert on the Indian Child Welfare Act and its application in Oklahoma, which has 39 tribes and the second largest tribal population in the United States. On his client’s behalf, he filed a suit, Simmons v. Tarbox, to halt the finalization of the adoption and bring Deseray back to Oklahoma from South Carolina, where she has been living with an adoptive couple who do not have the legal authority or a court order to retain her.

“My client was cut off, lied to, left out of the loop, and never received any notice at all regarding the whereabouts of his child and the intent to remove her from the state of Oklahoma to South Carolina in this illegal adoption. His parental rights have been completely denied and abrogated by all of the attorneys and their clients in this case,” says Mason. “The only reason I got involved was because Deseray’s Indian grandmother called him to give him the heads up and asked him to intervene.”

Tarbox’s family concurs that they were also caught off-guard, having been kept in the dark about her plans to give the child up for adoption without first notifying Simmons or seeking placement with another family member. “We had no idea what was going on and we were not notified that she had even had the baby until May 15, which was two days after she was born,” says Jana Snake, Tarbox’s sister, who is fully supporting Simmons in his quest to obtain custody of his daughter. “She cut us off and didn’t tell anybody what she was doing. But I knew that [this adoption] wasn’t right. It was illegal and I knew the tribe needed to be notified. So I told my mom to call him and call the tribe to stop it, but it was already too late.”

By the time Simmons was even able to dial Mason’s phone number, Baby Deseray had already been spirited away to South Carolina, a state known to be a safe haven for quickie private adoptions to wealthy couples seeking domestic babies in the United States. Time Magazine ran a feature story in 1984 entitled “Newborn Fever—Flocking to an Adoption Mecca,” in which South Carolina’s questionable adoption practices are described as “a unique blend of tax laws, aggressive lawyers and open-minded newspapers.” Home studies, it says, are “are routinely waived by South Carolina’s lenient family-court judges.”

These practices, say legal experts, have led to a deeply dark underbelly in the U.S. adoption industry that is little different than human trafficking, and in direct violation of the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. “There’s no question that this is human trafficking at its worst. It’s the selling of infants and children to the highest bidder,” says Mason. “These kids generate huge legal fees in the process and there is a lot of fee splitting among attorney and adoption practitioners in keeping the assembly line moving.”

Tulsa attorney Mike Yeksavich handled the adoption of Baby Deseray in collaboration with the law firm of Bado and Bado, an Edmond, Oklahoma-based adoption team. Together, the two law firms coordinated the adoption with attorney Raymond Godwin and Nightlight Christian Adoptions in Greenville, South Carolina. Godwin is also the attorney who handled Veronica’s adoption to Matt and Melanie Capobianco in 2009. Veronica’s adoption, which also went through without notification to the birth father, Dusten Brown, or the Cherokee Nation, has become the most expensive, litigious custody battle in U.S. History.

Indian Country Today Media Network has also learned that in addition to the fact that no Interstate Custody for the Protection of Children (ICPC) paperwork was filed in the case prior to Deseray’s removal from the state, Yeksavich also took the additional step of having himself appointed as the legal guardian of the baby to ensure her speedy adoption in South Carolina. Additionally, Paul Swain, the Tulsa attorney representing the Capobiancos in Oklahoma, also represents Godwin.

Bado and Bado, according to the Oklahoma Bar Association website, has had numerous complaints filed against it and was publicly reprimanded by the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys Board of Trustees in 2009 for the mishandled adoption of a Native child to a Kentucky couple.

In their review, the board demanded then that the firm “cease and desist” from the following: Conduct in which they represented themselves as an adoption agency, and not an adoption law firm; providing legal advice and counsel to birth mothers while also representing adoptive parents; holding out employees as “independent contractors”; permitting non-lawyers to practice law or explain legal issues to clients or other parties; involving themselves excessively with birth mothers whom they do not represent; and neglecting to promptly address tribal enrollment, in addition to other sanctions.

Bado and Bado could not be reached for comment by deadline on this story.

It’s the lack of oversight on the adoption industry, combined with acts of this nature, say legal experts, that led to the legal Gordian’s Knot that became the highly contentious and emotional Baby Veronica case that went to the Supreme Court.

In fact, Indian Country Today Media Network has learned that Raymond Godwin allegedly told another lawyer in South Carolina, who declined to be identified, that he placed “upwards of 50 Native American children from North Dakota” last year alone. In that conversation, Godwin said that Indian children are easier to place, “because they’re lighter-skinned.”

