June 2014 - Page 19 of 20

‘The cause is us’: world on verge of sixth extinction

A golden lion tamarin, which is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Speacies. (Photo: Jo Christian Oterhals/cc/flickr)

Species loss soaring at ‘pace not seen in tens of millions of years’

By Andrea Germanos, May 30, 2014. Source: Common Dreams

A new study showing that the human activity has driven current rates of species extinction to 1,000 times faster than the natural rate is “alarming” and “should be a clarion call” to work towards greater conservation efforts, an environmental group charges.

The study, published Thursday by the journal Science and led by conservation expert Stuart Pimm, also warns that without drastic action, the sixth mass extinction could be imminent.

From habitat loss to invasive species to climate change to overfishing, humans are contributing to the plummet in biodiversity.

“This important study confirms that species are going extinct at a pace not seen in tens of millions of years, and unlike past extinction events, the cause is us,” stated Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity, who was not involved in the study.

While new technology like smart phone apps and crowd-sourcing have increased the amount of data collected on species, much still remains a mystery.

“Most species remain unknown to science, and they likely face greater threats than the ones we do know,” Pimm said in a statement.

“The gap between what we know and don’t know about Earth’s biodiversity is still tremendous,” added study co-author Lucas N. Joppa, a conservation scientist at Microsoft’s Computational Science Laboratory in Cambridge, UK, “but technology is going to play a major role in closing it and helping us conserve biodiversity more intelligently and efficiently.”

While the study illustrates a dramatic pace in biodiversity loss, Greenwald emphasized that it also highlights the successes of conservation efforts, such as the 50-year-old Wilderness Act and the Endangered Species Act.

“Were it not for the huge effort over the past 50 years to protect wilderness, we would have had a 20 percent higher extinction rate,” Greenwald told Common Dreams. “Protecting places, standing up for places, leaving some places untouched does make a difference,” he said.

As for what people can do to help those conservation efforts, Greenwald said people should let their legislators know that they support protecting areas as wilderness or parks, “because that is really what this study shows” — that the conservation laws and efforts over the past several decades have helped thwart further losses.

“The findings of this study are alarming to say the least,” Greenwald’s statement continues. “But it also shows we can make a difference if we choose to and should be a clarion call to take action to protect more habitat for species besides our own and to check our own population growth and consumption.”

As Greenwald said, the cause of the problem is us, but the solution, too, lies with us.

“We are on the verge of the sixth extinction,” Pimm told the Associated Press. “Whether we avoid it or not will depend on our actions.”

Longtime Puyallup Tribal Leader Herman Dillon Sr. Walks On

Dean Rutz/AP filePuyallup Tribal Chairman Herman Dillon Sr., photographed in 2008 in Tacoma, died Friday, May 23. He was 82. — Dean Rutz/AP file
Puyallup Tribal Chairman Herman Dillon Sr., photographed in 2008 in Tacoma, died Friday, May 23. He was 82.

Indian Country Today

Elected to the Puyallup tribal council in 1971, Herman Dillon Sr. was a “tireless advocate for the social and economic betterment” of his tribe and tribes throughout the Northwest, Gov. Jay Inslee told The Seattle Times. Dillon walked on May 23, 2014 at the age of 82.

“Our whole family is grieving the loss of the head of our family,” his daughter Sheila Beckett told the Times. “We appreciate everyone’s condolences during this rough time. He was so important to all of us. He will be greatly missed.”

Dillon not only served on the Puyallup City Council for more than 35 years, but he also testified on Indian affairs in Washington, D.C., and supported treaty fishing and hunting rights. Dillon was a longtime friend of Nisqually activist Billy Frank Jr., who walked on May 5 at the age of 83.

“This is a sad day,” John Weymer, a spokesman for the tribe and Dillon’s personal friend told The News Tribune. “He’s had heart issues for years, but it still came as a surprise because he had been doing better for a while.”

During Dillon’s time leading the tribal council, the tribe went from poverty to prosperity, in large part due to casino gaming. He helped negotiate compacts with Washington State, and membership in the tribe more than tripled during his leadership, reports The News Tribune.

In a statement, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland called Dillon “a constant and reliable leader for the tribe and the region.”

A public memorial service was held May 31 for Dillon—The News Tribune published a photo gallery of the service here.

