July 11, 201 .Warner, Oklahoma (within Cherokee Nation jurisdiction), Alaskan Tribal Nations Map Released
I officially announce the release of this unique, newly-copy-written Alaskan Tribal Map. It is a continuation in my Tribal Nations Map series, using-as in its predecessors-original autonyms that Tribes have called themselves historically. It also goes beyond listing “linguistic groups”, and shows the names of each individual Native Nation that has called Alaska home for millennia. Research for this map involved speaking to dozens of Cultural Directors, museums Directors, Tribal leaders, researching books by Natives and non-Natives, etc. If you are interested in doing an interview about this map, please find my contact information below.
My maps were also recently featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered”:
During a July 2 interview with Megyn Kelly, host of Fox News’ “The Kelly File,” filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza says the genocide of the Indigenous Peoples of this country didn’t happen.
Bill Ayers, an elementary education theorist and former leader in the opposition of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, went head to head with D’Souza during the interview.
“The American Indian population shrank by 80 percent over 150 years,” D’Souza says. “The main reason for that was not because of warfare or systematic killing, it’s because the white man brought with him from Europe diseases to which the Native Americans… did not have any immunities.”
D’Souza, who produced the film “America,” couldn’t be more wrong. The diseases weren’t only brought over from Europe, but literally handed to the Indigenous Peoples in blankets with the intention of wiping out the population to take their land. Do we even need to mention the Indian Removal Act or boarding schools?
Watch the full video and see Ayers and the YouTube commentator defend these positions.
Here’s a video from YouTube—start watching at 2:35—with some commentary:
If you’re not busy, you might want to drive, fly, walk or crawl (kidding) to Phoenix, Arizona to catch Shoni Schimmel play in her first WNBA All-Star Game.
According to the Courier-Journal, Schimmel, who was the only rookie chosen to start, received the most votes of any Eastern conference guard and the third-most of any player in the league with 25,601 votes. Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx received 28,389 votes and Elena Delle Donne of the Chicago Sky received 26,129 votes.
Schimmel also got more votes than some of the biggest names in the WNBA, including Candace Parker, Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins and Diana Taurasi, and she’ll start the All-Star game even though she’s started only two of 18 games for the Dream, the paper reported.
“For the fans to go out and vote, I definitely have to give it to them. For them to have my back and sit there and vote for me every day is just something they took pride in,” Schimmel told theAssociated Press. “They obviously want to see me in the game, so for them to do that means a lot to me.”
The WNBA All-Star Game will take place at US Airways Center in Phoenix on Saturday, July 19, and will be televised on ESPN, with tip-off at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT).
Tulare brush fire last September, caused by fireworks. Photo/ Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News
From Tulalip Forestry:
Due to increased fire danger due to hot weather there is now a fire danger burn ban in effect for Tulalip reservation. All outdoor burning is banned with the exception of cultural fires and recreational fires that are in approved fire pits. Discharge of fireworks are also prohibited.
PORTLAND — The public got its first chance to weigh in on the government’s plan to kill nearly 16,000 cormorants nesting on an island near the mouth of the Columbia River.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed the lethal approach as the best way to reduce the number of birds that congregate at East Sand Island and feast on young salmon and steelhead making their way beyond the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.
Supporters and critics spoke out Thursday at the Matt Dishman Community Center in Northeast Portland.
State and federal officials discussed the proposed action with around 40 attendees, many representing bird and wildlife advocacy groups or sportfishermen.
Norman Ritchie is with the Association of Northwest Steelheaders. He said the cormorants are severely harming the fish runs on the Columbia.
“Right now the situation’s pretty bad,” Ritchie said. “We’re talking millions upon millions of smolts being killed by the cormorants each year and we need to deal with that.”
Columbia River tribal representatives have also voiced support for killing cormorants to protect salmon and steelhead, although none spoke out at Thursday’s hearing.
Scientists estimate cormorants on East Sand Island ate 18 million protected salmon and steelhead last year and are regularly consuming 10 to 15 percent of the populations swimming through the Columbia River estuary.
Joyce Casey is with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She said her agency is following the National Marine Fisheries Service’s call for a reduction in cormorants.
The service’s biological opinion for the Columbia River hydropower system gives until 2018 to reduce 14,900 breeding pairs of cormorants down to less than 5,900 breeding pairs. The goal is protect salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act. The fish also die by the thousands as they try to get past dams operated by the corps.
The cormorant-killing strategy would be in place from 2015 to 2018. Shotguns would be used to shoot the cormorants in the air first and, if necessary, on the colony during nesting season.
Kahler Martinson is an Audubon Society volunteer and former regional director with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Martinson argued that the corps is blaming the birds rather than the dams on the Columbia.
“There’s got to be a better way to do it than killing these birds,” Martinson said. “If you manage the river for fish instead of for power and navigation you can certainly handle the problem.”