Even worse, says Mason, is the blatant marketing and selling of Indian children by lawyers who make anywhere from $25,000 to copy00,000 in legal fees for these children. “Anyone can do the math and realize that this is an enormous industry in the trafficking of Indian children,” says Mason. “And they’re preying on poor, uneducated Native women who are in poverty and have no idea what’s going on and don’t know any better, which is precisely why ICWA was enacted in the first place. They are predators who do everything in secret to prevent the biological fathers and the tribes from blocking the flow of income they receive off these adoptions.”

Mason says that before Simmons had even received notice on this case, Yeksavich had already filed a motion in Oklahoma County in early July to dismiss the case in Oklahoma courts. Godwin filed a motion for adoption proceedings in South Carolina at the same time in a coordinated effort to push the adoption through. Simmons was only notified of the proceedings in South Carolina on July 24 for the adoption hearing in South Carolina on July 25, which he had no way or means to attend with less than 24 hours to respond to a court action a thousand miles and five states away. As was the case for Baby Veronica’s father, Dusten Brown, the wheels had already been set in motion months before to cut him completely out of his daughter’s life.

Experts say that by the very nature of complicated and conflicting interstate laws and procedures that adoption attorneys are able circumvent not only mainstream adoption law, but the federal laws involving the Indian Child Welfare Act, as well, which has lead to chaos and confusion for judges, attorneys, birth parents and adoptive couples who may be located in multiple jurisdictions. “I came into this case trying to put the brakes on,” says Mason. “But by the time I even got a hold of it, an Order of Dismissal had already been pushed through without anyone knowing about it. Yeksavich never even gave notice of his intent to dismiss and rushed this right past the judge’s desk.”

Mason says it was a family court judge in South Carolina who finally caught on to what was happening. “To the credit of the South Carolina judge, they realized that no ICPC paperwork had been filed and refused to finalize the adoption,” says Mason. “Under the law, this child has been illegally kidnapped from Oklahoma and the judge there appointed Shannon Jones to represent my client there.”

Jones, who also represents Dusten Brown in South Carolina family court, has a thorough understanding of the Indian Child Welfare Act. She is also an expert in the Uniform Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.

In the meantime, Mason says he intends to pursue full custody for Jeremy Simmons, even if he has to file an adoption action in Creek County, Oklahoma court for Deseray to be adopted by her father. “These shady adoption practices have to stop,” says Mason. “It is the buying and selling of human beings, which is unconscionable in its vast application in the United States. Its tentacles reach far and wide and one of the only good things to come out of Adoptive Couple is that Dusten Brown has brought to light the shady practices of an adoption industry that actively worked against his parental rights from the beginning. To his everlasting credit, he dug in and fought and he should be commended for that.”

Dorraine Frances Jones

Dorraine Frances (Williams) Jones, 78, was born and raised on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. Her parents were Lawrence Charles Williams and Christina Fryberg of Tulalip. She passed away on August 22, 2013 at Everett, Washington.
Dorraine was born to a fisherman and fished with her husband, “Breezer” on their boat the “Dorraine J.” She started her career with her dad beach seining, then fishing with Breezer, she also worked many years at the original Smoke Shop located by the dam on the reservation; and later in the first tribal health clinic as a Community Health Representative. She enjoyed her culture by harvesting cedar, cascara bark, berry picking, clam digging, canning and cooking for family events. She will be deeply missed by her family and friends.
Dorraine is survived by her son and daughters, Jimmy Jones (Kristy L.); Rae Anne (Mike) Gobin, Karen (Steve) Gobin; her grand-children, Justine Jones, Brent Cleveland (Sara E.), Ron Cleveland, Joshua Cleveland, Shelby Cleveland (Trever H.), Sonia Gobin (George S.), Steven Gobin Jr. (Chandra R.), Kevin (Laini Jones), Natosha Gobin (Thomas W.) and Jessica Jones; great-grandchildren, Brent Cleveland Jr., Evalynn Cleveland, Rosalie Cleveland, Stella Cleveland-Husein, Kylee Sohappy, Kira Sohappy, Koli Sohappy, Kaliyah Sohappy, Aleesia Gobin, Eian Williams, Wakiza Gobin, Florence Gobin, Eliana Gobin, Jet L. Jones, Ava D. Jones, KC Hots, Kane Hots, Katie Hots, Aloisius Williams and Aiden E. Mather; her sister, Jane Wright; brothers, Herman Williams Sr., Clyde (Maxine) Williams Sr., Arley Williams, Charlene Williams, nephews; Frank (Michaela) Wright, Lawrence (Kim) Wright, Herman Williams Jr., Andy Williams; Alan (Arnele) Williams, Clyde Williams Jr., Gene (Julie) Williams; Lance Williams; Brian Jones Sr. and Brian “Bubbas” Jones Jr., nieces, Christine (Dean) Henry, Deb (Joe) Peterson, Illa Wright, Leilani Davey, Charlotte Williams, Janet Williams, Gail Williams, Felicia (Sugar) Jones, Chris Jones; and many other great nieces and nephews.