Not Separate, Not Equal: Feds Look at Native Kids in Public Schools

Senate Committee on Indian AffairsSenate Committee on Indian Affairs Vice Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, and Chairman Jon Tester, D-Montana, listened to testimony at the committee’s hearing on American Indian students in public schools. — Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Vice Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, and Chairman Jon Tester, D-Montana, listened to testimony at the committee’s hearing on American Indian students in public schools.

Tanya H. Lee, Indian Country Today

The federal government recently took a look at how American Indian children are faring in public schools—and the results are disturbing.

Minority children in public schools are generally subjected to harsher, more frequent disciplinary measures than are white students, according to the report, “School Discipline, Restraint, & Seclusion,” released by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. The data collection that served as the basis of the report covered all 97,000 public schools in the U.S., which serve 49 million pre-K through grade 12 students. Between 90 percent and 95 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native children are educated in public schools.

“The issue of unlawful racial discrimination in school discipline is… a civil rights issue,” states a U.S. Department of Education spokesperson. “Title VI protects students from discrimination based on race in connection with all academic, educational, extracurricular, athletic, and other programs and activities of a school, including programs and activities a school administers to ensure and maintain school safety and student discipline.

A few examples of the government’s findings: AI/AN children, who represented 0.5 percent of enrollment of the schools included in this calculation, accounted for 2 percent of single and multiple out-of-school suspensions and 3 percent of expulsions. On the other hand, they accounted for only 0.2 percent of in-school suspensions. By contrast, white students, who accounted for 51 percent of enrollment, comprised 40 percent of in-school suspensions, 36 percent and 31 percent of single and multiple out-of-school suspensions respectively and 36 percent of expulsions. These numbers suggest that the harsher the punishment (with in-school suspension at one end of the scale and expulsion at the other), the less likely is it to be applied to white students and the more likely it is to be imposed on AI/AN children.

Thirteen percent of AI/AN boys received out-of-school suspension, compared with 6 percent of white boys. Seven percent of AI/AN girls received out-of-school suspension, compared with just 2 percent of white girls.

More than twice as many students with disabilities received out-of-school suspensions (13 percent) than did non-disabled students (6 percent). A whopping 29 percent of AI/AN boys with disabilities received out-of-school suspensions, compared with 12 percent of white boys. Twenty percent of AI/AN girls with disabilities received out-of-school suspensions, compared with 6 percent of white girls with disabilities.

“The administration of student discipline can result in unlawful discrimination based on race in two ways: first, if a student is subjected to different treatment in discipline based on the student’s race, and second, if a discipline policy is neutral on its face—meaning that the policy itself does not mention race—and is administered in an evenhanded manner but has a disparate impact, i.e., a disproportionate and unjustified effect on students of a particular race,” explained the spokesperson.

The Office for Civil Rights can investigate potential violations if the data warrants. “The data showing disproportionalities by race and ethnicity provide a basis for OCR to investigate further, including all relevant circumstances, such as the facts surrounding a student’s actions and the discipline imposed, to determine whether there was discrimination.” For example, a September 2012 investigation of Oakland, California schools resulted in a “voluntary resolution agreement [that] addressed issues of whether African American students were disciplined more frequently and more harshly than white students,” says the department spokesperson.

A Senate Committee on Indian Affairs oversight hearing titled “Indian Education Series: Indian Students in Public Schools—Cultivating the Next Generation,” also found areas of concern, particularly in relation to Impact Aid.

William Mendoza, executive director of the White House Initiative on AI/AN Education, noted that the Office for Civil Rights report found other discrepancies in the education of AI/AN kids. For example, American Indian kindergarteners repeat the grade at nearly twice the rate of white children, AI/AN students go to schools with more first-year teachers than do white students and AI/AN students have the highest dropout rate of any racial or ethnic population, with a graduation rate of just 68 percent, compared with 75 percent for all students.

Mendoza testified that Impact Aid to help fund education for schools in districts with untaxable federal lands was funded at copy.2 billion for FY 2014, with half of that money going to public schools that educate children living on Indian lands.

Brent D. Gish, executive director of the National Indian Impacted Schools Association, put that number in perspective. While the Impact Aid program was established by Congress in 1950, it has not been fully funded since 1969. According to Dan Hudson, Wyoming State Impact Aid chairman and assistant superintendent of Fremont County School District #14, the Basic Support component of Impact Aid is currently funded at only 58 percent of authorization while the Payments for Property component is funded at just 3.5 percent of authorization.

