Northwest American tribes and Canadian First Nations presented a united front to restore salmon above Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River and to southern Idaho via the Snake River.
Shoshone-Bannock tribal chairman Nathan Small says on this he’s long felt like he was beating his head on a wall.
“Now I feel maybe my head is going to raise a little bit because there is that possibility to be talked about.”
Tribes and other fish advocates see opportunity to gain traction in two forums. One is the federal relicensing of Idaho Power’s Hells Canyon Project dams. The other is the pending renegotiation of the 50-year-old Columbia River Treaty between the U.S. and Canada.
But stumbling blocks remain. Those include ratepayer objections to the cost of getting salmon around very tall dams and degraded spawning habitat upstream.
A tobacco ban in South Dakota prisons violates the constitutional rights of Native American inmates, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
The decision affirms the ruling of South Dakota District Judge Karen Schreier, which was appealed by the state’s Department of Corrections last year.
Friday’s ruling from the 8th Circuit panel means the Department of Corrections cannot ban tobacco altogether in South Dakota prisons.
Under a plan approved by Schreier last fall over Department of Corrections objections, inmates may use a mixture of red willow bark and 1 percent tobacco in sweat lodge ceremonies.
The plan also restricted which inmates can carry the mixture to the ceremonies and lets the prison bar inmates caught using or bartering with tobacco outside the ceremonies for one year.
Lawyers for the inmate advocacy group the Native American Council of Tribes praised the 8th Circuit’s ruling Friday.
“This is an important victory for religious freedom,” said Pamela Bollweg of Sioux Falls. “As the Court of Appeals recognized, the ceremonial use of tobacco has been central to the Lakota people and many other Native American tribes for thousands of years.”
The council’s legal challenge began in 2009 when the prison rescinded its religious exception to its tobacco policy.
The Department of Corrections could appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court or ask for a review by the full 8th Circuit.
In a ruling issued Friday, the court found that the across-the-board ban on all tobacco use constituted a violation of religious liberty not outweighed by the state’s interest in maintaining order and security within the prison.
The prison banned tobacco for all reasons aside from religious ceremonies in 2000.
The Native American Council of Tribes, a group representing inmates with indigenous heritage, sued the Department of Corrections in 2009 when the exception was dropped.
Important to Lakota
Lakota spiritual leaders testified during the district court trial in Sioux Falls that tobacco has been smoked for generations in sweat lodge ceremonies.
The tobacco ties, made from tobacco, string and cloth, each represent a prayer and are burned during ceremonies. Prayer flags are larger versions of tobacco ties, each of which represents a cardinal direction.
Richard Bernard Moves Camp testified that the smoke represents the spirit, and that tobacco represents the highest offering available. Depriving tobacco from a Lakota person would be “like taking a Bible away from the church.”
The two inmates named in the lawsuit, Blaine Brings Plenty and Clayton Creek, each testified that they had used tobacco since childhood as part of religious ceremonies.
The Department of Corrections argued, however, that Native inmates had abused and repurposed tobacco meant for religious ceremonies and said that red willow bark alone is an adequate alternative.
In Friday’s ruling, the court shot down the Department of Corrections assertion the red willow bark alternative.
“We reject the defendants’ invitation to define the contours of the inmates’ religious belief,” the judges wrote.
The Department of Corrections also argued that the prison has an interest in security that overrode the right of the inmates to exercise their religious beliefs, but the appeals court said the ban did not represent the “least restrictive means” of achieving that goal.
Restrictions OK
Instead of banning tobacco altogether, the inmates said, the Department of Corrections could restrict which inmates have access to the tobacco ties, require prison officials to transport the tobacco ties or prayer flags to the sweat lodge, burn the tobacco immediately after the ceremony or perform searches of inmates immediately after the ceremonies.
Warden Doug Weber had testified that each of the alternatives were “unfeasible,” but the 8th Circuit found that the prison hadn’t seriously considered any of them.
The department appealed that revised policy, but the 8th Circuit ruled in favor of the inmates’ plan.
“The district court carefully balanced the need to fairly accommodate inmates’ exercise of their religion, taking into account the parties’ proposed remedies, while giving due ‘weight to any adverse impact on public safety or the operation of a criminal justice system’ that may result from a change in tobacco policy,” the judges wrote.
Department of Corrections Secretary Denny Kaemingk acknowledged the ruling in a statement.
“The Court of Appeals has issued their ruling on this matter,” Kaemingk said. “Throughout the proceedings, we have complied with the orders of the court and will continue to do so.”
