Month: November 2012

U.S. Chamber launches Native American Enterprise Initiative

New advocacy initiative will promote interests and agenda of tribes and tribal entrepreneurs

Press Release, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, www.uschamber.com

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today launched the Native American Enterprise Initiative (NAEI) to promote the interests and agenda of tribes and tribal entrepreneurs across the country. The NAEI will work with tribes and businesses to highlight opportunities for economic growth and networking for Native American enterprises, as well as promote foreign direct investment on tribal lands and pursue an aggressive advocacy agenda before Congress and the administration in coordination with other Native American advocacy organizations.

“Tribes and tribal enterprises across the country face a unique set of economic opportunities and challenges as entrepreneurship and economic diversification in Indian Country continues to grow,” said Rolf Lundberg, the Chamber’s senior vice president for Congressional and Public Affairs.  “The U.S. Chamber is launching NAEI to help boost economic growth and job creation by identifying opportunities and advocating for the policies that will help tribes and tribal entrepreneurs succeed. Drawing on the Chamber’s longstanding track record of successful business advocacy, NAEI will provide value to Indian Country by working to remove legislative and regulatory road blocks to their economic success.”

The issues that NAEI’s advocacy will focus include taxation, energy development, trade and economic development, and promoting a sensible regulatory policy. NAEI’s Leadership Council, composed of major tribes and tribal enterprises, will serve as the governing body of the initiative and will further develop policy priorities.

More information is available at http://www.uschamber.com/naei

Tulalip’s larger annual donation to expand “Food for Thought” program

By Monica Brown, Tulalip Communications Department

Marysville Community Food Bank received a larger donation this year from The Tulalip Tribes. The $20,000 donation will benefit many people during these holiday seasons. Steve Gobin agreed,

“This is a larger than normal donation for us, but we understand that there’s a growing need in this community, the homeless population is growing every day. We’d like to help the citizens of Marysville who have been such big contributors to our own economic enterprises, and the most effective way of doing that is to help those in need stay alive, and to help their kids stay healthy.”

With a regular annual donation of $15,000 to the Marysville Community Food Bank, the extra $5,000 will contribute to the “Food for Thought” program, which began in May of 2012, to expand to three schools. As quoted in the Marysville Globe, Amy Howell, coordinator of the “Food for Thought” program, describes how the additional monies will benefit students at Liberty, Shoultes and Quil Ceda Elementary Schools

Amy Howell explains the process of how a child is included into the program, “They (the children) were chosen through input from their teachers, counselors, principal and lunchroom staff; their families sign permission slips to approve them for the program, and nobody above the school level knows which students they are, aside from the ones that I’ve met with personally, so nobody feels like they’re being singled out.”

With the impending addition of students from Shoultes and Quil Ceda, 25 from each school and 30 students from Liberty who are already served by the program, Howell has already met her enrollment goal for the spring of 2013, and is eager to serve more students who would otherwise go hungry between the close of school one day and the opening of school the next day. The “Food for Thought” program helps to relieve childhood hunger by providing nutritious weekend meals to students during the school year.

Marysville Community Food Bank Director Dell Deierling, as quoted from the Marysville Globe, explained that the regular donation of $15,000 will go towards “filling in the gaps” of needed food items and utility payments for the winter holiday season, from Thanksgiving through Christmas and the New Year.

“The community has done an awesome job of keeping donations coming,” Deierling said. “The Tulalip Tribes have been our biggest donors since our current building was built.”

Quil Ceda Village General Manager Steve Gobin credited both the Marysville and Tulalip communities with placing a shared value on the importance of charitable giving.

Donations may be made out to Marysville Community Food Bank and sent to P.O. Box 917, Marysville, WA 98270. If you would like to designate your funds specifically for “Food For Thought,” please write in the memo line of your check the program you wish to support. Donations may also be made online at http://marysvillefoodbank.org via PayPal.

 

 

 

Culture focused curriculum available now

By Monica Brown, Tulalip Tribes Communications Dept. 