Gish also noted that the Impact Aid program is not forward-funded, presenting challenges for planning and hiring. The 2013 federal sequester added to those challenges. “The sequester hit federally impacted Indian land school districts hard and to the detriment of the students, their communities and reservations,” he testified.

But there is good news too, as a number of panelists testified. For example, Alberto Siqueiros, superintendent of the Tohono O’odham Nation’s Baboquivari Unified School District, told the committee how his school district is in the process of completely transforming itself from a mediocre educational endeavor into an excelling school district by putting everything—from teacher hiring to community involvement and expectations for both faculty and kids—on the table.

“Long gone are the days of low expectations, mediocre performance and results often seen in tribal educational settings. We insist that the entire BUSD community support our efforts in educating our children,” he said. The results so far include a nearly 40 percent increase in graduation rates in the past five years, six Gates Millennium Scholars and one Dorrance Scholar in the past three years and over $2 million in scholarships in 2013. In that year, 52 seniors graduated, 30 applied to college, 24 were accepted and 19 enrolled in college.

Klamath Tribal council Stonewalls Tribal Membership at General Council Meeting

Security Guards and Metal Detectors for Tribal membership meeting

Posted by Zig Zag on Warrior Publication

June 2, 2014

(Chiloquin, Oregon)Saturday May 31 A long awaited General Council meeting was held at the Klamath Tribes Administration building that had been originally scheduled for Saturday May 17. The original meeting was rescheduled when the Klamath Tribal Council misinformed the public regarding accusations of “threats” toward Tribal Council. According to Klamath Tribal Councils press release, “some Klamath Tribes members have been campaigning to organize a hostile takeover of the meeting. Threats included chaining and padlocking doors to force the Tribal Council and meeting attendees to remove Gentry from the council and to overturn the results of a recent referendum vote.”

Klamath members were “wanded” and searched by security hired from Medford before entering the front doors, and asked to provide Klamath Tribal ID to Chairman Gentry’s wife, Mary Gentry, prior to entering the auditorium. Everyone was asked to sign in and wear a name tag. Signs were posted on the front door of the Administration building that read “video/audio recording is NOT permitted, unless specifically authorized by the Klamath Tribes.”

Approximately 100 eligible voting tribal members were in attendance, many who wanted accountability and answers from their elected officials regarding the recent illegal referendum that granted Chairman Gentry signatory authority to sign the “Proposed Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement” on behalf of membership. This agreement, now called the “Klamath Water Recovery and Economic Restoration Act of 2014”, was introduced May 21^st to Senate by Senators Wyden, Merkley, Boxer and Feinstein.

Every opportunity membership had to discuss the referendum was denied by Chairman Gentry at the General Council meeting. Though membership rights have been compromised by tribal negotiators, the outstanding concern Klamath tribal members have is that their elected leaders did not properly follow the laws of the Klamath constitution regarding a referendum vote. Throughout the meeting, the Klamath Tribal constitution, bylaws and Roberts Rules of Order were only acknowledged by Chairman Gentry when the rules benefited council and were denied when rules were invoked to conduct General Council business.

“This is a dictatorship!” exclaimed Ramona Mason a Klamath Tribal member.
When addressing Klamath Tribal Council regarding their disrespectful behavior toward membership, elder Heidi Kimbol stated,

“You all look very bad.”

klamath-tribal-meeting-5 — Looks like court, not a general meeting of tribal members…

Klamath Tribes General Council meetings were established to give tribal members the power to discuss issues, make important decisions for their community and to conduct business accordingly. Only limited authority has been granted to tribal council and membership reserves majority sovereign authority to themselves.

But at Saturday’s meeting it was clear that the Klamath Tribal council has abused their authority, publically displaying their unethical treatment of the general membership. And membership finally had the opportunity to unify and vocalize how discontent they are with how their elected leaders conduct themselves.

The General Council meeting began at 10:00 am and finally ended at approximately 5:00 pm, commencing with Councilman Don Gentry’s wife, Mary Gentry, accusing a young woman of “stealing from the tribe.” When asked for clarification on what Mrs. Gentry was referring to, she stated the woman stole coffee cups from a previous public event, cups which were provided for any guests in attendance, free of charge.

Though security was originally hired to prevent a “hostile takeover” of the meeting, the only event where security needed to intervene concerned the Chairman’s wife, Mary Gentry, who was ranting, crying and shaking as she was escorted outside of the building.