At a glance
RULING:
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled South Dakota’s ban on tobacco in prisons violates the constitutional rights of Native American inmates.
REMEDY:
A plan allows inmates to use a mixture of red willow bark and 1 percent tobacco during religious ceremonies.
RESTRICTIONS:
Inmates may not carry the mixture and are barred from using or bartering with tobacco outside the ceremonies.
Ruth Buendia and the Ene River Photo courtesy of the Goldman Environmental Prize
Ruth braided quick steps over the edge of the long boat and jumped off onto the beach of the Ene River. Other Asháninka women and children also got off and climbed the high riverbank. We had stopped at Saborochari village to get food for the long river journey ahead. Delicious boiled manioc and smoked fish wrapped in plantain leaves were distributed to all on the boat. We went on to Pamakiari to attend the XIV Asháninka Congress.
This was early in 2010. It was my first time on the Ene River and my first time meeting Ruth Buendía Metzoquiari. Some months before, Ruth had sent me an email asking for support, after she had learned about plans to build the Pakitzapango Dam on the Ene River in the Peruvian Amazon. I went to meet Ruth and other representatives of the Central Asháninka del Rio Ene – Asháninka Center of the Ene River – (CARE) to better understand the threats posed by the dam. It was clear at this meeting that the Asháninka felt threatened by the construction of the dam.
The health of the Ene River is crucial for the Asháninka indigenous people who depend on its fish resources, the fertile soils of its floodplains, and the many foods and other natural resources the forest provides. The dam would block the passage of sediments and the migration of fish and other aquatic organisms. Pakitzapango Dam would also negatively impact the lives of close to 10,000 people.
Ruth Buendia speaks at the Central Asháninka del Rio Ene (CARE) Photo courtesy of the Goldman Environmental Prize
Later that year, Ruth and CARE were successful in stopping the Pakitzapango Dam through a legal action presented by CARE. The Brazilian dam builder Odebrecht then announced that it was no longer interested in building the Tambo 40 Dam, another project proposed for the Ene, Tambo and Ucayali river basin. Both of these stalled dams represent a great victory for the people who worked so hard to protect their rivers and cultures.
Yesterday International Rivers was honored to welcome Ruth Buendía to the Bay Area – on her first trip to California – as part of a special Women Water Guardians gathering. Indigenous leaders from California welcomed Ruth, me, and an intimate group of local and international water guardians with songs for the waters of this place and the healing of the waters of the world.
Monti, Ruth and Jason after the Women Water Guardians ceremony in Mill Valley on April 27, 2014. Photo by Shaun Sakya/International Rivers
And today I’m overjoyed to announce that Ruth has been awarded the 2014 Goldman Environmental Prize for Central and South America for her work to protect the Ene River and stop the Pakitzapango and Tambo 40 dams. Working alongside her to protect the Asháninka people and the rivers of the Peruvian Amazon is a great honor. I’m able to continue along my path as a woman water guardian because of the strength and inspiration of women like Ruth. Felicidades hermana.
After 20 years of battling Monsanto and corporate agribusiness, food and farm activists in Vermont, backed by a growing movement across the country, are on the verge of a monumental victory — mandatory labels on genetically engineered foods and a ban on the routine industry practice of labeling GMO-tainted foods as “natural.”
On April 16, 2014, the Vermont Senate passed H.112 by a vote of 28-2, following up on the passage of a similar bill in the Vermont House last year. The legislation, which requires all GMO foods sold in Vermont to be labeled by July 1, 2016, will now pass through a House/Senate conference committee before landing on Governor Peter Shumlin’s desk, for final approval.
Strictly speaking, Vermont’s H.112 applies only to Vermont. But it will have the same impact on the marketplace as a federal law. Because national food and beverage companies and supermarkets will not likely risk the ire of their customers by admitting that many of the foods and brands they are selling in Vermont are genetically engineered, and deceptively labeled as “natural” or “all natural” while simultaneously trying to conceal this fact in the other 49 states and North American markets. As a seed executive for Monsanto admitted 20 years ago, “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.”
Proof of this “skull and crossbones” effect is evident in the European Union, where mandatory labeling, in effect since 1997, has all but driven genetically engineered foods and crops off the market. The only significant remaining GMOs in Europe today are imported grains (corn, soy, canola, cotton seed) primarily from the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Argentina. These grains are used for animal feed, hidden from public view by the fact that meat, dairy and eggs derived from animals fed GMOs do not yet have to be labeled in the EU.