Recently, at White Swan High School in White Swan, WA within the Mt. Adams School District, a tribal sovereignty class has been implemented. The tribal-focused online curriculum called ‘Since Time Immemorial’ (STI), is the result of tribes and educators working together. The new curriculum covers the history, culture and governments of tribes across the country. Depending on the school, an emphasis can be placed on teaching about the nearest tribe. The curriculum was designed to be used in elementary, middle and high schools, and to satisfy social studies credit requirements.

The curriculum, which has been adopted by the State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, is open to all students and is not only designed to teach members of Washington’s 29 federally recognized tribes about their own history, government and culture, but also to educate non-Indians about tribal communities.

In 2004 Rep. John McCoy had introduced a bill in the state legislature, which was signed into law in 2005 by Gov. Chris Gregoire. The bill would require public school districts to teach tribal history and culture. After years of tribes and educators working together, the STI curriculum came about and covers the treaties Northwestern tribes signed with the U.S. Government, and how their traditional hunting, fishing and food gathering rights in their original territories were reserved. McCoy’s intention is for this to be widely utilized in schools, and he was quoted in The Native American Legal Update saying,

“This is to get everyone to understand that because these treaties were signed, they are the law of the land,” he said. “And consequently, tribes are sovereign nations. There are so many people that don’t understand that.”

With the Mt. Adams School District introducing the online curriculum, the nearby Wapato School District, where Native Americans account for almost 20 percent of the students, teachers have been sent to STI training.

STI encourages educators to use this new curriculum and share it with others. They express that the curriculum is easy to use and free on their website. Training videos and documents are also made available through the website. STI curriculum information can be found at www.indian-ed.org.

Salazar Finalizes Reforms to Streamline Leasing, Spur Economic Development on 56 Million Acres of American Indian Trust Land

Rule removes roadblocks to residential, commercial, renewable energy development; restores greater leasing control to tribal governments

 Press release, November  27, 2012, Blake Androff. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, www.doi.gov

WASHINGTON – As part of President Obama’s commitment to empower tribal nations and strengthen their economies, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced final regulations that will streamline the leasing approval process on Indian land, spurring increased homeownership, and expediting business and commercial development, including renewable energy projects.

The comprehensive reform, informed by nation-to-nation tribal consultations and public comment, overhauls antiquated regulations governing the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ process for approving the surface leases on lands the federal government holds in trust for Indian tribes and individuals. As trustee, Interior manages about 56 million surface acres in Indian Country.

“This reform will expand opportunities for individual landowners and tribal governments to generate investment and create jobs in their communities by bringing greater transparency and workability to the Bureau of Indian Affairs leasing process,” Secretary Salazar said. “This final step caps the most comprehensive reforms of Indian land leasing regulations in more than 50 years and will have a lasting impact on individuals and families who want to own a home or build a business on Indian land.”

“This reform is about supporting self-determination for Indian Nations and was developed in close consultation with tribal leaders,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn.             “The streamlined, commonsense rule replaces a process ill-suited for economic development of Indian lands and provides flexibility and certainty to tribal communities and individuals regarding decisions on the use of their land.”

The new rule complements and helps to implement the recently-passed Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH Act), which allows federally recognized tribes to assume greater control of leasing on tribal lands. The HEARTH Act was signed into law by President Obama on July 30, 2012.

Previous BIA regulations, established in 1961, are outdated and unworkable in today’s economy. They lacked a defined process or deadlines for review, which resulted in simple mortgage applications often languishing for several years awaiting approval from the federal government. These types of delays have been significant obstacles to homeownership and economic development on tribal lands.

The new regulation, effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, will fundamentally change the way the BIA does business, in many ways by minimizing BIA’s role and restoring greater control to tribal governments. The final rule provides clarity by identifying specific processes – with enforceable timelines – through which the BIA must review leases.

The regulation also establishes separate, simplified processes for residential, business, and renewable energy development, rather than using a “one-size fits all” approach that treats a lease for a single family home the same as a lease for a large wind energy project.

The new process provides a 30 day-limit for the BIA to issue decisions on residential leases, subleases, and mortgages. For commercial or industrial development, the BIA would have 60-days to review leases and subleases. If the BIA does not complete its review of subleases in this timeframe, those agreements will automatically go into effect.