Media Contact: Kayla Godowa (541)-844-6114
Rowena Jackson: (541)-246-0281
Danita Herrera: (541)-852-6106

Tulalip holds annual veteran’s pow wow

By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

TULALIP – Tulalip Tribes held their 23rd Annual Veteran’s Pow Wow on May 30 through June 1, at the Tulalip Resort Casino. The annual pow wow celebrates current and past Native American military servicemen and women.

Master of ceremonies was Tulalip tribal member Ray Fryberg Sr., with Sonny Eagle Speaker as arena director and Eagle Warriors as host drum.

Dancing styles included women’s fancy shawl, buckskin, and jingle while men’s dance included fancy feather, grass, and northern traditional.

Photo/ Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulalipnews.com

Lamprey Fishing Blessing Ceremony Has Tribal Sovereignty Undertone

By Tom Banse, NW News Network

For centuries, Native Americans from Boise to Wenatchee to the southern Oregon coast have harvested Pacific lamprey, colloquially called eels. The ugly-looking critter resembles an eel, but it is actually a primitive fish with a distinctive, toothy suction cup mouth.

Lamprey pieces (center) sizzle between salmon in a traditional preparation, which was served to attendees at the “blessing ceremony.”

Credit Tom Banse / Northwest News Network

Willamette Falls, just outside Portland, is one of the few remaining places in the Northwest where it is possible — and legal — to catch Pacific lamprey for personal and ceremonial use. Tribal members are about the only ones who go for it.

During a “blessing ceremony” for lamprey and fishermen held at the confluence of the Willamette and Clackamas Rivers Monday, tribal schoolchildren led an eel dance, a sort of snaking Conga line more than 50 strong of all ages.

One of the fishermen there, Patrick Luke, is a Yakama Nation biologist. Luke is still miffed about the ticket he received from Oregon Fish and Wildlife police at the nearby falls in 2011.

“Now they have got folks on the reservation that won’t even come down here because they are afraid that enforcement will intimidate folks like they did in the past,” Luke said. “I grew up living that way in the 1970s seeing the state policemen treat the Indian folks really bad.”

Three years later, the Yakama Nation is still fighting Luke’s ticket. Two other fishermen were also cited and had their catches seized that day for fishing without a state permit. The thing is, Oregon does not “co-manage” lamprey the same as salmon or game.

Yakama Nation biologist Patrick Luke with posters made by tribal school students for the blessing ceremony.

Credit Tom Banse / Northwest News Network

“It is not a treaty right,” State Police Captain Jeff Samuels explained. “It is definitely open to all,” with everyone under the same rules, he said of the state’s approach.

From the tribal point of view, they believe they shouldn’t need the state’s permission.

“They don’t set our seasons,” Luke said. “We have our own law enforcement that sets our own seasons.”

At Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, fishery managers are trying to finesse the issue so it doesn’t escalate. The department’s Tony Nigro said his agency is trying to reach an understanding that at least clarifies the rules.

“The state has its policies and its legal positions,” Nigro said. “They aren’t necessarily in agreement (with tribal positions) at this point in time. But we respect and recognize the differences. I think we’ve been fairly good at putting those differences aside, seeing if we can work cooperatively.”

Children and tribal elders alike danced the eel dance at Clackamette Park on Monday.

Credit Tom Banse / Northwest News Network

Nigro said Northwest states, tribes and the federal government have a common goal to keep Pacific lamprey off the endangered list. Populations of the migratory fish have declined dramatically in recent decades. The reasons are many including dams and water diversions. Lamprey have trouble swimming up fish ladders designed for salmon. However, both sides see room for a limited ceremonial and subsistence harvest within a larger recovery effort.

Evaline Patt, a Warm Springs tribal council member, said lamprey used to be a staple in the diets of Columbia and Snake River basin tribes.

“It’s a rare treat now,” she said, “It’s getting to be a delicacy.”

Patt compared lamprey to oysters. Others said it tastes like fishy steelhead.

Vancouver City Council Votes 5-2 To Oppose Northwest’s Largest Oil Terminal

Hundreds turned out for a Vancouver City Council hearing on a resolution opposing the Tesoro-Savage oil terminal, proposed for the Port of Vancouver. | credit: Cassandra Profita

By Cassandra Profita, OPB

Monday night had turned to Tuesday morning by the time the Vancouver City Council voted to pass a non-binding resolution opposing what would be the Northwest’s largest oil-by-rail shipping facility.