Given the imminent passage of the Vermont legislation and the growing strength of America’s anti-GMO and pro-organic movement, the Gene Giants — Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta — and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), representing Big Food, find themselves in a difficult position. Early polls indicate that Oregon voters will likely pass a ballot initiative on Nov. 4, 2014, to require mandatory labeling of GMOs in Oregon. Meanwhile, momentum for labeling continues to gather speed in other states as well.
Connecticut and Maine have already passed GMO labeling laws, but these laws contain “trigger” clauses, which prevent them from going into effect until other states mandate labeling as well. Vermont’s law does not contain a “trigger” clause. As soon as the governor signs it, it will have the force of law.
Divisions Between Big Food and the Gene Giants
Given what appears to be the inevitable victory of the consumer right-to-know movement, some of the U.S.’s largest food companies have quietly begun distancing themselves from Monsanto and the genetic engineering lobby. General Mills, Post Foods, Chipotle, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and others have begun to make changes in their supply chains in order to eliminate GMOs in some or all of their products. Several hundred companies have enrolled in the Non-GMO Project so they can credibly market their products as GMO-free.
At least 30 members (10 percent of the total membership) of the GMA who contributed money to defeat Proposition 37 in California in November 2012, have held back on making further contributions to stop labeling initiatives in other states. Among the apparent defectors in the GMA ranks are: Mars, Unilever, Smithfield, Heinz, Sara Lee, Dole, Wrigley, and Mead Johnson. Under pressure from the Organic Consumers Association, Dr. Anthony Weil’s natural health and supplements company, Weil Lifestyle, pulled out of the GMA.
Meanwhile a number of the Gene Giants themselves, including Monsanto, appear to be slowly decreasing their investments in gene-spliced GMOs, while increasing their investments in more traditional, and less controversial, cross-breeding and hybrid seed sales. Still, don’t expect the Gene Giants to give up on the GMO seeds and crops already in production, especially Roundup Ready and Bt-spliced crops, nor those in the pipeline such as 2,4-D “Agent Orange” and Dicamba-resistant corn and soybeans, GE rice, and “RNA interference” crops such as non-browning apples, and fast-growing genetically engineered trees.
America’s giant food companies and their chemical industry allies understand the threat posed by truthful labeling of GMOs, pesticides, antibiotics, growth promoters and toxic chemicals. They understand full well that the GMO monocrops and factory farms that dominate U.S. agriculture not only pose serious health and environmental hazards, but represent a significant public relations liability as well.
This is why the food and GE giants are threatening to sue Vermont and any other state that dares to pass a GMO labeling bill, even though industry lawyers have no doubt informed them that they are unlikely to win in federal court.
This is also why corporate agribusiness is supporting “Ag Gag” state laws making it a crime to photograph or film on factory farms. Why they’re lobbying for state laws that take away the rights of counties and local communities to regulate agricultural practices. And why they’re supporting secret international trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that will, among other provisions, enable multinational corporations to sue and eliminate state and local laws on matters such as GMOs, food safety, and country of origin labeling.
The bottom line is this: Corporate America’s current “business-as-usual” strategies are incompatible with consumers’ right to know, and communities’ and states’ rights to legislate.
Coca-Cola, Pepsi, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Campbell’s, Safeway, Del Monte, Nestlé, Unilever, ConAgra, Wal-Mart, and every food manufacturer with GMO-tainted brands, understand they’re not going to be able to label their products as “produced with genetic engineering,” or drop the use of the term “natural” on GMO-tainted products, only in Vermont, while refusing to do so in other states and international markets. This is why their powerful front group, the GMA, is frantically working in Washington, D.C., to lobby the FDA and the Congress to take away the right of states to require genetically engineered foods and food ingredients to be labeled, and to allow them to continue to label and advertise genetically engineered and chemically-laced foods as “natural” or “all natural.”
Industry’s Last Chance: Indentured Politicians
Conspiring with the GMA, Monsanto’s minions from both the Republican and Democratic parties in Congress, led by the notorious Koch brothers mouthpiece, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), introduced in early April in the House a GMA-scripted bill to outlaw mandatory state GMO labels and allow the continued use of “natural” or “all natural” product labels on a wide range of Frankenfoods and beverages.
