It was a massive competition between the best new hip hop acts from New York and L.A., and when all was said and done it was LightningCloud — a Native act from the left coast — who reigned supreme.
The finale took place at South by Southwest, the entertainment-industry mega-event that descends upon Austin, Texas annually and which concluded on Sunday night. On Friday, LightningCloud, the delegate from Los Angeles as selected by hip hop radio station Power 106, faced Brooklyn product Radamiz, who had earned his spot in the finals by winning the contest held by New York’s Hot 97.
The matchup was decided by text voting on Friday, and LightningCloud were announced as the winners following a performance by hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar. For their victory, the group, which consists of MC Redcloud, Crystle Lightning, and DJ Hydroe, will open for Lamar on tour, and received a cash prize of $10,000.
By Rob Caprioccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (left), Rep. Don Young, and Sen. John Barrasso
While the tribal court inherent jurisdictional provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passed both chambers of Congress in February, and President Barack Obama subsequently signed them into law on March 7, the votes of three congressmen are getting special attention from Indian country.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a Cherokee Nation citizen, voted against VAWA in the House, perplexing many of his fellow tribal citizens and other observers.
“Mullin, a Tea Party darling and Constitutionalist, ran a campaign on fiscal conservatism,” reflected journalist Aura Bogado in a blog post for The Nation. “Perhaps he didn’t like money being poured into a federal program that protects women. In the end, he was one of only 27 House Republicans who voted against both reauthorization versions. As a first-term lawmaker, he has already illustrated that he won’t necessarily stand with other Natives and their best interests in Congress.”
Mullin’s vote stood in stark contrast to that of fellow Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole, who paved the way for the House’s passage of the Senate version of VAWA that included the strong Native protections. Cole is a Chickasaw Nation citizen.
Sensing he had a PR nightmare on his hands, Mullin finally said it wasn’t the Native provisions that bothered him—it was the protections for LGBT families that persuaded his vote.
“The language regarding ‘sexual orientation’ in the bill’s non-discrimination provisions was unacceptable to me, and in my opinion had no place in a bill whose primary intent was to deal with protecting women from domestic violence,” Mullin wrote in a letter published by the Cherokee Phoenix later in March.
Then there was the temporarily perplexing situation surrounding Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs. He was expected to be an affirmative vote on the House bill. But when the final votes were tallied, he was a no-show.
What was going on? Had Young backtracked?
Nope, he explained. He was too sick to vote.
In a personal note he had posted to the Congressional Record, Young explained, “Mr. Speaker, on February 28, 2013, I was unable to vote because of medical reasons and missed roll call vote No. 55, on passage of S. 47, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. Had I been present, I would have voted ‘yea.’ I strongly support reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was delayed for far too long. I am pleased that Congress was able to overcome the obstacles that blocked its final passage. VAWA’s programs are a critical component of our Nation’s effort to reduce violence and care for victims. Reauthorizing VAWA will help Alaska, and the rest of the country, combat the epidemic of abuse and rape that plagues our families and communities.”
Young’s spokesman, Michael Anderson, elaborated on the situation, telling Indian Country Today Media Network, “Congressman Young had a minor medical issue late last month that didn’t allow him to fly from Alaska back to D.C. He is now clear to fly and will be back in D.C. this week.”
On the Senate side, there were a few senators who raised alarm bells surrounding their tribal VAWA positions, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and John Thune (R-S.D.) among them. But it was Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-WY) “no” vote that has most concerned Indian country, in no small part because he is the vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
Barrasso said he was concerned that the bill, which allows Indians to prosecute non-Indians for crimes committed on Indian lands, could be perceived as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, so he didn’t want to risk Indians losing sovereignty over the matter.
Barrasso’s spokeswoman, Emily Lawrimore, explained, “As a doctor, Sen. Barrasso is very concerned about the problem of domestic violence in Indian country and supports measures that protect women and children. He voted against the recent VAWA bill because it contains provisions that would likely be ruled unconstitutional by the courts. A Supreme Court ruling against this provision could be damaging to tribal authority and have irreversible consequences.”