The new rule increases flexibility in compensations and land valuations, with BIA deferring to the tribe’s negotiated value for a lease of tribal land rather than requiring additional, costly appraisals. Other changes eliminate the requirement for BIA approval of permits for certain short-term activities on Indian lands, and supports landowner decisions regarding the use of their land by requiring the BIA to approve leases unless it finds a compelling reason to disapprove.

Led by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Donald E. (“Del”) Laverdure, Interior conducted several rounds of consultation in 2011 and 2012 to develop the proposed and the final regulations. The comments received in writing and during the public meetings helped inform the final regulations being announced today.

 

Seattle Children’s Hospital featured in launch of first-ever crowdfunded hospital gift catalog

Press Release, Jennifer Kern, PR & Company LLC

With the holidays fast approaching, holiday giving this year has a new social media twist: crowdfunding gifts that give back.

In Seattle, Seattle Children’s Hospital is taking part in the launch of the first-ever crowdfunded hospital gift catalog –www.GiveMiracles.org – as part of a national campaign led by the world’s largest crowdfunding-for-good platform, Fundly, and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Through www.GiveMiracles.org, individuals wanting to give back with their holiday gifts can purchase critically-needed medical equipment and medical care for children at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Once donors choose their gift from the www.GiveMiracles.org catalog, ranging from comfort toys ($30), to a pediatric wheelchair ($970), to an entire hospital wing devoted to neonatal intensive care ($12 million), they will receive updates on exactly how their gift is being utilized.

Individuals can also quickly and easily launch their own personalized crowdfunding campaign on the www.GiveMiracles.org platform to collectively purchase big-ticket, high-impact medical items for the hospital through small donations from friends and family via Fundly, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tulalip Transit installs permanent bus stops along their routes

Permanent bus stop featuring benches for riders are now being installed along the Tulalip Transit Route

Article by Brandi N. Montreuil, photo submitted by Mike Sarich

            Tulalip Transit has finished installing the new permanent bus stops along their Tulalip Bay Route. Each bus stop will feature the Tulalip Transit logo to identify which service the rider will be using. Benches attached to the bus stop poles will be available for elderly commuters who utilize the free transit service currently running two routes around the Tulalip Reservation.

            “Right now nine have been placed, some additional work needs to be done in order to put the remaining three in, so there will be a total of twelve,” explained Tulalip Transit Supervisor, Mary Hargrove.

            “Mission Highlands [housing development] received four bus stops, and those are the people that we are really trying to reach, because they don’t have any bus service at all. By getting them to at least Silver Village they can catch the Community Transit, or if they needed any of the services that are located out here, they can ride our bus.”

            Currently, the bus routes offered through Tulalip Transit services areas along Tulalip Bay, including stops at the Tulalip Administration Building, Silver Village and Mission Highlands housing developments, the Karen I. Fryberg Health Clinic, Senior Center, and the Don Hatch Jr. Youth Center & Greg Williams Court.

            The John Sam Lake route covers areas in the John Sam Lake and Aspen housing developments, the Seattle Premium Outlet Mall, and the Tulalip Resort Casino.

            Riders, who need to reach areas near Quil Ceda Casino and Tulalip Tribal Court, will need to use Community Transit.

Community Transit, explains Mary, can be used to connect the two Tulalip Transit routes, John Sam Lake and Tulalip Bay, as they share some bus stops with Community Transit.   “Community Transit has been gracious enough to let us share their bus stops, such as the one along Totem Beach and 64th Street. We are going to be placing another one near the Karen I. Fryberg Health Clinic, there is a temporary bus stop there now, but Community Transit was kind enough to leave there bus stop there when they made changes to their route so our passengers could continue to have some place to sit.”

            Tulalip Transit is a free transit service to Tulalip Tribal members and residents located within the Tulalip Reservation boundaries. It provides service to rural areas of the Tulalip Reservation where there are no other transit service available.

            For more information on routes and transit schedules, please visit the website www.tulaliptribes-nsn.gov/Home/Community/TulalipTransit.aspx.

Marysville School Board named Board of the Year

Press Release, Larry Nyland, Superintendent’s Office

The Marysville School Board was named Board of the Year at the Washington State School Directors (WSSDA) annual conference November 17th.  “Marysville School Board received the honor of being named a Board of Distinction last year.  Being named Board of the Year this year is certainly a tribute to our board and their focus on the district’s four year goals, mission and vision.  Their commitment to student achievement has made a big difference for our students and our staff.  Long term goals, along with board support and encouragement, allow schools to focus on student achievement,” says Superintendent Nyland.

