Tulalip News

Standing Against GMOs Is Standing for Sovereignty

Darla Antoine, Indian Country Today Media Network

There are plenty of reasons to join the cause to label or eliminate foods that contain genetically modified ingredients: first of all, just because something is deemed legal by the government does not make it safe for humans. Ask any indigenous person in any country: how many things deemed “legal” have done harm to their cultures and communities? GMOs are no different.

Take Hawaii, for example. Last year the chain of islands organized several large demonstrations to speak out against the biotech companies trying to make the island state their home. Because Hawaii is geographically isolated and has an ideal growing climate, plus abundant natural resources, five of the world’s biggest biotech companies have targeted the islands as their testing field for chemical and food engineering. What does this mean? Well, to Hawaiians it means that over 70 different chemicals have been sprayed onto genetically engineered crops during field tests that went undisclosed to the public—meaning the surrounding communities were given no warning nor a chance to protect themselves from exposure through wind, water or contaminated soil. Some of these field tests took place near homes and schools. All of this in a state where adult on-set diabetes and cancer rates have increased over the last 10 years.

Many native Hawaiians are actively speaking out against the genetic modification of their food supply, stating that GMOs are sacrilegious to their indigenous culture. Miliani B. Strask, a native Hawaiian attorney wrote, “For Hawaii’s indigenous peoples, the concepts underlying genetic manipulation of life forms are offensive and contrary to the cultural values of aloha ‘ʻāina [love for the land].”

Across the ocean in a vastly different climate, the Diné are in accord. In 2013 The Navajo Nation declared themselves to be a GMO and pesticide-free nation. This encompasses 10 million acres of land and more than 250,000 people. Their reasoning? In part: Corn is sacred.

In the year 2000, only 25 percent of the corn growing in the United States was genetically modified. In 2013 that number was up to 90 percent. Along with more GMO corn comes more super-weeds and super-pests adapting to live alongside the corn, which then needs even more intense super-chemicals to kill them off. Biotech companies like Monsanto have even been allowed to patent their seeds. If their seeds blow into your field and begin to grow? You owe them money. This has led to thousands of farmers in India to take their own life as they spiral into a debt they cannot pay off.

In their resolution against GMOs and pesticides, the Dine cited the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, specifically Article 31, which states:

“Indigenous Peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies, and cultures, including . . . seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora . . .”

GMOs may cause yet-unknown health consequences, but as indigenous people they may also threaten cultural heritage, tradition and even sovereignty. Corn IS sacred. It is our mother and our nurturer. We cannot stand idly by as she is mutated and commoditized into something that poisons the land, the water and the people.

Over 61 countries, covering 40 percent of the world’s population and all of the European Union already label genetically modified foods. And in 50 countries there are severe restrictions or outright bans of GMOs—Canada and the United States are not among any of these countries. Whether you believe genetically modified food can cause cancer or not, this is one cause worth standing up for: plant heirloom seeds in your garden, don’t use pesticides and herbicides, and vote to label GMO foods. If labeling GMO foods isn’t on your local ballot, fight to get it on there.

Darla Antoine is an enrolled member of the Okanagan Indian Band in British Columbia and grew up in Eastern Washington State. For three years, she worked as a newspaper reporter in the Midwest, reporting on issues relevant to the Native and Hispanic communities, and most recently served as a producer for Native America Calling. In 2011, she moved to Costa Rica, where she currently lives with her husband and their infant son. She lives on an organic and sustainable farm in the “cloud forest”—the highlands of Costa Rica, 9,000 feet above sea level. Due to the high elevation, the conditions for farming and gardening are similar to that of the Pacific Northwest—cold and rainy for most of the year with a short growing season. Antoine has an herb garden, green house, a bee hive, cows, a goat, and two trout ponds stocked with hundreds of rainbow trout.

Tulalip Heritage eyes 1B boys state basketball title

Genna Martin/The HeraldKeanu Hamilton (right) plays defense against teammate Ayrik Miranda during a recent Tulalip Heritage boys basketball practice. — Genna Martin/The Herald
Keanu Hamilton (right) plays defense against teammate Ayrik Miranda during a recent Tulalip Heritage boys basketball practice.

By Aaron Lommers, The Herald

MARYSVILLE — The Tulalip Heritage boys basketball team has won three championships this season — a league championship, a district championship and a tri-district championship.

At the Spokane Arena on Thursday, the Hawks begin their quest for a fourth — and make no mistake, this is the one they really want.