Dorraine was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph D. Jones Jr.; parents, Lawrence and Christina (Daisy) Williams; parents-in-law, Ralph and Edith Jones, Lena Harrison; her sons, Kevin O. Jones, Ralph D. Jones III; her grandson, Nathan D. Cleveland; her sister-in-law, Genevieve Williams; brother-in-laws, Darrel R. Jones, Frank Wright; and nephew, Greg Williams.

The family wishes to extend their gratitude to the Everett Providence Hospital for their support in her final days. A special thank you to mom’s caretakers, Jimmy, Kristy, Justine, Brian “Bubba” and Chasity who were there for her night and day for the many years that she had been ill.

The Viewing will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday August 27, 2013 at Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home in Marysville. An Interfaith Service to celebrate Dorraine’s life will be held at 6:00 p.m. on August 27, 2013 at her home. Funeral Services to be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday August 28, 2013 at the Tulalip Tribes Gym followed by burial service at the Mission Beach Cemetery.

Harper Solicits Research to Blame First Nations for Murdered, Missing and Traded Indigenous Women

Pam Palmater, Intercontinental Cry

Canada’s shameful colonial history as it relates to Indigenous peoples and women specifically is not well known by the public at large. The most horrific of Canada’s abuses against Indigenous peoples are not taught in schools. Even public discussion around issues like genocide have been censored by successive federal governments, and most notably by Harper’s Conservatives. Recently, the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights refused to use the term “genocide” to describe Canada’s laws, policies and actions towards Indigenous peoples which led to millions of deaths. The reason?: because that term was not acceptable to the federal government and the museum is after all, a Crown corporation.

Aside from the fact that this museum will be used as a propaganda tool for Canada vis-à-vis the international community, Harper’s Conservatives are also paying for targeted research to back up their propaganda as it relates to murdered, missing and traded Indigenous women. This is not the first time that Harper has paid for counter information and propaganda material as it relates to Indigenous peoples, and it likely won’t be the last. However, this instance of soliciting targeted research to help the government blame Indigenous peoples for their own victimization and oppression is particularly reprehensible given the massive loss of life involved over time.

The issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women was made very public by the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) several years ago through their dedicated research, community engagement and advocacy efforts. Even the United Nations took notice and starting commenting on Canada’s obligation to address this serious issue. Yet, in typical Harper-Conservative style, once the issue became a hot topic in the media, they cut critical funding to NWAC’s Sisters in Spirit program which was the heart of their research and advocacy into murdered and missing Indigenous women.

To further complicate the matter, any attempts for a national inquiry into the issue has been thwarted by the federal government, despite support for such an inquiry by the provinces and territories. One need only look at the fiasco of the Pickton Inquiry in British Columbia to understand how little governments in Canada value the lives of Indigenous women, their families and communities. The inquiry was headed by Wally Oppal, the same man who previously denied the claims of Indigenous women who were forcibly sterilized against their knowledge and consent. The inquiry seemed more interested in insulating the RCMP from investigation and prosecution than it was about hearing the stories of Indigenous women.

Now, the Canadian public has to deal with a new chapter to this story – the sale of Indigenous women into the sex trades. The CBC recently reported that current research shows that Indigenous women, girls and babies in Canada were taken onto US ships to be sold into the sex trade. While this is not new information for Indigenous peoples, it is something that Canada has refused to recognize in the past. The research also shows that Indigenous women are brought onto these boats never to be seen from again.

The issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women has now expanded to murdered, missing and traded women. One might have expected a reaction from both the Canadian government and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). Yet, the day after the story hit the news, the AFN was tweeting about local competitions and the federal government was essentially silent. I say essentially, because while all of this was taking place, the federal government put together a Request for Proposals on MERX (#275751) to solicit research to blame the families and communities of Indigenous women for being sold into the sex trade.