Ryan Dreveskracht, an Indian affairs lawyer with Galanda Broadman, found that to be a “weak position” since the Supreme Court has already ruled that tribes have the inherent power to prosecute non-Indians.
By Jordan Wright, Indian Country Today Media Network
Pam Knapp of KQ Designs
Crafted from the tanned skins of elk, deer, moose or buffalo, and in colder climates often lined with rabbit fur or sheepskin, moccasins, often accompanied by leggings, are the standard footwear for pow wows.
Since colonizing Europeans began arriving in North America and started trading their glass beads with American Indians, the art of beading on moccasins has become a tradition that has evolved into high art. Once simply adorned with shell, quill, wood and bone, the moccasins of today are intricately beaded leather canvasses that depict the wearer’s heritage and/or dance style. Beads are stitched into complex motifs to reflect tribal, clan or familial influences with fanciful botanical, geometric or animal design themes.
For Michael Knapp, of KQ Designs, based in Lexington, Kentucky, a bead artisan for the past 40 years, beadwork is like snowflakes, in that “no two designs are the same.” Knapp, of Winnebago descent, who learned the art of beading from his mother and later taught his wife how to do it, creates head-to-toe regalia. “There are several different styles for women,” he says, “depending on what is typical for their tribe or the part of the country they are from or their dance style. For men, it’s typically a basic pair of fully beaded moccasins using the lazy-stitch style of beadwork. Men who dance traditional or straight dance wear leggings. In the old days all men wore leggings. With women there are more choices.”
The pow wow dancer can choose from three basic styles, though the final product shows the limitless artistry expressed by the beader. There’s the familiar low-cut moccasin with a squared-off tongue and hole-threaded leather laces, or the high-top “desert boot” with turn-down cuffs. There’s also the mid-calf boot with thong ties that wrap around the leg and up the calf. (Floor-dusting fringe often runs along the sides or back of the boot.) Beaded leggings that cover the top of the moccasin up to the top of the calf are sometimes added to complete the outfit.
Stepping Out in Style: contemporary and traditional leggings and moccasins (Pam Knapp of KQ Designs)
Whether pow wow dancers are performing grass dance or jingle, straight dance, fancy dance, traditional or hoop dance, beaded footwear is a considerable investment, and it must not only be beautiful but also able to withstand wear and tear. Although sinew, the animal tendon once used to lace the shoe together, is seen at art shows demonstrating traditional styles, it’s not strong enough to hold up to energetic pow wow dancing. Instead a strong thread is used, though Knapp likes to use sturdier, and pricier, waxed dental floss to ensure the beads stay on during the dancers dynamic performances.
Historically, tribes like the Kiowa and Comanche typically wore high-tops. Seminoles, who did little beadwork, used predominately patchwork appliqués with different colored materials and some accent edge beading. On the West Coast, beadwork was rare, but in the Plains, including the Dakotas, Nebraska and Iowa, there was a lot of beading, and women’s regalia had not only fully beaded yokes on their dresses, but also on their moccasins and leggings. In the Plateau region of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, western Montana and Northern Utah a different style of stitchery called flat stitch was often used—that refers to the way beads are tacked down onto deer hide or cloth. The Cheyenne were known for lazy stitch, eight to 10 beads wide.
Today much of the regalia no longer incorporates traditional stylings, and many beaders feel the change is good. “Though rhinestones and mirrors in beadwork are only from the past 15 years and don’t reflect traditional styles, it comes down to artistry and we are very open to it,” says Knapp. “It has more to do with the dancer as a beautiful piece of art.”
Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty, Sioux/Assiniboine, is another bespoke beader whose work has won numerous awards and been featured at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C. (some of her art will be presented in the upcoming NMAI exhibit Grand Procession, opening April 17) and the Denver Art Museum. While living on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana, she learned the art from her mother, Joyce Growing Thunder, one of the most prominent beaders in North America.
