syəcəb
9am-4pm Saturday and Sunday, December 7-8
Don Hatch Jr Youth Center, 6700 Totem Beach Rd, Tulalip. I-5 exit 199, follow the signs
All kinds of Native art, drums, jewelry, carvings, cedar baskets, clothing and more available to satisfy everyone on your Christmas list!
Source: Indian Country Today Media Network
MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry weekend program on December 1 featured a panel that discussed “the foundational myths perpetuated about America and the realities of inequality,” according to MSNBC.com.
The two-hour program featured Ray Halbritter, Oneida Nation representative and CEO of Nation Enterprises, parent company of Indian Country Today Media Network, as one of the guest panelists.
Joining Halbritter as panelists were Chloe Angyal, editor at Feministing.com; Raul Reyes, NBC Latino contributor and New York Times columnist; and Jonathan Scott Holloway, professor of African American Studies, History and American Studies at Yale University and author of Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America since 1940.
Harris-Perry led the panelists through discussions on American traditions like Thanksgiving and how they relate to American values; along with the possible contradictions that exist between these traditions and our country’s public policies, as they relate to issues like hunger, immigration, and the economy.
Following the program’s introduction, Harris-Perry opened the discussion with the first question for Halbritter on how the country’s founding myths continue to impact the country today.
“The Thanksgiving mythology, to some extent, papers over the often painful and tragic history of American Indians and the way they’ve been treated,” Halbritter said. “Even though it was the shared celebration and tradition of Indian people to have this ceremonial of Thanksgiving and they gave to the first immigration group and shared with them in a way that allowed for their survival but it’s a celebration that should be of mutual inclusion and respect and often that’s not the case for American Indians in this country.”
Keeping on the Thanksgiving leftovers, Harris-Perry engaged Halbritter to elaborate on the Oneida Nation float making its appearance for the fifth year in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City. Where Halbritter mentioned that one of the reasons for the float is to show that American Indians are real people and not relics or mascots.
The discussion shifted from a topic usually synonymous with abundance of food like Thanksgiving to one that has become bare bones in the SNAP program cuts, followed by poverty levels throughout the country. Holloway mentioned how it’s currently easy for politicians to make scapegoats of those without power.
Harris-Perry elaborated on the scapegoat issue by mentioning an empathy deficit – a topic that President Barack Obama has talked about and wrote about. She discussed how the empathy deficit basically recognizes the country’s “ability to potentially have sympathy for people” while it still has an “inability to see one another across differences.”
Halbritter responded saying, “That’s some of the challenges for American Indians because they are often not viewed except as relics or mascots and as a result the real issues they suffer from the lowest standard of living, the highest mortality rates in the country, highest unemployment. And 7 of the 10 poorest counties in the United States are Indian reservations.
“So they really struggle to have their real issues dealt with in a way that’s real especially this time of the year. Especially because in some ways all this is connected, their self-image, their self-esteem and how they relate to themselves and the rest of society,” Halbritter said.
View videos of the program here.
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/12/02/msnbcs-melissa-harris-perry-tackles-broad-american-mythology-152509
Adrian Jawort, ICTMN
Never one to stray from saying what he really feels, Blackfeet tribal member Byron Farmer actually spent five days in a tribal jail in July for speaking out against his divided tribal government’s alleged corruption. Farmer, the de facto leader of the Blackfeet Against Corruption group, said he was arrested over free speech violations as not once did he threaten anyone in his BAC Facebook post stating about a proposed parade float: “We promise it will be exciting and make headlines worldwide. And we can tell you we are not planning anything violent or illegal so they (tribal council) will not be able to stop us.”
RELATED: Tired of Corruption, Mont. Tribal Members and the Guardians Fight Back
Although Farmer’s actions are protected under the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act, locally the Blackfeet Tribe deemed it a violation of the Blackfeet Ordinance 67 which protects council members against libelous “or misleading statements meant to harm, injure, discredit” them. Farmer’s attorney, David Gordon, writes, “They’re basically saying if you criticize the tribal council you’re going to go to jail and that’s frightening.”
Indian Country Today Media Network caught up with the always fiery Farmer to see what good jail did to him.
Was being arrested and jailed for five days over a free speech issue worth it?
I didn’t much like it. Our jails aren’t country clubs. I am a big guy so was never in danger, but I have to admit I was very angry. It was hardest on my family, but they understood the importance of BAC’s mission. But yeah, it did a firestorm of good. My five days in jail brought BAC millions of dollars in free national coast-to-cost advertising about what’s going on in our home. My arrest was the trigger that finally swung around the big national media spotlight to shine right on the Blackfeet Reservation, where it caught tribal leadership speechless, embarrassed, and scurrying. Ever since then the Blackfeet Tribal Council has been on the defensive and under non-stop media and legal pressure.