Instead of making a call for true academic research into the actual causes and conditions around Indigenous women, girls and babies being sold into the sex trade, the federal government solicited research to prove:

(1) the involvement of family members in their victimization;

(2) the level to which domestic violence is linked to the sale of Indigenous women into the sex trade; and

(3) even where they are investigating gang involvement, it is within the context of family involvement of the trade of Indigenous women.

The parameters of the research excludes looking into federal and/or provincial laws and policies towards Indigenous peoples; funding mechanisms which prejudice them and maintain them in the very poverty the research identifies; and negative societal attitudes formed due to government positions vis-à-vis Indigenous women like:

rapes and abuse in residential schools;
forced sterilizations;
the theft of thousands of Indigenous children into foster care;
the over-representation of Indigenous women in jails;
and the many generations of Indigenous women losing their Indian status and membership and being kicked off reserves by federal law.

The research also leaves out a critical aspect of this research which is federal and provincial enforcement laws, policies and actions or lack thereof in regards to the reports of murdered, missing and traded Indigenous women, girls and babies. The epic failure of police to follow up on reports and do proper investigations related to these issues have led some experts to conclude that this could have prevented and addressed murdered, missing and traded Indigenous women. Of even greater concern are the allegations that have surfaced in the media in relation to RCMP members sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls.

This MERX Request for Proposals is offensive and should be retracted and re-issued in a more academically-sound manner which looks to get at the full truth, versus a federally-approved pre-determined outcome.

It’s time Canada opened up the books, and shed light on the real atrocities in this country so that we can all move forward and address them.

Originally published at

Indigenous Nationhood

New wellness center part of Rosebud diabetes plan

Associated Press

ROSEBUD | Connie Brushbreaker was a 12-Coke-a-day drinker when she was diagnosed with diabetes after the birth of a child. Now, she’s helping lead an effort on the Rosebud Indian Reservation to change the mindset of Native Americans here so they no longer view the disease as an inevitable part of life.

Brushbreaker started a diabetes education program 15 years ago that soon will include a new wellness center, a mobile unit to travel around the nearly 2,000-square-mile reservation and a plan to certify diabetes educators who are American Indian. The $5.4 million investment came from Denmark-based Novo Nordisk Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of insulin, which planned to unveil the program at a Friday ceremony in Rosebud.

“I think we’re going to be able to do wonders — to get the word out there. And if we help only a handful of people, that will save in the budget but also could save some lives,” said Brushbreaker.

American Indians and Alaska Natives have the highest age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes among U.S. racial and ethnic groups, according to the American Diabetes Association. And they are 2.2 times more likely than non-Hispanic whites to have the disease, according to the Indian Health Service. From 1994 to 2004, there was a 68 percent increase in diabetes among native youth ages 15-19 years. And an estimated 30 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives have pre-diabetes, the diabetes association said.

Loss of eyesight and amputations are common results of the disease on the reservation, and dozens of patients require kidney dialysis, Brushbreaker said.

“Native Americans can tolerate a higher blood sugar level. They get used to it,” said Rita Brokenleg, a registered nurse for Rosebud’s program.

“Our challenge is to help people understand why this is important,” she said.

Access to affordable, nutritious food is also a problem because most people live in poverty and the choices for non-processed foods are few.

“As natives, our bodies weren’t made to process the starches. Back in the old days, we were active. We had to hunt for our food,” Brushbreaker said.

She said a lack of funding, space and staff has limited what she can do, and tribal members have asked for help.

The new wellness center, which is still under construction, will offer the types of fitness classes and education that are accessible in much of the rest of the country. The building now used for classes is too small, Brushbreaker said. The biggest room is 8 by 10 feet, which makes yoga or Zumba difficult.

Because many of the more than 21,000 tribal members on Rosebud don’t have transportation, the mobile unit will travel throughout the reservation — which is larger than the state of Rhode Island — and screen people, Brushbreaker said.

The certified native educators are needed because IHS, which provides health care to Indians, no longer has any educators on the reservation, she said.

“People come into my office because they’ve not been given any information on what’s going on with their body,” Brushbreaker said. “They’ll go in to see the doctor and they’ll say, ‘here’s medication for your diabetes’ and the patient has never been told they have diabetes.”

The American Diabetes Association, in an email to The Associated Press, said the effort should help: “Reservations may be located in remote areas with limited access to health care and exercise facilities with proper exercise equipment, so this innovative program has potential to have high impact, especially since many reservations have limited resources (financial, land, etc.). Additionally, a wellness center that emphasizes proper nutrition and provided education would be extremely beneficial to those on reservations.”