The GMA’s federal offensive to prop up the dangerous and evermore unpopular technology of transgenic foods comes on the heels of two high-profile ballot initiative battles in California (2012), and Washington State (2013), where GMA members were forced to spend almost $70 million to narrowly defeat GMO labeling forces. The 15 largest contributors to stop GMO labeling in California and Washington include the following GMA members:
These “dirty tricks,” “dirty money” ballot initiative victories in California and Washington now ring hollow. If Congress or the FDA, prompted by these same companies, dare to stomp on states’ rights to require GMO labels on GMO food, if they dare to repress the rights of millions of consumers to know whether or not their food is genetically engineered, they run the very real risk of detonating an even larger and more vociferous grassroots rebellion, including massive boycotts and a concerted effort to throw “Monsanto’s Minions” out of Congress. The widespread furor last year over the so-called “Monsanto Protection Act,” surreptitiously appended to the Appropriations Bill, and then, after massive uproar, subsequently removed, is but a partial foreshadowing of the turmoil yet to come.
Likewise Congress or the FDA should think twice before legally sanctioning the patently outrageous practice of allowing companies to continue to label or advertise GMO or chemically tainted food as “natural” or “all natural.”
Given the fact that 80-90 percent of American consumers want genetically engineered foods to be labeled, as indicated by numerous polls over the last 10 years, and given the fact that it is obviously unethical and fraudulent to label or advertise GMO or heavily chemically processed foods as “natural,” even the FDA has so far declined to come to the rescue of Monsanto and Big Food. In the face of 65 so far largely successful national class-action lawsuits against food companies accused of fraudulently labeling their GMO or chemically-laced brands as “natural, “Big Food’s lawyers have asked the FDA to come to their aid. But so far, the FDA has declined to throw gasoline on the fire.
It’s clear why “profit at any cost” big business wants to keep consumers in the dark. They want to maximize their profits. The consumer, the environment, the climate be damned. But let’s review, for the record, why truthful food labeling is so important to us, the overwhelming majority of the people, and to future generations.
Here are three major, indeed life-or-death, issues that drive America’s new anti-GMO and pro-organic food movement:
(1) There is mounting, and indeed alarming, evidence that genetically engineered foods and crops, and the toxic pesticides, chemicals, and genetic constructs that accompany them, are hazardous. GMOs pose a mortal threat, not only to human and animal health, but also to the environment, biodiversity, the survival of small-scale family farms, and climate stability.
(2) Genetically engineered crops are the technological cornerstone and ideological rationale for our dominant, out-of-control system of industrial agriculture, factory farms, and highly processed junk food.America’s industrial food and farming system is literally destroying public health, the environment, soil fertility and climate stability. As we educate, boycott and mobilize, as we label and drive GMOs off the market, we simultaneously rip the mask off Big Food and chemical corporations, which will ultimately undermine industrial agriculture and speed up the “Great Transition” to a food and farming system that is organic, sustainable and climate stabilizing.
(3) Fraudulent “natural” labels confuse consumers and hold back the growth of true organic alternatives. Consumers are confused about the difference between conventional products marketed as “natural,” or “all natural”and those nutritionally and environmentally superior products that are “certified organic.” Recent polls indicate that many health- and green-minded consumers remain confused about the qualitative difference between products labeled or advertised as “natural,” versus those labeled as organic. Many believe that “natural” means “almost organic,” or that a natural product is even better than organic. Thanks to growing consumer awareness, and four decades of hard work, the organic community has built up a $35-billion “certified organic” food and products sector that prohibits the use of genetic engineering, irradiation, toxic pesticides, sewage sludge and chemical fertilizers. As impressive as this $35 billion Organic Alternative is, it remains overshadowed by the $80 billion in annual spending by consumers on products marketed as “natural.” Get rid of fraudulent “natural” labels on GMO and chemically tainted products, and organic sales will skyrocket.
With the passage of the Vermont GMO labeling law, after 20 years of struggle, it’s time to celebrate our common victory. But as we all know, the battle for a new food and farming system, and a sustainable future has just begun
The Native American Student Union of Western Washington University hosted a spring pow-wow, April 26, 2014, in MAC Gym at WWU in Bellingham. The meaning of the pow-wow is to bring people together in a traditional celebration to share the mind body and spirit. The spring pow-wow featured vending, music, traditional dancing food and more. MATT MCDONALD — THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Buy Photo
Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/04/27/3611151/nasus-2014-spring-powwow.html#storylink=cpy
NORMAN, Oklahoma – Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, a group of Native parents and their allies from across the country were alerted to Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin’s daughter, Christina Fallin’s latest gaff when her band Pink Pony announced via Facebook “I heard Pink Pony was wearing full regalia tonight.” Protestors led by Choctaw musician Samantha Crain staged a protest at the Norman Music Festival in Oklahoma, as Native Americans were outraged on social media when Fallin wore a Native American-style fringed shawl with the word “Sheep” on the back and performed a fake war dance while her boyfriend Steven Battles ridiculed the protesters and flipped them off from the stage.