A state championship is just three victories away for the Hawks, who face Neah Bay at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the Class 1B state quarterfinals.

A big reason for the success Tulalip Heritage (26-1) has enjoyed this season has been the play of senior Keanu Hamilton, who recently was named the Northwest 1B League’s Most Valuable Player.

Not bad for a kid who hadn’t played organized basketball until his sophomore year of high school.

For a preview of the local schools involved in the 1A/2A and 1B/2B state tournaments, click here.

Hamilton, a 6-foot-1 guard/forward, was primarily a baseball player before he turned out for basketball nearly 2½ years ago. A natural athlete, Hamilton was fast and could jump, but the rest of his game needed a lot of work.

Asked if Hamilton came in with basic basketball skills, Tulalip Heritage head coach Marlin Fryberg replied, “Yeah … well … not really.”

Hamilton couldn’t make a layin, couldn’t dribble and couldn’t shoot. It was a rough start to his basketball career.

“Every time they threw the ball to me, I wouldn’t catch it,” Hamilton said. “I don’t know what (the problem) was, I just couldn’t catch the ball. I couldn’t even like walk and chew gum on the court. It was bad.”

Skills Hamilton’s teammates learned as children he was now trying to master as a teen-ager.

“People would stay stuff like, ‘You need to pivot. You learn that in kindergarten,'” Hamilton said. “I didn’t learn that in kindergarten. I learned that in my 10th-grade year.”

Hamilton was a project, but one Fryberg saw potential in from the beginning. Hamilton played on the junior varsity as a sophomore and began putting in the work that would land him on the varsity as a junior. Fryberg even started Hamilton a few times last season.

“That was the best feeling in the world, getting to start, because usually I just get cut from teams because I was really bad,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton doesn’t have to worry about getting cut anymore. His hard work has turned him into one of the most multi-dimensional 1B players in the state.

“Some kids don’t put in that work,” Fryberg said. “He’s definitely a different kid. To watch him over the past three years and see his progress is just phenomenal.”

The Hawks got off to a good start this season, but the first of their three victories over Lummi kicked the season into high gear. A double-digit win evened the regular-season series between the two teams and gave Tulalip Heritage a chance to capture the league title with a win over the Blackhawks in the third and final regular-season meeting — which they did.

In the district-title game, the Hawks defeated Lummi for a third consecutive time.

Riding high, Hamilton and the Hawks didn’t stop there.

In the tri-district championship game, Hamilton scored the game-winner in the final 10 seconds and the Hawks knocked off No. 1-ranked Neah Bay.

Tulalip Heritage senior point guard Bradley Fryberg, a senior transfer from O’Dea, beat his defender off the dribble and found Hamilton underneath the basket. With two defenders closing in, Hamilton put up the shot that gave his team a 68-66 win.

Fryberg-to-Hamilton is a one-two combination that has been working for much of the season.

“It’s gotten to that point to where it’s just instinct now,” Fryberg said of his connection with Hamilton. “You just know where he’s at.”

In just two years, Hamilton has gone from a player who could barely dribble to one of the most difficult players to defend at the 1B level, averaging about 18 points per game.

“He’s a coach’s nightmare,” Fryberg said. “If you try to guard this guy, you’ve got to put at least two guys on him because he just doesn’t quit.”

But for all Hamilton has accomplished, there is still one goal left on his list.

“I just want to win state,” he said.

After an 81-64 victory over Wilbur-Creston in Friday’s regional game, the Hawks are just three wins away.

It won’t be easy — three of the top five 1B teams in the state are in the top half of the bracket (No. 1 Neah Bay, No. 3 Tulalip Heritage and No. 4 Pomeroy).

“I told my boys, ‘What is a better way than to win it than by playing all the best teams in the state?'” Marlin Fryberg said.

While Neah Bay might have revenge on its mind stemming from the loss to Tulalip Heritage in the tri-district championship, the main focus for the Hawks is doing whatever it takes to get to the semifinals.

“It’s just a basketball game to us,” Marlin Fryberg said. “We’re going to go and put our work in and the best team is going to win — and I’m pretty confident it’s going to be us.”