As Fogarty works on a pair of smoked moose hide moccasins for her 10-year-old daughter, she explains that her family not only beads together, but dances together. “It’s a part of who we are. We were raised to dance for others,” she says. Brother George is a grass dancer and older daughter Jessa Rae Growing Thunder, Miss Indian World 2012-2013, is a competitive dancer and a beader.
Joyce and Juanita incorporate a wealth of stitches in their extraordinary designs. “Some of the stitches we use are appliqué, lazy, edging, whipstitch, Southern, peyote, brick or loom beadwork,” says Fogarty, who teaches summer classes in beading at the Idyllwild Arts center in California and refers to moccasins by the Sioux word hampas. “Mostly I use our tribal style, sticking to lazy stitch and appliqué, a two-needle stitch with one needle on top that holds the beads and another that loops over to attach it to the hide. I use materials we would have used a hundred years ago.”
There is a tremendous sense of pride at pow wows as dancers express their ancestral stories not just through the intricately stitched symbols and designs that glimmer from the light of thousands of hand-sewn glass beads and sparkling ornamentation, but by each footstep reconnecting them to Mother Earth and Father Sky. As Fogarty puts it, “The circle is a healing place. You’re there to heal others hearts and spirits.”
Ask Northwest book lovers about authors they enjoy. Picking one favorite is too hard, but Timothy Egan is sure to be on many lists.
The Seattle-based author has a gift for bringing together history, humanity and a knowing sense of place.
I’ve been hooked on Egan’s nonfiction since reading his 1990s books “The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest” and “Breaking Blue,” a tale of police corruption in 1930s Spokane.
For years a correspondent for The New York Times, Egan chronicled the Dust Bowl in “The Worst Hard Time,” which won the 2006 National Book Award. His book “The Big Burn,” about a massive 1910 forest fire, explores early champions of conservation President Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot.
Egan’s latest, “Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis,” is a biography of the Seattle photographer who sacrificed much to capture iconic images of American Indians in the early 1900s.
It’s all so well written you forget you’re reading serious history. Wouldn’t it be fun if another Northwest favorite, “Book Lust” author Nancy Pearl, sat down with Egan for a literary chat?
That’s a book-lover’s dream, and it’s going to happen at 7 p.m. April 6 at the Everett Performing Arts Center. Planned by Friends of the Everett Public Library, the event is free, but organizers will ask for donations to support the library’s summer reading program.
Pearl, a former Seattle librarian and former director of the Washington Center for the Book, spearheaded community reading with the “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book” program. Her reading recommendations fill several “Book Lust” volumes, and she’s been a public radio regular. Pearl may best be known as the inspiration for a librarian action figure, a replica that makes the finger-to-lips “shhhh” gesture.
“I’m just hoping for a great turnout,” said Everett Public Library Director Eileen Simmons, adding that she knows Egan and Pearl both have many fans. There were plans to bring the pair to Everett years ago.
Before becoming library director in 2007, Simmons was involved in planning a “Reading in the Rain” winter program at the library. Another librarian suggested bringing Pearl to a kickoff event to interview an author.
“Tim Egan had just come out with ‘The Worst Hard Time,’ so we picked him. He was willing, we had it all set up,” Simmons said Friday. Pearl had to cancel. Another date didn’t work for Egan; it was Super Bowl Sunday. “Then he won the National Book Award, and we couldn’t get him,” she said.
Simmons had hoped Matika Wilbur could be part of the April 6 program. Wilbur, a member of the Tulalip and Swinomish tribes, was featured in Gale Fiege’s Herald article last November.
Like the photographer subject of Egan’s book, Wilbur’s mission is to photograph members of every American Indian tribe. Simmons said the young woman won’t be available for the library event, which is sponsored by Rodland Toyota.
There’s other good news at the Everett library.