Earlier that day, Crain said on her Facebook page, “Publicity stunt or not, even if they are lying, their attitudes, their insincerity, their irresponsibility, their general lack of caring about anything other than the advancement of themselves deserve a protest. So I will be at the Pink Pony show at NMF tonight. Midnight. black watch stage. Peacefully and quietly picketing with signs to tell them how I feel.”
Some of the signs said: “culture is not a costume”; “with all your power, what will you do?”; “you still owe us an apology”; “don’t trend on me”; “I am not a costume” and “please forgive us if we innocently oppose you.” The last sign was a take on Fallin’s non-apology after she posted a photo of herself misappropriating Native America regalia reserved for highly honored leaders for a glamour shot to promote her career. Faced with more Native American protests Fallin attempted to have Crain and supporters removed by security, but they were allowed to remain on private land adjacent to the stage.
According to a tweet by Chahta Summer, a Choctaw mother, and recent law school graduate Fallin’s shawl with “sheep” written on the back was
a direct swipe at Native Americans. “Their supporters were calling us sheep the last time, saying we called her out to be PC, not thinking for ourselves,” Summer said.
Cherokee EONM member and blogger Jennie Stockley posted to Pink Pony’s Facebook page, “Apathy towards the clear feelings of other people is cruelty. Her apathy based to Native culture is racist. No opaqueness in this issue. It is clear. We will not stand silent while she degrades honored and sacred symbols.”
The Fallin family has faced controversy with the Native American community both in Oklahoma and nationally last year when Governor Mary Fallin helped facilitate the forced adoption of a Cherokee girl, Veronica Brown, from her Cherokee family who were found to be fit parents by the courts 1,000 miles away to a white South Carolina couple who had used questionable adoption practices to dodge the Indian Child Welfare Act. That act seeks to protect Native American tribes from mass removal of their children; a potential violation of the Geneva Conventions on Genocide. Oklahoma has one of the largest Native American populations in the country and has 38 federally recognized tribes.
EONM asked the Riverwind Casino, Blackwatch Studios and Christina Fallin and Governor Mary Fallin to apologize for this direct attack affront to Native American concerns regarding the misuse of Native culture and purposeful insult to Native Americans in general.
New research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows some fish in the West’s pristine, alpine lakes like Lake Solitude in Grand Teton National Park (pictured here) have high mercury levels. | credit: U.S. Geological Survey/John Pritz
SEATTLE — Some bad news for backcountry in the West: Some of the fish in the region’s wild alpine lakes contain unsafe levels of mercury, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
In the broadest study of its kind to date, the USGS tested various kinds of trout and other fish at 86 sites in national parks in 10 western states from 2008 to 2012. The average concentration of mercury in sport fish from two sites in Alaskan parks exceeded federal health standards, as did individual fish caught in California, Colorado, Washington and Wyoming.
But perhaps more importantly, mercury was detected in all of the fish sampled, even from the more pristine areas of the parks.
The study, conducted jointly by the National Park Service and the USGS, found that mercury levels varied greatly from park to park and even among sites within each park. Overall, 96 percent of the sport fish sampled were within safe levels of mercury for human consumption.
“It’s good news that across this entire study area most of the fish were low,” said Collin Eagles-Smith, a research ecologist with USGS and the lead author of the study. “The concern is that there were some areas, and some fish, that did have concentrations that might pose a threat to either wildlife or humans.”
Spatial distribution of the 21 national parks sampled in this
study. Size of circle represents percentage of total dataset.
Credit: USGS.
Two percent of the fish sampled in Mount Rainier National Park exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for safe human consumption. Fish sampled in Olympic National Park had a higher average mercury concentration than some other parks in the region, but none of the samples were above safe human consumption levels.
“Mercury concentrations in those fish in the Pacific Northwest were quite variable,” Eagles-Smith said. “Crater Lake had quite low concentrations in comparison to other parks, whereas Olympic National Park had some of the highest concentrations in comparison to other parks.”
The researchers were surprised to find some of the highest levels of mercury in a small fish called the speckled dace, which were sampled in Capitol Reef and Zion national parks in Utah.
“The concentrations in those fish were comparable to the highest concentrations we saw in the largest, longlived fish in Alaska,” Eagles-Smith said. He added that more research is needed to better understand how mercury is deposited from the atmosphere into the environment and then concentrated at varying levels in different species.