Novo Nordisk founded the World Diabetes Foundation to diagnose and help people with diabetes in developing countries. Rosebud is the first such project in North America, said the pharmaceutical company’s general counsel, Curt Oltmans, who grew up nearby in Nebraska and made meat deliveries to Rosebud while in college.

“I said if I’m ever in a position to help the people, I’d like to do that,” Oltmans said by phone from Princeton, N.J. “Almost 30 years later, I had this opportunity to get involved.”

Details of the program will be presented in December at a conference in Melbourne, Australia, at the World Diabetes Congress, he said.

“My personal hope is that this is going to lead better awareness and education and screening on the reservation. We have a fear that there’s a lot of undiagnosed diabetes,” Oltmans said. “Their views are very Third World, unfortunately, uninformed views of diabetes.”

The Rosebud program is drawing attention from other groups that work with Native Americans, and the company views it as a long-term commitment, Oltmans said.

“A lot of companies say, ‘Here’s your mobile unit and wellness center, good luck,'” he said. “We’re going to have to stay engaged. We’re going to measure. Are we having an impact? How many people go to the wellness center? What are their ages? Are they losing weight? Are their numbers getting better or are they getting worse?”

Let Freedom Ring – American Indian Drums Asked to Sound Wednesday at 3pm edt

American Indian drum groups are being encouraged to participate in "Let Freedom Ring" — American Indian drum groups are being encouraged to participate in “Let Freedom Ring”

Source: Native News Network

ATLANTA – Fifty years after to the date and time of day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, people across America are asked to ring bells and American Indian drums are asked to sound on to “let freedom ring.’

Church bells will sound across America. Hand held bells will be rung.

“I think it would be nice to have American Indian drum groups to participate to show support,”

commented Melissa Claramunt, American Indian specialist and Civil Rights specialist at Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights encourages you to take part in (or organize!) Let Freedom Ring! celebrations all across the state (and country) on that day – in schools, churches, mosques, universities, anywhere there’s a bell or carillon – or drum.

This is a unique opportunity to be part of history. Ring a bell on August 28 and honor Dr. King and his enduring message of freedom, justice, and equality. To learn more, visit facebook.com/midcr and www.mlkdream50.com.

(l to r) Elana Jimenez, Robert Sky-Eagle, Terra Branson, Emily White Hat, & Derrick Beetso. (not pictured: Chia Beetso, Gerald Kaquatosh, & Sandy Brewster-walker, Hugo & Nancy Trotman. Legend Trotman, Aanaya Trotman, Trinity Trotman, Kimimila Beetso, Tashina Beetso.

Yesterday, thousands were in the nation’s capital to honor the memory of Dr. King and the historic March on Washington in the “Realize the Dream” March and Rally.

Part of the thousands was a group representing the National Congress of American Indians.

“We marched on behalf of the National Congress of American Indians and along with the Leadership Conference. We marched for voting rights and to support better adoption practices for our Native kids,”

commented Derrick Beetso, a staff attorney with the National Congress of American Indians, the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country.

IHS prepares for Affordable Care Act implementation

Source: Native American Times

On Aug. 13-15, the Indian Health Service held an Indian Health Partnerships Conference in Denver to train key health system staff on Affordable Care Act implementation requirements, including the new Health Insurance Marketplace, and the impact on the provision of health care services to American Indian and Alaska Native people.

“The theme of this conference, ‘Partnerships 2013: Accessing Health Care through the Affordable Care Act,’ exemplifies the Agency’s commitment to ensuring that we are well prepared for the future of health care and the new opportunities available to federal, tribal, and urban beneficiaries,” said Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, acting director of the IHS.

For American Indians and Alaska Natives, the ACA will help address health disparities, increase access to affordable health coverage, and invest in prevention and wellness. The ACA will offer many uninsured American Indians and Alaska Natives an opportunity to purchase quality, affordable health insurance coverage or to enroll in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program through the health insurance market. By filling out one simple application, many will learn that they qualify for financial assistance either through tax credits to purchase coverage in the market, reductions in cost-sharing that will reduce or eliminate out-of-pocket costs, or through enrollment in CHIP or Medicaid, if their state expands eligibility. Natives will also have access to enrollment periods outside the yearly open enrollment period and can continue to get services from tribal health programs, urban Indian health programs, or IHS if they enroll in a health insurance plan through the market.