President’s Indian Affairs Budget Request Promotes Strong Tribal Economies, Communities and Families

Press release, U.S. Department of the Interior

Proposal for Fiscal Year 2015 fully funds contract support costs, launches the “Tiwahe Initiative” to address family welfare and poverty issues, invests in education, economic development, and sustainable stewardship of natural resources, and advances a strategy to reduce incarceration in Indian Country.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request for Indian Affairs, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), is $2.6 billion – a $33.6 million increase above the FY 2014 enacted level. The request maintains the President’s commitment to meet the Federal government’s responsibilities to the 566 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes by promoting stronger tribal economies, communities and families.

On June 26, 2013, President Obama appointed Interior Secretary Sally Jewell as the Chair of the White House Council on Native American Affairs. To underscore the President’s commitment to effective partnerships with American Indian and Alaska Native communities, the Council was established by Executive Order to enable Federal agencies to work more collaboratively and effectively with federally recognized Tribes to advance their economic and social priorities. The White House Council is a comprehensive multi-year effort to improve conditions for American Indians and Alaska Natives throughout Indian Country. Informed by consultation with the Tribes and reflective of tribal priorities, Interior’s 2015 budget continues the initiative’s focus on improved self-determination for tribal nations, safety of Indian communities, trust resource management, and post-secondary, elementary, and secondary education.

“The President’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request continues to support Indian Affairs’ efforts to advance tribal self-governance and self-determination,” said Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn. “In a budgetary climate that remains challenging, President Obama has made Indian tribes a priority, providing for the prudent management of tribal energy and natural resources, building stronger tribal economies, stabilizing families and creating safer tribal communities, expanding educational opportunities and increasing student achievement, restoring tribal homelands, and protecting tribal treaty rights.”

Among the major highlights, the budget proposal fully funds contract support costs that Tribes incur as managers of programs serving Native Americans and proposes a new Tiwahe Initiative, which integrates social services and job training programs to address the interrelated issues of poverty and child and family welfare. The President’s Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative would further invest in economic development and education in Indian Country to promote strong, resilient tribal economies and dramatically improve educational opportunities.

The Strengthening Tribal Nations Initiative

The Strengthening Tribal Nations Initiative is one of the Department of the Interior’s key priorities, involving a comprehensive effort to advance the President’s commitments to American Indians and Alaska Natives to improve conditions throughout Indian Country. The FY 2015 request includes $26.5 million in program increases for four areas: Advancing Nation-to-Nation Relationships, Supporting Indian Families and Protecting Indian Country, Supporting Sustainable Stewardship of Trust Resources, and Advancing Indian Education.

The request also proposes a total of $922.6 million in Tribal Priority Allocations, an increase of $19.3 million over the FY 2014 enacted level.

Advancing Nation-to-Nation Relationships

The FY 2015 budget request for Contract Support, including the Indian Self-Determination Fund, is $251.0 million, a $4.0 million increase over the FY 2014 enacted level. The FY 2015 budget request fully funds estimated 2015 contract support costs.

Public Law 93-638, the Indian Self-determination and Education Assistance Act, allows federally recognized Tribes to operate Federal programs themselves under contract with the United States. Known as 638 contracts, they are an expression of the Federal government’s policy to support tribal self-determination and self-governance. Tribes rely on contract support funds to pay the costs of administering and managing contracted programs. The availability of contract support cost funding is a key factor in a Tribe’s decision and ability to assume responsibility for operating Federal programs.

To facilitate tribal 638 contracting, the request includes an additional $1.2 million to increase services provided by the Department’s Office of Indirect Cost Negotiations, which negotiates indirect cost rates with non-Federal entities, including tribal governments, that contract with Interior in accordance with Federal regulations.

Indian Affairs, in conjunction with the Indian Health Service, will hold a tribal consultation session on March 11, 2014 in Washington, D.C., to identify long-term solutions for streamlining and funding contract support costs.

To further enhance the Nation-to-Nation relationship, Indian Affairs is continuing its comprehensive look at Federal acknowledgment regulations, with the intent of publishing a proposed rule in 2014. The FY 2015 budget also proposes language to clarify the Secretary of the Interior’s authority to take land into trust and to amend the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 to reduce significant delays in processing fee-to-trust applications.

Supporting Indian Families and Protecting Indian Country

The FY 2015 budget proposes an $11.6 million increase for the Tiwahe Initiative to carry out the President’s commitment to protect and promote prosperous tribal communities. Tiwahe is Lakota for “family.” The Initiative provides a comprehensive and integrated approach to address the interrelated problems of poverty, violence, and substance abuse in American Indian communities. Through this Initiative, social services and job training programs will be integrated and expanded to address child and family welfare, job training, and incarceration issues, with the goal of promoting family stability and strengthening tribal communities.