The Bookend Coffee Company, a coffee shop inside the library, is open again after its previous owner quit the business. Opened as Espresso Americano in 2004, the library shop had been run by Jennie Wheat as Bookend for almost two years. Wheat left when her lease expired in February. Espresso Americano now operates at Everett Station.
The library shop recently reopened with new owners, Everett’s Barry Wheeling and Jennifer Schmidt. “They lease the space from the Greater Everett Community Foundation,” Simmons said. That arrangement allows the rent money to be used by the library, she said. The Bookend shop serves Herkimer Coffee, a Seattle brand.
“It’s pretty good,” said Simmons, admitting she’s no coffee expert.
Books, best-selling authors on the way, and the coffee shop is back — it’s all pretty good.
National Book Award winner Timothy Egan will read from “Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis” and will be interviewed by “Book Lust” author Nancy Pearl at a public event at 7 p.m. April 6 at the Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave. The Friends of the Everett Public Library event is free, but donations will support the library’s summer reading program.
He was a friend to Indian tribes and served two terms as governor of Washington state; Booth Gardner, a democratic, died at the age of 76 on Friday, March 15 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
“Governor Booth Gardner was a wonderful man and an exceptionally good governor. He was clearly a very close friend of the tribes, a man who truly understood the great value of establishing and maintaining positive relations with us, on a government-to-government basis, and who had the courage to stand up for what is right,” said Fawn Sharp, president of the Quinault Indian Nation and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, in a statement.
“It was under Booth’s leadership that the State of Washington and the Northwest Tribes stepped away from constant court battles into a new era of cooperation in the 1980’s. It was he who signed the Centennial Accord with tribal leaders in 1989 and it was he who helped open the door to positive state/tribal relations in places where conflict and polarization existed before,” Sharp continued. “Booth Gardner was a brilliant and visionary man. We pray the leadership he provided in his life will live on for generations to come. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and to all the people of Washington who we know will also miss this great and vastly accomplished man.”
The Legislature is considering legislation that aims to prevent old vessels from turning into costly environmental problems.
By Maureen O’Hagan, Seattle Times
he Davy Crockett, scrapped illegally in the Columbia River, cost $22 million to clean up, plus its owner will serve a federal prison term. Photo: Steven Lane, The (Vancouver) Columbian
When Bret A. Simpson heard the hulking old barge Davy Crockett was for sale several years ago, “he saw the steel and he saw dollar signs,” said assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Oesterle.
Simpson, of Ellensburg, figured he could scrap the 400-foot former Navy ship and walk off with a tidy sum.
“He probably regrets that decision,” Oesterle said. Because in the midst of his ragtag scrapping operation, the Davy Crockett began spilling oil into the Columbia River.
On Monday, Simpson was sentenced to four months in federal prison plus a period of home detention, community service and supervised release for violations of the Clean Water Act. The mess cost $22 million in federal funds to clean up.
It was the first time in Washington that a boat owner was sent to federal prison in such a case.
But Simpson is by no means unique as a boat owner. Hundreds of derelict or abandoned vessels sit on Washington’s waterways, in constant danger of drifting or sinking. When that happens, the state Derelict Vessel Removal Program is forced to step in, sometimes at a cost of millions of dollars. There is now broad agreement the state has neither the money nor the authority to truly address the problem.
Some of that may change. Both the House and the Senate are considering legislation this week that aims to prevent old vessels from turning into costly environmental problems in the first place.
“The bill changes the focus of the Derelict Vessel Removal Program to prevention over cleanup,” said Rep. Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge, sponsor of the House bill.
Among the provisions under consideration in both bills are some aimed at making boat owners register their vessels as required.
This would make it easier to track down the owners of problem vessels — a huge, and sometimes insurmountable hurdle in these cases. The legislation would create civil penalties for those who fail to register.
Also proposed is a pilot vessel turn-in program where an owner can give the state custody of a vessel before it’s a real problem.