Starting Oct. 1, a market will be open in every state, providing millions of Americans and small businesses with “one-stop shopping” for affordable health insurance coverage that can begin as soon as Jan. 1. The Indian Health Partnerships Conference provided an opportunity to encourage both members of tribal communities and health care professionals working with tribes to educate others about coverage opportunities.

Swәdx’ali, Huckleberry Hill

Traditional berry picking basket filled with black huckleberries and mountain blueberries.Photo/Ross Fenton — Traditional berry picking basket filled with black huckleberries and mountain blueberries.
Photo/Ross Fenton

Co-stewardship areas yield bountiful harvests

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News, with photo contributions from Ross Fenton

Tulalip − The Tulalip Forestry Department took their summer youth workers huckleberry picking in S^wәdx’ali on Harlan Ridge for the Hibulb Cultural Center on Wednesday, the 21^st.

The berry patch is one of many co-stewardship areas throughout the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest where tribes are collaborating with the Washington Forest Service to preserve and maintain natural flora. Along with gathering berries for the museum, the Tribes’ Forestry Department wants to make the tribal membership aware of S^wәdx’ali, and sites like it, where our people can go and harvest traditional plants and foods.

Staining their hands purple and red, the day was also intended as a fun and meaningful way to bring the youths’ time with the department to an end.

“Every year, we look for ways to take the youth out of the office, away from the reservation, and show them what we do, while having a little fun,” said Jason Gobin, Tulalip Forestry Manager. “And the museum will get a nice surprise because they don’t know they’re getting berries today,” he added.

Philip Solomon teaches his daughter, Sugar, what berries to pick and how to pick them.Photo/Andrew Gobin — Philip Solomon teaches his daughter, Sugar, what berries to pick and how to pick them.
Photo/Andrew Gobin

S^wәdx’ali, meaning the place of the mountain huckleberry, is on Harlan Ridge and is covered with berry bushes; the common huckleberry bush with the small red berries, the mountain blueberry bush, and the big leaf huckleberry bush that has the larger black berries. S^wәdx’ali is so named because of cultural and biological significance of the area, as the big leaf huckleberry naturally grows in the mountains, above 3,000 feet.

This area is one example of how the Tulalip Tribes is working to reclaim traditional areas. The co-stewardship with the state stems directly from the Point Elliot Treaty, which secured claims to usual and accustomed places, and the privilege of “gathering roots and berries in all open and unclaimed land.”

Reiterating the need to bring awareness to the people, Gobin explained, “These places of co-stewardship are open to all of Tulalip, but there aren’t many who know how to access them, or that we even have these resources available to us.”

For those who would like to access these sites, contact Tulalip Natural Resources at 360-716-4640 or Tulalip Forestry at 360-716-4371.

Big Leaf Huckleberry at varying ripeness, changing from red, to purple, to black.Photo/Andrew Gobin — Big Leaf Huckleberry at varying ripeness, changing from red, to purple, to black.
Photo/Andrew Gobin

Study launched to examine declining salmon runs

Bill Sheets, The Herald

Millions of dollars have been spent to restore fish habitat in Western Washington.

Property owners pay taxes to local governments to control stormwater runoff.

State government and tribal fisheries have put huge investments into hatcheries.

“While all that has been going on, we’ve seen a precipitous decline in the survival rate of both hatchery fish as well as wild fish,” said Phil Anderson, director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

That’s why the department, along with the Tulalip Tribes and 25 other organizations, are beginning a five-year study to determine why some species of salmon and trout are having trouble surviving their saltwater voyages.

The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, as it’s called, is an international effort. Canadian groups are agreeing to pay half of the estimated, eventual $20 million cost of the study.

The decline has been seen in fish runs both in Washington and British Columbia.

“The fish don’t know there’s a border,” said Mike Crewson, fisheries enhancement biologist for the Tulalip Tribes.

The marine survival rate for many stocks of Chinook and coho salmon, along with steelhead, has dropped more than 90 percent over the past 30 years, according to Long Live the Kings, a Seattle-based non-profit group formed around fish preservation.

Numbers for sockeye, chum, and pink salmon have varied widely over the same time period.

For some reason, many of these anadromous fish — those that spawn in fresh water and spend most of their lives at sea — are not doing well in saltwater, particularly in the inland waters of Western Washington.

The Snohomish and Skagit river systems have been hit particularly hard, Crewson said.

While there’s a solid understanding of the factors affecting salmon survival in fresh water, according to Long Live the Kings, the issues in the marine environment are more complex.