The corps says the reduction in cormorant population would be localized and would not jeopardize the larger population.
Tribal prosecutor will have Special Assistant US Attorney status to implement VAWA 2013 provisions
Herman Williams, Chairman of the Tulalip Tribes, United States Attorney for the Western District, Jenny A. Durkan, and Tulalip prosecutor Sharon Jones Hayden Photo/Francesca Hillery
Source: Tulalip Tribes
Tulalip, WA—July 11, 2014—Herman Williams, Chairman of the Tulalip Tribes signed a memorandum of understanding today with the United States Attorney for the Western District, Jenny A. Durkan, which calls for the appointment of Tulalip prosecutor Sharon Jones Hayden to Special Assistant United State Attorney (SAUSA). The SAUSA designation will help the Tulalip Court continue to implement the new tribal provisions under the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2013.
The Tulalip Tribes has already begun to implement the Special Criminal Domestic Violence Jurisdiction (SCDVJ) that expands tribal jurisdiction to non-Indians who have committed domestic violence crimes against Native Americans on the Tulalip Reservation. Tulalip is one of three pilot tribes who are rolling out the new provisions before other U.S. tribes begin to implement in March 2015.
“We value our relationship with the US Attorney here in the Western District and the new SAUSA appointment will help our tribal court better protect our people,” said Tulalip Tribes Chairman Herman Williams. “We have worked hard to build a justice system that makes our community safer for everyone.”
“This is the first Tribal Prosecutor SAUSA appointment in this District and is an important recognition of this Office’s partnership with tribal communities in Western Washington to foster and promote the reduction of violence and enhance public safety for tribal communities,” said Jenny A. Durkan, US Attorney for the Western District.
As a SAUSA, Ms. Jones Hayden will work closely with the US Attorney Western District’s Assistant United States Attorney Tribal Liaisons in handling cases involving domestic violence crimes committed by Indian and non-Indian offenders occurring within the Tulalip Tribes’ territorial jurisdiction, and particularly those cases that fall within the newly enacted Violence Against Women’s Act Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction.
Today, the Senate failed to advance S. 2363, a bi-partisan sportsmen bill designed to boost hunting and fishing protections on federal public land, reauthorize the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA), wetland and fishing conservation programs, and would allow online sales of duck stamps. The bill, introduced by Senator Kay Hagan, (D-NC) and co-sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), was meant to help several incumbents who face tough reelection races this year. Seen as a political boon for red-state Democrats, the bill died by a vote of 41-56 due to disagreements over a slew of amendments that would have forced vulnerable incumbents to take tough votes on tweaking gun laws. Among the amendments filed today was one that would have protected tribal treaty and other rights of tribes. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and co-sponsored by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, stated in part: “(b) Effect of Act.–Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act affects or modifies any treaty or other right of any Indian tribe, including the protection of sacred and cultural areas. (c) Duties of the Secretaries with Respect to Treaty Rights. In carrying out this Act or the amendments made by this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall take appropriate measures to uphold treaty and other rights of Indian tribes, including protecting and preserving sacred and cultural areas of Indian tribes located on Federal public land.” Mapetsi reported on February 13th, that the House passed H.R. 3590, its version of a sportsmen bill. Even though the House bill also included language to protect tribal treaty rights on federal public land, the Heinrich/Tester amendment that was filed today would have provided greater protections for tribal rights by requiring Interior and USDA to take “appropriate measures to uphold” tribal treaty and other rights. Key differences between the House and Senate bills over environmental, FLTFA reauthorization and other issues all but guarantees that Congress will not pass a sportsmen bill this year. In February, Senator Heinrich introduced S. 368 a stand-alone bill to reauthorize FLTFA, which facilitates the administrative sale or disposal of certain federal public land. Heinrich has expressed support for inclusion of provisions to protect treaty and other rights of tribes in his FLTFA reauthorization measure. Mapetsi will continue to provide updates on this issue.
Attachment:
Senators Heinrich and Tester amendment to S. 2363–
Washington D.C. (KELO AM) – U.S. Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD), James Inhofe (R-OK), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today introduced the Tribal Adoption Parity Act. The legislation ensures parents adopting American Indian and Alaskan Native children through tribal courts are treated fairly under our nation’s tax code by making it easier for adoptive parents across Indian Country to claim the full adoption tax credit for “special needs” children.
“The Tribal Adoption Parity Act will provide financial relief for families in South Dakota by making it easier for adoptive parents in Indian Country to claim the full adoption tax credit,” Johnson said. “It is unacceptable that parents who adopt an Indian child through a tribal court are prevented from accessing the financial relief that is provided to adoptive families in non-tribal areas. This bill addresses an oversight in our tax code by ensuring that adoptive parents throughout Indian Country receive fair tax treatment.”