The Initiative includes:

· An increase of $10.0 million to build on BIA’s social services and Indian child welfare programs with the goal of empowering American Indian and Alaska Native individuals and families in health and family stability, thereby strengthening tribal communities as a whole,

· $1.0 million to develop and institutionalize a program to effectively target funding and evaluate outcomes in meeting social service needs in Indian Country, and

· A program increase of $550,000 to expand job placement and training programs.

The BIA’s Housing Improvement Program will continue to provide services which result in more functional dwellings and institute changes to alleviate overcrowding in Indian homes.

To promote public safety and community resilience in tribal communities, the FY 2015 budget request includes resources to build on BIA Law Enforcement’s recent successes in reducing violent crime by setting a new Priority Performance Goal to lower repeat incarcerations in Indian Country. A pilot program will be implemented to lower repeat incarceration rates in tribally operated jails on three reservations – Red Lake in Minnesota, Ute Mountain in Colorado and Duck Valley in Nevada – by a total of three percent by September 30, 2015.

The BIA’s Alternatives to Incarceration Strategy will seek to address underlying causes of repeat offenses, such as substance abuse and lack of adequate social service support, by utilizing alternative courts, increased treatment opportunities, probation programs, and interagency and intergovernmental partnerships with tribal, State and Federal stakeholders.

Supporting Sustainable Stewardship of Trust Resources

Taking land into trust is one of the most important functions Interior undertakes on behalf of federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes, whose homelands are essential to their peoples’ health, safety and economic well-being. The BIA’s trust programs assist Tribes and individual Indian landowners in the management, development and protection of trust lands and natural resource assets totaling about 55 million surface acres and 57 million acres of subsurface mineral estates.

The FY 2015 budget request includes increases totaling $3.6 million to provide support for the sustainable stewardship of natural resources in Indian Country, and continues support for the protection and restoration of ecosystems and important landscapes, the sustainable stewardship of land, water, ocean and energy resources, and for building tribal resilience to climate change. This includes:

· An increase of $2.0 million, for the development of natural resource information tools to advance landscape-scale resource management in coordination with DOI’s and other Federal efforts, and

· An increase of $1.6 million, for deferred maintenance on Indian irrigation projects to bring drought relief to affected tribal lands.

The FY 2015 budget affirms the Administration’s commitment to address tribal water rights and needs in Indian Country, and includes $12.3 million in increases for the implementation of Indian land and water rights settlements across DOI. The FY 2015 budget request for Indian Land and Water Claim Settlements funded through the BIA is $35.7 million, equal with the FY 2014 enacted level, and includes:

· $4.0 million for the Navajo Water Resources Development Trust Fund, a reduction of $2.0 million, reflecting projected need;

· An increase of $6.6 million over 2014 for the Taos Pueblo Water Settlement to include indexing requirements;

· An increase of $1.2 million for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project to meet projected 2015 funding needs; and

· $6.2 million for first-year funding of the Aamodt Settlement enacted as part of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010.

Since funding for the Duck Valley Water Rights Settlement was completed in 2014, no funding is requested for FY 2015.

Advancing Indian Education

The FY 2015 budget request of $794.4 million for BIE is a $5.6 million increase over the FY 2014 enacted level and advances the Department’s continuing commitment to American Indian Education. The 2015 budget proposes increases totaling $3.8 million for elementary and secondary school education activities funded by the BIE and for education construction:

· A program increase of $500,000 for Johnson-O’Malley (JOM) education grants to support a new student count in 2015 and to provide funding for a projected increase in the number of students eligible for grants;

· $1.0 million to support ongoing evaluation of the BIE school system to enable improvements in educational outcomes, organizational management, and program performance; and

· An increase of $2.3 million to fund site development at the Beatrice Rafferty School, a BIE-funded K-8 contract day school operated by the Passamaquoddy Tribe-Pleasant Point in Perry, ME, for which design funding was provided in the FY 2014 budget.

Tribal colleges and universities provide the tribal communities where they are located with the facilities and resources to overcome barriers to higher education and to teach community members skills they need for success. The FY 2015 budget request for Indian post-secondary education includes increases totaling $2.3 million for BIE-funded post-secondary programs;

· An increase of $300,000 to meet the needs of growing enrollment at BIE-funded tribal technical colleges; and

· Program increases of $1.7 million for fellowship and training opportunities for post-graduate study in the sciences and $250,000 for summer pre-law preparatory program scholarships.