From what is known so far, the survival problem has been traced to a combination of factors. Pollution, climate change, loss of habitat and increased consumption of salmon by seals and sea lions are all playing a part, Tulalip tribal officials have said.

Tribes and government agencies have been collecting information on their own, but it hasn’t yet been put together into context, Crewson said.

That will be one benefit of the new study — synthesizing the work done so far, he said. More research will be done as well.

The Tulalips, for example, have two smolt traps they use to catch young fish to track their progress and survival rates. The tribe already spends about $500,000 per year on fish survival programs and will increase their sampling efforts as part of this study, Crewson said.

Other studies more focused on certain areas, such as a joint effort between the Tulalips and the Nisqually tribe focusing on the Snohomish and Nisqually river systems, will be folded into the larger effort, Crewson said.

“The survival’s especially poor in Puget Sound (as opposed to the open ocean),” he said. “We’re trying to figure out what’s different in Puget Sound.”

The state recently appropriated nearly $800,000 toward the new study. The Pacific Salmon Foundation, a Canadian group, has raised $750,000 to support project activities north of the border. That group is serving as the organizer for efforts there, as is Long Live the Kings on the American side.

The Pacific Salmon Commission, a joint Canadian-American organization formed to implement treaty agreements, is putting in $175,000.

The rest of the money will be raised as the study progresses, officials said. A report and action plan is expected after five years.

U.S. proposes overhauling process for recognizing Indian tribes

By Michael Melia, Source: Associated Press; Washington Post

KENT, Conn. — His tribe once controlled huge swaths of what is now New York and Connecticut, but the shrunken reservation presided over by Alan Russell today hosts little more than four mostly dilapidated homes and a pair of rattlesnake dens.

The Schaghticoke Indian Tribe leader is hopeful that its fortunes may soon be improving. As the Interior Department overhauls its rules for recognizing American Indian tribes, a nod from the federal government appears within reach, potentially bolstering its claims to surrounding land and opening the door to a tribal-owned casino.

“It’s the future generations we’re fighting for,” Russell said.

The rules floated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, intended to streamline the approval process, are seen by some as lowering the bar through changes such as one requiring that tribes demonstrate political continuity since 1934 and not “first contact” with European settlers. Across the country, the push is setting up battles with host communities and already recognized tribes who fear upheaval.

In Kent, a small Berkshires mountain town with one of New England’s oldest covered bridges, residents have been calling the selectman’s office with their concerns. The tribe claims land including property held by the Kent School, a boarding school, and many residents put up their own money a decade ago to fight a recognition bid by another faction of the Schaghticokes.

Members of the stae’s congressional delegation also have been in touch with the first selectman, Bruce Adams, who said he fears court battles over land claims and the possibility that the tribe would open its own businesses as a sovereign nation within town boundaries.

“Everybody is on board that we have to do what we can to prevent this from happening,” he said.

The new rules were proposed in June by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which invited public comment at hearings over the summer in Oregon, California, Michigan, Maine and Louisiana. The Obama administration intends to improve a recognition process that has been criticized as slow, inconsistent and overly susceptible to political influence.

Federal recognition, which has been granted to 566 American tribes, is coveted because it brings increased health and education benefits to tribal members in addition to land protections and opportunities for commercial development.

Tribes have been pushing for years for Congress or the Interior Department to revise the process.

“I am glad that the Department is proposing to keep its promise to fix a system that has been broken for years, leaving behind generations of abuse, waste, and broken dreams,” wrote Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts, which was recognized in 2007.

The new rules would create tensions for host communities and some recognized tribes, according to Richard Monette, a law professor and expert on American Indian tribes at the University of Wisconsin. Tribes along the Columbia River in Washington state, for instance, will be wary of a new tribe at the river’s mouth gaining recognition and cutting into their take of salmon. Tribes elsewhere fear encroachment on casino gaming markets.

“This is a big issue throughout the whole country,” Monette said.

The salmon-harvesting Muckleshoot Indian Tribe in Washington state argues that the new rules seem to lower the threshold for recognition. Tribal Chairman Virginia Cross wrote to the Interior Department that the changes, if approved, would lead to acknowledgment of groups of descendants who “have neither a history of self-government, nor a clear sense of identity.”

In Connecticut, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) said the state’s congressional delegation is united against changes that he said would have far-reaching ramifications for several towns and the entire state.

“Our hope is we can dissuade officials from proceeding with a regulatory step that would be very misguided, because it would essentially eviscerate and eliminate key criteria,” Blumenthal said.