Under current law, parents adopting a child who has been determined by a State as “special needs” can claim the full adoption tax credit regardless of their qualified adoption expenses. Congress created the “special needs” determination to provide an added incentive for parents adopting children who might otherwise be difficult to place in adoptive homes. In Fiscal Year 2011, 84 percent of the nearly 50,000 children adopted through public agencies were designated as having “special needs.” Parents adopting children through tribal courts, however, are currently ineligible for the special needs adoption tax credit. This unfortunately results in parents and children throughout Indian Country unfairly missing out on an important tax credit that would make a significant difference in their day-to-day lives. Becoming eligible for the special needs adoption tax credit would help further reduce the financial costs associated with adoption and lessen administrative burdens.
In 1978, Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act that gives Indian tribes exclusive jurisdiction over custody proceedings involving Indian children within a reservation. The special needs adoption tax credit currently fails to recognize the authority that tribal governments have over adoption proceedings of Indian children. The Tribal Adoption Parity Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide fair tax treatment to parents adopting Indian children through tribal courts. As a result, a tribal government would be permitted to designate an adoptive Indian child as having “special needs.” This legislation would ensure that families in Indian Country are treated fairly by providing the same financial relief that adoptive families currently receive across the nation.
The bill has been endorsed by organizations such as the National Indian Child Welfare Association, the Child Welfare League of America, Voice for Adoption, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, the Donaldson Adoption Institute, and the Joint Council for International Children’s Services.
In 1996, Congress created the adoption tax credit to ease the initial financial burden for adoptive parents. The adoption tax credit provides a tax credit of up to $10,000 and is adjusted for inflation. The credit was $12,970 for tax year 2013. Since 2003, families adopting children with “special needs” are allowed to claim the full adoption tax credit regardless of their qualified adoption expenses. The definition of “special needs” varies from state to state. Examples of factors that can qualify a child for the “special needs” determination include: age; membership in a minority or sibling group; ethnic background; medical condition; or physical, mental, and emotional handicaps.
The National Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the Internal Revenue Service, recommended the adoption tax credit be amended to recognize tribal governments in its 2012 Annual Report to Congress, which can be accessed here.
About 70 people gathered in May, 2014 to protest the proposed coal export facility in Boardman, Oregon. Yakama Nation and Lummi Nation tribal members spoke at a ceremony before people fished at treaty-protected fishing sites. | credit: Courtney Flatt
This blunt response comes after two years of talks between the tribes and Ambre Energy – the company that wants to build a coal export terminal on a part of the river that the tribes consider historic fishing grounds protected by their treaty with the federal government.
For Ambre’s export terminal, 8.8 million tons of coal per year would be transported by rail from Montana and Wyoming to Boardman, in Eastern Oregon. From there, it would be barged down the Columbia River and transferred to ocean-going vessels to be shipped to Asia.
Ambre Energy has offered to pay the tribe up to $800,000 per year (the same amount it’s offered the Morrow and Columbia County school districts). The company is also offering $500, 000 toward salmon and stream enhancements and $100,000 toward culture and history celebrations during the Morrow Pacific Project’s construction.
A tribal spokesman said the tribes have been in discussions with Ambre Energy for two years. Chuck Sams said that’s when the tribe began raising concerns about treaty fishing sites near the company’s proposed dock.
“We will not abdicate, nor will we trade, any of our treaty rights,” Sams said. “We’ve already proven to them time and time again that the place where they wish to site their facility is a usual and accustomed fishing station.”
Sams said there is no way Ambre could make up for damage that could be done to the fishing site because people fish there now.
Members from the Yakama Nation and the Lummi Nation recently held fishing demonstrations at the site where the coal terminal construction is proposed.
An Ambre Energy spokeswoman says the company chose this site specifically because it did not impact fishing sites.
“It’s important to remember that the proposed dock is on private Port of Morrow property in between two existing docks. And even with that, from the beginning we have sought a partnership with the tribes based on mutual respect, shared benefits, collaboration, and cooperation,” said spokeswoman Liz Fuller.
Sams said no formal reply to the company is in the works because the Umatilla tribes have already expressed concerns to Ambre Energy in face-to-face meetings.
Sams went on, however, to say the Umatillas are open to further discussions.
Referring to offers from Ambre Energy, Sams said, “I think that they read the public wrong – our public, our tribal citizens – and where we stand. The tribal members themselves are pretty strong on environmental issues, especially in protection of their treaty rights. … Putting out a letter that dangled out financial gain for the tribe really does not resonate well within the tribal membership.”
The Australia-based Ambre Energy is still waiting on a permit from the Oregon Department of State Lands to build the dock at its Boardman site. The permit decision has been delayed multiple times. Right now a permitting decision is scheduled for Aug. 18.
According to DSL rules, the permit can be issued if the dock doesn’t “unreasonably interfere” with preservation of water for navigation, fishing and public recreation.