Achieving Better Results at Lower Costs

Over the last few years, Indian Affairs has taken significant steps to reduce administrative costs associated with the wide range of services it delivers, including cost-saving measures such as standardization of information technology, consolidation of infrastructure, and streamlining of operations.

Indian Affairs’ responsibility to the federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes is rooted in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution and subsequently defined in treaties, acts of Congress, executive orders and actions, Federal court decisions, and Federal policies and regulations. Through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it is responsible for the management, development and protection of Indian trust land and natural and energy resources, providing for public safety, welfare and justice in tribal communities, and promoting tribal self-determination and self-governance. Through the Bureau of Indian Education, it funds 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools, of which two-thirds are tribally operated, located on 64 reservations in 23 States and serving approximately 41,000 students. It also funds 27 tribal colleges and universities and two tribal technical colleges, operates two post-secondary institutions of higher learning and provides higher education scholarships.

Exploring Culture: Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary takes field trip to see Tulalip art

TRC General Manager Sam Askew greets the children on their field trip and explains a little but about the art featured at the resort. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

The Tulalip Resort Casino adorned with traditional Coast Salish art provides an excellent place to learn about art outside of a class setting. Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary 5^th graders took field trips to the resort February 24^th through the 28th to look at the artwork done by Tulalip artists. The students are currently learning about Coast Salish art styles, specifically styles of Puget Sound traditions.

Students capture a photo on an iPad for the scavenger hunt. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

The kids struggled to keep from running, mesmerized by the art, losing themselves in the mystery and intrigue of coastal designs. The 5^th grade students studied Coast Salish art before the excursion, learning the composition and design elements of the artwork. During their art period, Mr. Heimer took each class on different days throughout the week to see the art first hand. Groups of students conducted scavenger hunts looking for very specific designs with unique elements, making the students engage with the art, using classroom iPads to show what they thought was the correct design. For example, one item was a bear with a snout made from trigons and crescents. There are many bear designs throughout the resort, though each design is different. The student groups were all abuzz looking over their pictures, talking about the designs they had captured, going back to the designs to point out what they needed to photograph, demonstrating their intricate understanding of Coast Salish Traditional art.

Students rush to finish their scavenger hunt. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

The trip, although short lasting only about 20 minutes, was important for the class. The students were excited to see the art, and even more excited to tell you about the art, explaining what different components were. They returned to class where their photos will be evaluated and graded. The school hopes to continue with similar activities, making their learning relatable on a local and human level.

Sidebar:

The classroom iPads at Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary were purchased with National Education Association (NEA) School Improvement Grant (SIG) funding. You may recall the See-Yaht-Sub coverage of the NEA visit to the school, congratulating them for their excellent progress as one of the SIG schools, and wanted to know more about the role technology has played in making them a successful SIG school.

The technology levy for the Marysville School District, which recently was passed by voters, intends to incorporate other technology in every classroom in the district for similar uses. Progressive learning has arrived in the MSD.

Andrew Gobin is a reporter with the See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Phone: (360) 716.4188

Tulalip Heritage Hawks Regional Champions: Advance to State Championships in Spokane

Brandon Jones swats a shot from Wilbur-Creston. Shawn Sanchey with the rebound. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

The WIAA Regional Championship game held at Everett Community College February 28^th was the final qualifying game for the State Championships in Spokane. The Tulalip Heritage Hawks took the Regional Championship Title over the Wilbur-Creston Wildcats, with a final score of 81-64 Tulalip. This loser-out game advances the Hawks to State, where they will play the Neah Bay Red Devils.

The Tulalip Heritage Hawks have said all year that this was their year to return to state, and bring home the championship title from Spokane. In recent years, they have come close, losing to their rivals, the Lummi Blackhawks, stopping their dreams of taking state just short of the championships. The Hawks have had an incredible season, currently ranked second in the state class, with an overall 26 wins and one loss to rival Lummi Blackhawks earlier in the season. Heritage defeated Lummi three more times since, including one game for the District Championship.

Ayrik Miranda with his signature three pointer. Andrew Gobin/*Tulalip News*

On Thursday, March 6^th, Tulalip Heritage Hawks will face the Neah Bay Red Devils for the first game of the State Championships in Spokane. Tulalip defeated Neah Bay at the Tri-District Championship game 68-66, so this first game will be an intense rematch.