Supporters of the rule change say it helps to remove unfair burdens. Judith Shapiro, an attorney who has worked with several tribes on recognition bids, said some have lost out because records were lost or burned over hundreds of years.

The Schaghticoke reservation dates to the mid-1700s, but it has been carved up to a tenth of its original size. As recently as 1960, Russell said, the town fire department would come out to burn down homes on the reservation when tribal members died to prevent others from occupying them.

When Russell’s house burned down in 1998, however, the townspeople from across the Housatonic River helped him to rebuild. Russell, who grew up hunting and fishing on the reservation, said that if the tribe wins recognition, it can work something out with the town on the land claims.

“That’s what I want them to understand,” he said. “We’re not the enemy.”

— Associated Press

Mike Tyson Debuts as Boxing Promoter at Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone

Photo courtesy Tom Casino, Iron Mike ProductionsArash Usmanee, left, Mike Tyson and Argenis Mendez at the Turner Stone Resort Casino. The fight ended in a majority draw, with Mendez retaining his title as junior lightweight champion. — Photo courtesy Tom Casino, Iron Mike Productions
Arash Usmanee, left, Mike Tyson and Argenis Mendez at the Turner Stone Resort Casino. The fight ended in a majority draw, with Mendez retaining his title as junior lightweight champion.

Sheena Louise Roetman, Indian Country Today Media Network

Legendary fighter Mike Tyson returned to boxing August 23 as a promoter during a world championship doubleheader at the Oneida Indian Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Casino.

Tyson, 47, a former heavyweight champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame member, debuted as a professional promoter during the 2013 season finale of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. Iron Mike Productions, in association with Greg Cohen Promotions, Tyson’s new boxing promotion company, presented the program, entitled “Tyson Is Back.”

“I want to be here and at the best interest of the fighters,” Tyson said on his return to boxing in the role of promoter. “I don’t know where it’s going to lead me, this is just my first event and I’m just really grateful.”

Todd Grisham, host of Friday Night Fights, asked Tyson what he had learned from his previous promoter, Don King.

“I learned not to abuse my fighters,” Tyson said, adding that he did not hold any animosity toward King

Similarly, Iron Mike Productions describes itself as being “committed to changing traditional boxing promotion by advocating for our fighter’s success inside the ring and out.”

Tyson holds the record for being the youngest heavyweight champion ever and seventh best heavyweight champion ever, with 50 victories, 44 of which were knockouts.

The ESPN2 live broadcast began at 9 p.m. with the duel for vacant World Boxing Association featherweight interim title between Claudio “The Matrix” Marrero (14-1, 11 Kos) of the Dominican Republic and Jesus Cueller (23-1, 18 KOs) of Argentina with Cueller unanimously winning the 12-round bout.

The main event, the fight for the International Boxing Federation junior lightweight title, between champion Argenis “La Tormenta” Mendez (21-2, 11 KOs) of the Dominican Republic and Arash Usmanee (20-1, 10 KOs), originally of Afghanistan, now in Montreal, Quebec, ended in a majority draw.

Tyson surprised long-time boxing fans before the show by hugging Teddy Atlas, a well-known trainer and commentator. Atlas and Tyson had a well-publicized dispute in 1983, leading to Atlas’ discharge from the Catskill Boxing Club in Catskill, N.Y. where the two were training under Hall of Fame trainer Cus D’Amato.

“Life is short,” Tyson said when asked about the hug. “I owe it to my sobriety to make amends.”

“Turning Stone is extremely proud that Mike Tyson chose our award-winning resort for his first fight as a promoter,” said Oneida Indian Nation Representative and Nation Enterprises CEO Ray Halbritter on Oneida Indian Nation’s website. “As an incredible athlete and renaissance man who continues to reinvent himself, we understand that Tyson could have gone anywhere for his debut, and we are deeply honored he chose Turning Stone.”

Oneida Indian Nation, located in central New York, is one of six Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, nations.

This was the sixth nationally televised boxing show at Turning Stone Resort Casino, and the third on ESPN, since September 2012.

On Wednesday, August 28, Turning Stone Resort Casino will host Tiger Woods, Notah Begay III and other PGA Tour players for the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at its Atunyote Gold Club.

Turning Stone Resort Casino, in Verona, N.Y. about 30 miles east of Syracuse, was named “Most Excellent Golf Resort” in 2010 by Condé Nast Johansens and “Casino of the Year” in 2009 by the Academy of Country Music.