Each year, WSSDA honors outstanding school boards that demonstrate understanding of their leadership role and follow through on their responsibilities, while showing concern for the educational excellence for all students.

The application process is based on the Washington Effective School Board Standards, which ask the boards to:

  • Show how their actions align with effective board governance practices;
  • Document their focus on educational excellence and equity for all students;
  • Identify how they create conditions for student and staff success; and
  • Share their commitment to continuous improvement and accountability.

Marysville was recognized as Washington board of the year for school districts of 9000 students or more.

Congratulations to Chris Nation, President, Wendy Fryberg, Vice President, and Directors Dr. Tom Albright, Cindy Erickson and Pete Lundberg.

For more information about the award, visit, www.msvl.k12.wa.us/board-of-directors.

Tulalip celebrates wellbriety

Tribal member Crystal Gobin-Wassillie shares a moment with Tonia Elfing. Crystals speech touched people in the Audience.

Article and Photo by Jeannie Briones

TULALIP, Washington- Saturday, November 17, the Orca Ballroom at the Tulalip Resort Casino was packed with friends and community members celebrating the 33rd Annual Wellbriety event. Many people joined in the special evening to share good food and conversation, giving  thanks to those celebrating their wellbriety from drugs and alcohol.

Newest Face of Gerber Is Native

Mary Jane Montoya’s grand prize winning photograph. (Photo courtesy Gerber)

By Indian Country Today Media Network Staff, www.indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com

The newest face of Gerber, 8-month-old Mary Jane Montoya from Fresno, California, is of mixed heritage. Her mother, Sara Montoya, has Mexican heritage and her father, Billy Montoya, is a descendant of the Yokut Mono Tribe.

They plan on raising Mary Jane with a mixture of those cultures too.

“We’re teaching her Spanish,” Billy said after explaining that his sister and mother are very involved with the tribe and will be getting Mary Jane involved as well. “We want her to know everything about her culture.”

Being the Gerber baby comes with a $50,000 prize that Sara and Billy have decided to put away and save for Mary Jane’s college fund.

“Higher education is so important and we see the value in that,” Billy told Indian Country Today Media Network.

“We want to make sure she doesn’t struggle with college…making sure she is able to focus on that,” Sara said. “We know how hard it is to work and go to school.”

Billy is doing that right now. He works full-time and attends Fresno State full-time. He plans to graduate next semester with a degree in graphic design.

“I know first-hand how hard it is,” he said. “I’m so glad I’m going to be able to give her a chance to focus full-time on school.”

Mary Jane was chosen from more than 308,000 entries because her picture demonstrated the visual appeal and expressiveness the judges at Gerber were looking for and was consistent with Gerber’s heritage, said a press release from Gerber.

When she was announced as the winner on October 6, Facebook was abuzz with negative comments from people saying she didn’t look like the original Gerber baby. Gerber has since removed the negative comments from the page.

The negativity didn’t bother the Montoyas though. They are just proud of their little girl and appreciative of the experience being chosen has brought. They got to go to New York City and be on the TODAY Show to meet the original Gerber baby, Ann Turner Cook, who is now 85, and be interviewed by Natalie Morales.

“She [Ann Turner Cook] has that same look and that same twinkle in her eye. She’s super sweet,” Sara said. “They were so nice and so open to talk to us and let us know what it was like for her to be the icon of the Gerber baby.”

The Montoya family had never been so far across the country and were amazed by the fast pace of the city and seeing how a television show is put together.

 

“Just the process of walking into the building, the hair and makeup, how many people it takes to make the show happen [is incredible],” Sara said. “And to be in New York and feel the city alive—it was a lot of fun, we really enjoyed it.”

“It was just a big whirlwind,” Billy said. “I couldn’t believe how small the sets are and how many people go into doing it—it was just amazing.”

That’s not all. Sara and Billy said Mary Jane actually learned to crawl while they were in New York City.

“We can’t wait till she grows up so we can tell her she was the Gerber baby,” Billy said.