A third provision would require owners of older, larger vessels to obtain an inspection before selling. This, said Melissa Ferris, who runs the state Derelict Vessel Removal Program, might dissuade some people from buying problem vessels when they don’t have the means to repair them.
Ferris recalled one recent case in which a young man bought a trimaran for $100. Only later did he realize “no marina was going to give him moorage because it was rotten and horrible looking and had no mast,” Ferris said.
It ran aground in a storm one weekend, and the state is billing the man for the cost of removal, more than $20,000.
“Talk about a game-changer for your life,” she said.
Boat sellers who fail to get the required inspection could be held liable for some of these cleanup costs, under the legislation.
“We’re trying to hinder some of these transactions that just happen in a bar somewhere,” Ferris said. “Is it the end-all be-all? No, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
Another provision would prohibit public agencies from selling a vessel that isn’t truly seaworthy. The agency would either have to repair it before the sale or dismantle it.
That was at the root of the problem with the Deep Sea. The Port of Seattle sold the 140-foot former fishing vessel to a scrap dealer who didn’t really have a good plan for it. The scrap dealer, a Maple Valley man with a long history of troublemaking, parked it in Penn Cove and left it. It caught fire and sank last spring, and cost $5.4 million to clean up.
Another provision under consideration would allow the Department of Ecology to board troubled vessels and check for pollution threats.
With little to no opposition to the House and Senate bills, some version of the legislation is expected to pass.
ARLINGTON — Arlington’s second annual Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt will wrap up “Paint the Town Purple Day” on March 23 in the Haller Middle School stadium, with the gates opening at 8 p.m.
At 8:30 p.m., attendees 5 years old and younger will be released onto the field, and at 9 p.m., the lights will go out for all ages, come rain or shine, at a cost of $5 per person, with all the money raised going toward the American Cancer Society.
“The pre-hunt for ages 5 and under this year was added by popular demand,” said Heidi Clark, who organized last year’s Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt. “The main hunt will be open to ages 3 to 103. Teenagers and adults are encouraged to attend.”
While hundreds of plastic Easter eggs will be filled with candy, some eggs will contain raffle tickets for cash prizes, gift cards donated by local businesses, vacation packages and more, with some of them valued at $500 or more.
Attendees should bring their own baskets and flashlights. For more information, call Clark at 360-925-6436.
MARYSVILLE — The search for the Marysville School District’s new superintendent is heading into its homestretch, and as he has throughout the process, MSD Board President Chris Nation is encouraging community members to take part in the selection.
The six candidates whom the Marysville School District Board of Directors have selected to move forward to the first round of preliminary interviews on Saturday, March 23, are Dr. Becky Berg, Dr. Carl Bruner, Dr. Tony Byrd, Michelle Curry, Dr. Dennis Haddock and Jon Holmen.
“Each interview should take about an hour and 10 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes each,” Nation said. “If we start at 8 a.m., we should be able to wrap it up that Saturday by 5 p.m. If members of the public want to attend and submit feedback to the Board in writing, we’d only ask that they do so for all six candidates, since that’s only fair, but they can drop in to observe them at any time during the day.”
According to Nation, the Marysville School Board will ask questions of the candidates in the MSD Service Center Board room, and narrow the selection from six semifinalists to three finalists that evening, based on those interviews, so that the three days of finalist candidates’ interviews and visits to the district — from Monday, March 25, through Wednesday, March 27 — will devote one full day to each candidate.
Marysville School District staff, parents, students and community members will be able to meet each day’s candidate during open forums scheduled at 11 a.m., 4:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., again in the MSD Service Center Board room.
In the wake of the applicants’ files being screened on March 15, Nation reiterated the Marysville School District’s commitment to conducting its superintendent selection process as transparently as possible.
“This is not just the decision of the Board, but of the community as a whole,” Nation said. “We wanted to make sure that the community and school district staff were involved in this process, because the new superintendent will be a leader to both, hopefully for years to come. Through observation and feedback, we hope the community will help us choose a superintendent who fits the needs of our community, because if that person doesn’t understand our relationships, especially with the Tulalip Tribes, they might not get done what’s needed. Everyone has to be on board for this.”