Keanu Hamilton fouled on the lay up. He made the basket, and both his foul shots. *Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

Andrew Gobin is a reporter with the See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov
Phone: (360) 716.4188

NCAI Encouraged By EPA Announcement Regarding Bristol Bay Salmon Fisheries

Press release, The National Congress of American Indians

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is encouraged by the news that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to review appropriate options to protect the salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

The Bristol Bay watershed is the largest source for sockeye salmon in the world. Current proposals for mines in the vicinity, with the resultant runoff and pollution, threaten the purity of Bay waters and thus the source of income and food for Alaska Native peoples and other fishermen.

Of the EPA announcement, NCAI President Brian Cladoosby remarked:

“While NCAI has not taken an official position on the mining proposals, I will say that for 100 years the salmon have needed a united voice to step up and speak for them. There are too many wetlands, streams, and clean water sources that have been lost along the West Coast and up to Alaska. We have to stand together to protect the environment and natural resources for the next generation. As a fisherman, a father, and a tribal leader, I am committed to restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of our Nation’s waterways. Protecting our waters and our salmon is our responsibility to ensure future generations can enjoy, care for, and be sustained by our lands and water.”

To read the most recent NCAI resolution on the issue, click here.

Ramapough Name Leonardo DiCaprio, New York Post in Defamation Lawsuit

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/APLeonardo DiCaprio arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) — Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Leonardo DiCaprio arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for — but didn’t win — the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Wolf of Wall Street, but the Ramapough Lenape community of New Jersey is more concerned with the role he played in the making of a different 2013 release, Out of the Furnace.

DiCaprio, a producer of Out of the Furnace, is one of eight people named in a lawsuit brought by eight members of the Ramapough Lenape on three counts: false light, defamation, and infliction of emotional distress. Filmmaker Ridley Scott and his late brother Tony Scott, who were also credited as producers of the film, are among those named in the suit, as are director Scott Cooper and writer Brad Inglesby. The New York Post is also named as a defendant for publishing a review of the film with the title “New movie lifts curtain on NJ’s Ramapough Mountain people.”

The intention of the Ramapough to sue over the film has been known for some time, and an ICTMN story posted December 26 reported that a lawsuit had been filed by 17 tribal members in New Jersey District Court.

This appears to be a different lawsuit — documents published today by Radar.com are dated January 2, 2014. The CNN story that was the source for the original ICTMN post specified that the 17 plaintiffs were seeking copy50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, plus court costs. The Radar lawsuit documents list just eight plaintiffs, who request compensation “in an amount to be determined by a jury.”

The Radar lawsuit documents state that “The movie and article in the New York Post places Plaintiffs and their family members in a false light. Each have had an extremely negative effect on Plaintiffs’ community. It is extremely embarrassing to the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs and their family members are harrassed and discriminated against. The children are teased at school.”

Out of the Furnace isn’t the only gritty drama to feature the Ramapough — the Sundance TV series The Red Road, which premiered on Thursday, is also about the New Jersey community. According to reports, the Ramapough were consulted during the making of The Red Road.

‘Nooksack 306’ Wards Off Disenrollment With Multiple Legal Actions

Gale Courey Toensing, Indian Country Today Media Network, 3/3/14

Two members of the “Nooksack 306” – Nooksack Indian Tribe citizens who are fighting disenrollment – are awaiting an appeals court ruling on a case involving their alleged unconstitutional removal from the tribal council.

Council members Michelle Roberts and Rudy St. Germaine, along with more than 270 of the members targeted for disenrollment, filed a motion in Nooksack Tribal Court of Appeals February 18 seeking an emergency review of a February 7 order by Nooksack Tribal Court Chief Judge Raquel Montoya-Lewis, denying an injunction to stop Council Chairman Robert Kelly and other defendants from removing Roberts and St. Germaine from the council and reinstate them to their elected positions. Montoya-Lewis said the council had the power to remove them and that the court did not have the power to deal with the political aspects of the events.

According to the court documents, Kelly called three emergency meetings over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, effectively blocked Roberts and St. Germaine from attending the meeting via teleconference and, at the last meeting, led the council in removing them from office for missing three meetings.

The motion to the Nooksack Tribal Court of Appeals asking for a review of Montoya-Lewis’s order is the latest action in a long series of legal moves that have taken place since February 2013, when the tribal council under Kelly’s direction passed Resolution 13-02: Initiating Involuntary Disenrollment for Certain Descendants of Annie James (George). The common thread among the 306 members facing disenrollment is their mixed Filipino and American Indian heritage. Moreno Peralta, spokesman for the families, told Indian Country Today Media Network that the families believe they are being dispossessed of their Nooksack identity because of their mixed Nooksack and Filipino ancestry.