Speckled dace
There was some bad news in the study for birds: In more than half the sites tested, fish had mercury levels that exceeded the most sensitive health benchmark for fish-eating birds, Eagles-Smith said.
“People can regulate their intake of fish and wild fish-eating birds can’t. So, they’re going to take in more fish and more mercury as a result, and it can impact their behavior, ability to reproduce and ability to find food.”
Mercury can come from natural sources, like volcanoes. However, since the industrial revolution atmospheric mercury levels have increased three-fold because of the burning of fossil fuels. Recent studies have shown that particulate pollution from China, which could result from the burning of coal among other sources, can and does make its way across the Pacific Ocean to North America.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that exposure to high levels of mercury in humans may cause damage to the brain, kidneys and the developing fetus. Pregnant women and young children are particularly sensitive to the effects of mercury.
Friday, May 2, 2014 6-8:30 pm
Totem Middle School Cafeteria, 1605 7th St. Marysville
Come celebrate Latino culture and the rich diversity of our Community in an evening of food, music, dancing and fun for all ages – FREE!
Our planning for the eighth annual Cinco de Mayo Celebration is almost complete and the event should be FUN-tastic with something of interest for all ages. It will be Friday, May 2 from 6- 8:30 PM in the Totem Middle School cafeteria and gymnasium. All Marysville and Tulalip community members are invited to participate. Dr. Becky Berg and Mayor Jon Nehring will give opening remarks.
The free event will include Mexican food, music, dancing, and activities. The food will be prepared by the Marysville School District food service students in the School House Café program. Music and entertainment will be provided by the local band, Arrecife Norteño, and other local groups. Several activities will be geared specifically toward children, such as playing soccer and other games, breaking piñatas, and exploring police and fire vehicles. Again this year, Molina Healthcare will bring a stationary bike that guests may pedal to make frozen non- alcoholic drinks; it was a huge hit last year. Dr. Cleo, their mascot, will also be at the event again this year.
Thanks to several generous donors we have received enough funding so we can offer it as a free event again this year. Monetary donations have been received from Marysville Rotary, Marysville YMCA, Molina Healthcare, Marysville Free Methodist Church, and Marysville Ford. In-kind and volunteer support has also been instrumental in making this event happen; it has been received from the Marysville School District, Molina Healthcare, Marysville Printing, Belmark Homes, Arrecife Norteño band, Sea Mar Community Health Center, and various student groups.
This community effort has been lead by Marjorie Serge, with support from Jim Strickland, Victor Rodriguez, Susan Stachowiak, Wendy Messarina Volosin, Anastasia Garcia, Rhonda Mohen and others.
Questions in English should be directed to Marjorie Serge at 425-350-2064 or Marjorie_serge@msvl.k12.wa.us Questions in Spanish should be directed to the school district’s information line 360-657-0250.
Following last month’s tragic landslide in Oso, communities all around the nation have come together to show their support for the victims.
Quiznos is urging Washington residents to attend a silent auction and dinner benefitting Oso victims this Sunday, April 27, at Nature’s Connection Place in Arlington. Quiznos is donating subs for the event and is also collecting monetary donations in area stores.
Nipun Prashar is the owner and operator of the Everett Quiznos and was personally affected by the tragedy. For days immediately following, he donated a percentage of store proceeds to the relief effort. In addition to providing food and auction items for the benefit, his restaurant is currently collecting customer donations that will go directly to the relief effort.
Tickets for the event are still available, and the organizers are still accepting auction items and donations. For more information, contact the event organizers at 530slidebenefit@gmail.com or (425) 308-2183.
The Quileute Tribe is suing a manufacturer of movie collectibles over products that have been sold to fans of the Twilight films using the Tribe’s name.
The trinkets include the Quileute Metal Cuff, Quileute Leather Wrap Bracelet, Quileute Hoop Dangle Earrings, and Quileute Tribe Pendant/Choker. The Quileute feature in the popular (and obviously fictional) series of vampire films as the Tribe of the character Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner.
In a complaint filed March 28, the Quileute Tribe has accused the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) of violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, which was established to protect the integrity of Indian Tribal names as brands. The gist of it is, if you are selling Navajo necklace — or, if you’re Urban Outfitters, Navajo panties — it had better have been made by a Navajo.
In this case, the Quileute Tribe is demanding NECA cease using the Quileute name in connection with its products, and is seeking monetary recompense for damages to the Tribe’s integrity and livelihood. To read the full complaint, visit TurtleTalk.