The Marysville School District Service Center Board room is located at 4220 80th St. NE. The full schedule for the candidate visitations is posted on the MSD website at www.msvl.k12.wa.us. For more information on the search process, contact Jodi Runyon by phone at 360-653-0800 or via email at jodi_runyon@msvl.k12.wa.us.
Cherokee Nation citizen Brady Tanner completes a deadlift during a competition.
On Saturday, March 16, six people were inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, which is located on the campus of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. Leading the group of outstanding athletes and coaches was gold medal-winning powerlifter Brady Tanner, Cherokee, of Lawrence. Tanner is the first Special Olympian to earn a place in the prestigious Hall.
Tanner won three gold medals and a silver at the 2011 World Special Olympic Games in Athens. He also competes in the World Association of Bench and Deadlifters and Natural Athletic Strength Association events. After Tanner completed high school, a football player from Haskell University (where Tanner’s father was coach at the time) noticed Tanner’s strength and began helping him train.
Tanner is a champion. (Submitted to Topeka Capital-Journal)
• Herman Agoyo, Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, who played on the Manhattan College baseball team that won the New York City Baseball League Championship in 1957. He also was a standout Senior Olympian.
• Yawna Allen, Cherokee/Quapaw/Euchee, who was a Junior National Open Doubles Champion in 2000, 2002 and 2003 and is a seven-time North American Indian Tennis Association Women’s Open Singles Champion. Her aunt, Dawn Allen, also a tennis star, was inducted into the Hall in 1995.
• Sid Jamieson, Mohawk, who was the first lacrosse coach at Bucknell University and worked at the school for 38 years. He was the Patriot League’s Coach of the Year three times and is part of the Pennsylvania Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
By Carol Berry, Indian Country Today Media Network
Chaske Spencer is known for his alpha wolf portrayal in The Twilight Saga, but many people aren’t aware that he’s also an activist speaking out against the addictions that almost took his life.
“I know a higher power led me to where I am now,” he said, describing the Red Road way of life as “the way I try to center myself” after years of drinking and abusing drugs. Temptation is also a fact of life in Hollywood, where “it’s crazy.”
Spencer gave an address January 30 on the urban campus of Metropolitan State University of Denver, Community College of Denver and the University of Colorado – Denver (UCD) under the sponsorship of UCD’ s Native American Student Organization.
Spencer is a spokesman for United Global Shift, an organization focusing on the environment, employment, entrepreneurship, health and education. Sensing a serious water shortage in the future, for example, he praised innovative programs around water recycling.
Chaske Spencer speaking in Denver on January 30. Photo by Carol Berry.
But although he often talks about the environment and empowering and creating sustainable Native communities, when addressing youth he sometimes focuses on substance abuse and the role it plays in the “horrific” violence, drugs, and alcoholism on some reservations.
Spencer, a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, went to New York City to pursue photography, but began getting acting parts and took bartending and catering gigs between acting lessons and performances.
He had a part in the movie Skins before he developed an addiction to cocaine and heroin that finally led him to become a self-described crackhead, an addict who would “steal from you, would rob you” for drug money.
His career today, with the Twilight Saga’s success, is a far cry from the days when he’d show up to auditions drunk and high, and lose out. “The acting god smiled on me that [Twilight audition] day,” he said, adding he believes that getting the part was a “gift because I got sober.”
After treatment, which also involved healing from Indian country’s hurtful past, “I started to put myself into service,” he said. “I had a spirituality—when I got clean, I needed something. I got into Sun Dance; if you walk that Red Road it’s a very strict and humbling road and it’s a hard life,” requiring sacrifice to “try to be of service” and “love everybody.”
But he accepted the hardship, he said, as he recalls a medicine man telling him, “It’s all about love—it really is.”