Attorney Gabriel Galanda of the Seattle firm of Galanda Broadman is representing the Nooksack 306 and has challenged a number of Montoya-Lewis’s rulings in support of the tribal council before the Nooksack Tribal Court of Appeals. The appeals court ordered a halt to the disenrollment process while the legal issues are under review, ruling tribal membership is not tied to a 1942 federal census, as the Kelly Faction has maintained since starting to disenroll the Nooksack 306 last February. More than a dozen members of the Nooksack 306, including Roberts, say that since the disenrollment effort began they have been fired from jobs with the tribe and others have been denied tribal housing assistance, even though they have not yet been removed from tribal membership rolls.

Kelly did not respond to a request for comment.

In an open letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn, posted on Indian Country Today Media Network February 25, Roberts implored the federal officials to intervene in the Nooksack disenrollment conflict. She cited the violence that erupted at the Cedarville Rancheria when former tribal council chair Cherie Lash Rhoades gunned down five people, killing four of them, and stabbed a sixth.

Roberts cited a media report that described the Cedarville killings as “the latest, and most chilling, example of tribal violence over power struggles and disenrollments.”

“So we have worried about the dispute turning violent on our reservation. History teaches us that when democracy falters, when there is no due process, when free speech is stifled, people take matters into their own hands,” Roberts wrote.

However, according to the Associated Press, Rhoades was being evicted from her home, but not disenrolled from the tribe.

Roberts called disenrollment “a creature of the federal government.” It was foreign to Indian people until the 1930s, when the United States began ‘reorganizing’ tribes and the Interior Department began “foisting boilerplate constitutions on tribes” that include disenrollment provisions. “Our traditions do not… Disenrollment is therefore your business,” she told the federal officials.

Interior Department spokeswoman Nedra Darling said the department cannot comment on pending litigation.

Moreno Peralta, the Nooksack spokesman, said the Nooksack 306 group is prepared to take the disenrollment conflict into the international arena, but must first exhaust all available legal venues here.

“As clichéd as it sounds, we have not yet begun to fight. We still have two lawsuits pending before the Nooksack tribal court judge and three appeals before the Nooksack appeals court. We are hopeful that the Nooksack appellate judges will strike down the entire disenrollment,” Peralta said.

If that does not happen, the Nooksack 306 will move ahead with a pending federal court lawsuit against Interior officials regarding an allegedly unlawful federal disenrollment election that took place last summer. “That case could take us to the highest courts in the land,” Peralta said. The group is also considering another federal court lawsuit against the Kelly faction, alleging a violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act for depriving the Nooksack 306 of Christmas per capita payments. “The Nooksack judge refused to hold the Kelly faction in contempt of her own order but a federal court judge might not be so kind to them given how egregiously they have violated federal gaming laws,” Peralta said. The Nooksack 306 is also waiting to see the results of a National Indian Gaming Commission investigation into the matter.

“If all of those domestic legal efforts fail, our lawyers are already poised to pursue our claims internationally for violation of various human rights laws,” Peralta said.

Priests to be named in sexual-abuse case

Bishop George L. Thomas will “give the benefit of the doubt to the accuser” when it comes to naming names of priests accused of sex abuse from the 1930s through the 1970s. The settlement of a lawsuit filed against the Catholic church of western Montana calls for it (Photo by Eliza Wiley/Helena Independent Record).

By Vince Devlin, The Buffalo Post

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena will post names of priests accused of sexual abuse as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit filed against it and the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province.

The Diocese of Helena filed for bankruptcy protection as part of the proposed settlement, according to a story by Mike Dennison of Montana’s Lee State Bureau, and will pay $15 million to the victims.The Ursuline Sisters ran a school in St. Ignatius on the Flathead Indian Reservation that enrolled many Native American children.

George Thomas, bishop of the Diocese of Helena since 2004, said in a recent interview that a church review board will look at abuse claims, but that he doesn’t expect the church to quibble over the naming of abusers.

“I give the benefit of the doubt to the accuser,” he said. “The one thing I want to punctuate is that I have been committed from the beginning to transparency. There are no names that I will hold in secret.

“If an accusation is made against (someone) and the facts line up, I think the public has a right to know.”

There were 362 victims who filed the 2011 lawsuit in state District Court in Helena.