Where you surprised about the firestorm your arrest caused?
Americans may not understand the mysterious inner workings of Indian country, but they sure as hell understand what free speech is. So the national media immediately jumped on the news and printed my Facebook postings that triggered my imprisonment. Americans read my tame, innocuous comments and couldn’t believe that that sort of clearly Constitutionally-protected speech aimed at elected leaders could result in an arrest, let alone jail in America. People everywhere were really bewildered and angry and that fueled more media coverage. But I would have gladly done five months if that’s what it took to wake up the world to what is going on here.
What do you think of emerging as the BAC de facto leader?
I am not the leader of BAC, I am just one of many right-thinking Blackfeet that have been trying for years to push back the tidal wave of corruption that has engulfed the Blackfeet Tribe. Events and momentum may be on our side now, but for years we felt like tiny voices in the wilderness constantly being threatened and attacked. The reason my name is out there are four things that make my role possible. First, I live in Great Falls, beyond the reach of the BTBC and Tribal Police – I was on the reservation visiting family when they arrested me, so apparently they were waiting for me. Second, I am willing to loudly and relentlessly speak out, come what may. Third, neither I nor my immediate family depends on the tribe for a paycheck so they can’t use their favorite weapon – firing people – on me. Fourth, over time whistle blowers have come to trust me and BAC as a reliable, confidential outlet for things they want other Blackfeet to know. So, as anyone can see from BAC’s Facebook page, my inbox gets the goods almost every day and I never reveal my sources.
Most have to keep a low profile so they don’t lose their jobs or face other retaliation from the BTBC. Second, BAC doesn’t take credit for any of the good stuff that has been happening lately such as the indictments. All we do is keep up constant intense pressure on the bad guys with a steady drumbeat of reliable news, analysis, predictions, inside scoops, and the publishing of documents the BTBC want kept secret. Third, BAC will never give up and we have lots more to do.
RELATED: Montana Guardians Project Aims to Deter Indian Country Corruption
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/11/26/blackfeet-man-jailed-speaking-out-hits-back-harder-152438
Kirk Boxleitner, Marysville Globe
TULALIP — Representatives of the Tulalip Tribes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency sat down together on Tuesday, Nov. 26, to officially establish the first Native American In-Lieu Fee Program in the nation, for aquatic resource impacts and compensatory mitigation.
Tulalip Tribal Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. was joined by Col. Bruce Estok, district commander and engineer of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Seattle District, and David Allnutt — director of the Office of Ecosystems, Tribal and Public Affairs for Region 10 of the EPA — in signing an ILF Program Instrument for Quil Ceda Village, with the purpose of providing compensation for unavoidable impacts to wetlands and other aquatic resources, resulting from construction projects within the boundaries of Quil Ceda Village itself.
“This is a very significant event,” Estok said. “With the Tribes’ leadership, this will allow high-quality mitigation for their aquatic resources, to help them develop their environment.”
Sheldon credited Terry Williams, the Fisheries and Natural Resources Commissioner for the Tulalip Tribes, with seeing this program through since he started working with the Tribes.
“This represents the culmination of years of work,” Sheldon said. “This gives us the flexibility to pursue our other economic programs, and shows respect for the Tribes’ sovereignty.”
Sheldon went so far as to describe the Quil Ceda Village ILF Program as vital to the future of the Tulalip Tribes.
“Only by protecting and restoring our tribal watershed lands do we fulfill our obligations to future generations, to leave them a healthy, productive environment, while also allowing us to develop and manage our lands, to yield a stronger and even more diverse tribal economy,” Sheldon said. “Our In-Lieu Fee Program is the first by a federally recognized tribe, and we believe that our record on environmental restoration, protection and natural resource management has prepared us to implement and administer this smart and effective program, by providing high-quality mitigation within a watershed approach.”
The ILF Program will use a watershed approach to locate mitigation projects, and provide consolidated mitigation targeting specific priority habitat, water quality and hydrology functions, based on the critical needs of each sub-basin within the Quil Ceda Creek watershed.
“The Corps believes that effective ILF Programs are vital to helping it protect the aquatic environment, efficiently administer our regulatory program, and provide the regulated public with fair, timely and reasonable decisions,” said Gail Terzi, a mitigation specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers. “ILF Programs are very intentional in how they embrace a watershed approach and, as such, are optimal tools for addressing watershed needs.”
“The EPA commends the Tulalip Tribes for this proactive move to protect the Quil Ceda watershed,” Allnutt said. “Watersheds and aquatic resources are a valuable part of the broader ecosystem in this area, and this program will result in thoughtful decision-making to protect this tribal resource.”
“We may not realize how big this is now, but generations down the road will be thanking us,” Sheldon said.