Seattle attorney Tim Kosnoff, who represents 271 of them, told Dennison that more than 50 Catholic priests will be named as sexual abusers of children.

Most, if not all, are dead. The abuse occurred from the 1930s through the 1970s.

U.S. moves towards Atlantic oil exploration, stirring debate over sea life

A blue whale near rigs off Southern California. Experts disagree on the effects of seismic surveys on sea mammals. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images

By Michael Wines, The New York Times

The Interior Department opened the door on Thursday to the first searches in decades for oiland gas off the Atlantic coast, recommending that undersea seismic surveys proceed, though with a host of safeguards to shield marine life from much of their impact.

The recommendation is likely to be adopted after a period of public comment and over objections by environmental activists who say it will be ruinous for the climate and sea life alike.

The American Petroleum Institute called the recommendation a critical step toward bolstering the nation’s energy security, predicting that oil and gas production in the region could create 280,000 new jobs and generate $195 billion in private investment.

Activists were livid. Allowing exploration “could be a death sentence for many marine mammals, and is needlessly turning the Atlantic Ocean into a blast zone,” Jacqueline Savitz, a vice president at the conservation group Oceana, said in a statement on Thursday.

Oceana and other groups have campaigned for months against the Atlantic survey plans, citing Interior Department calculations that the intense noise of seismic exploration could kill and injure thousands of dolphins and whales.

But while the assessment released on Thursday repeats those estimates, it also largely dismisses them, stating that they employ multiple worst-case scenarios and ignore measures by humans and the mammals themselves to avoid harm.

Many marine scientists say the estimates of death and injury are at best seriously inflated. “There’s no argument that some of these sounds can harm animals, but it’s blown out of proportion,” Arthur N. Popper, who heads the University of Maryland’s laboratory of aquatic bioacoustics, said in an interview. “It’s the Flipper syndrome, or ‘Free Willy.’ ”

How the noise affects sea mammals’ behavior in the long term — an issue about which little is known — is a much greater concern, he said.

A formal decision to proceed with surveys would reopen a swath off the East Coast stretching from Delaware to Cape Canaveral, Fla., that has been closed to petroleum exploration since the early 1980s.

Actual drilling of test wells could not begin until a White House ban on production in the Atlantic expires in 2017, and even then, only after the government agrees to lease ocean tracts to oil companies, an issue officials have barely begun to study.

The petroleum industry has sunk 51 wells off the East Coast — none of them successful enough to begin production — in decades past. But the Interior Department said in 2011 that 3.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 312 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could lie in the exploration area, and nine companies have already applied for permits to begin surveys.

President Obama committed in 2010 to allowing oil and gas surveys along the same stretch of the Atlantic, and the government had planned to lease tracts off the Virginia coast for exploration in 2011. But those plans collapsed after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in April 2010, and the government later banned activity in the area until 2017.

Thirty-four species of whales and dolphins, including six endangered whales, live in the survey area. Environmental activists say seismic exploration could deeply imperil blue and humpback whales as well as the North American right whale, which numbers in the hundreds.

Surveys generally use compressed-air guns that produce repeated bursts of sound as loud as a howitzer, often for weeks or months on end. The Interior Department’s estimate said that up to 27,000 dolphins and 4,600 whales could die or be injured annually during exploration periods, and that three million more would suffer various behavioral changes.

But many scientists say death and injury are not a major concern. Decades of seismic exploration worldwide have yet to yield a confirmed whale death, the government says.

“It is quite unlikely that most sounds, in realistic scenarios, will directly cause injury or mortality to marine mammals,” Brandon Southall, perhaps the best-known expert on the issue, wrote in an email exchange. “Most of the issues now really have to do with what are the sublethal effects — what are the changes in behavior that may happen.” Dr. Southall is president ofSEA Incorporated, an environmental consultancy in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Loud sounds like seismic blasts appear to cause stress to marine mammals, just as they do to humans. Experts say seismic exploration could alter feeding and mating habits, for example, or simply drown out whales’ and dolphins’ efforts to communicate or find one another. But the true impact has yet to be measured; there is no easy way to gauge the long-term effect of sound on animals that are constantly moving.

“These animals are living for decades, if not centuries,” said Aaron Rice, the director of Cornell University’s bioacoustics research program. “The responses you see are not going to manifest themselves in hours or days or weeks. We’re largely speculating as to what the consequences will be. But in my mind, the absence of data doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem.”