The vote was 5-2 with Mayor Tim Leavitt and Councilor Bill Turlay dissenting. It followed six hours of testimony from residents, most of them opposed to the Port of Vancouver’s planned facility that would transfer North Dakota crude oil from trains to ships bound for West Coast refineries.

It was after 1 am when City Councilor Bart Hansen made a motion to pass the resolution, which expresses deep concern about rail safety, oil spills and explosions and urges Washington Gov. Jay Inslee not to approve the Tesoro Savage oil terminal.

The council debated whether or not to take the vote in the wee hours of the morning. Turlay said he wasn’t ready to take action. Leavitt said he wanted to make some changes to resolution before voting.

“I’ve been told nothing good happens after midnight,” Leavitt joked in pushing to delay the vote. “I know there are ways to improve the resolution. I hope we can get to a unanimous vote. Certainly, I’m not supportive of it as it is now.”

But other councilors pushed ahead. Councilor Anne McEnerny-Ogle said two-thirds of the testimony and comments she’s heard are from people opposed to the project.

“When I look at all the different e-mails that have come back, the voice says that for this community, this doesn’t work for us.”

Big Crowd Dwindles

By the time the board voted a crowd that had started out in the hundreds had dwindled to a few dozen.

More than 170 people signed up to testify at the hearing. At 11 p.m., more than four hours after the hearing began, the council voted to extend the meeting even later to take additional testimony. By 1 am, the council had heard from 101 people.

Even before the resolution was formally taken up, a majority of the city council had voiced opposition to the Tesoro-Savage oil terminal.

The hearing addressed two resolutions on the terminal, but most residents came to talk about the one that opposes the project as a whole. That resolution asks the Port of Vancouver to cancel its lease with Tesoro-Savage and urges state agencies and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee not to approve the project. It also supports new laws and regulations to improve crude oil transportation safety.

The council unanimously approved a resolution that calls for the city to play a bigger role in the state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council review process.The council is in the midst of completing an environmental review of the project and is tasked with making a recommendation to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who has the final say. That resolution supports the city’s intervening in that process by presenting evidence to the state council, making arguments and appealing a decision to approve the oil terminal.

Most who testified Monday night voiced support for both resolutions and opposition to the oil terminal, although there were many who spoke on behalf of project backers Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies.

Emotional Testimony

The resolutions drew some emotional testimony from both sides.

Don Orange, owner of Hoesly Eco-Automotive of Vancouver, told the council that he’s angry about the prospect of “thousands of pounds of filth” coming into his neighborhood and hurting his business.

“You can call this a terminal. To me, it’s a toilet,” he said. “It’s coming in here on a freight train and we’re flushing it off into ships. This small businessman thinks it stinks.”

On the other side, Port Commissioner Jerry Oliver expressed sadness that the council would consider opposing the project he thinks will benefit the country as a whole by distributing more domestically produced oil to U.S. refineries.

“It makes me sad, not so much that you’re turning your back on the Port of Vancouver, but that you have so little faith in our ability as a community to make this happen,” Oliver said.

Safety And Business Concerns Raised

The Tesoro Savage oil terminal would transport up to 380,000 barrels of crude oil a day. The oil would come from North Dakota’s Bakken fields by trains, be transferred to vessels on the Columbia River and then shipped to West Coast refineries. It’s the largest oil terminal project among the several proposed in the Northwest.

While project supporters noted that the city council doesn’t have the authority to stop the project, opponents of the project said it’s important that the city council let the governor know where it stands.

“It’s difficult to imagine the governor supporting this project if the city of Vancouver opposes it,” said Clark County resident Don Steinke after presenting the council with a box of 2,000 signatures in support of the resolutions.

Vancouver resident Carol Rose says she’s worried about safety in her community if the proposed project is built.

“It’s a tremendous amount of oil, and it’s a danger,” she says. “I’ve lived here for 40 years. I don’t want to have to move because of this.”

Many project opponents voiced concern about the risk of oil train derailments and explosions like the one that killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, last year.

Project supporters defended the safety record of Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies. Earlier this year, Tesoro committed to using newer rail cars that meet higher safety standards.

Many who testified in support of the project were employees of Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies. They told the council that they appreciate the jobs and economic development the oil terminal would bring to the area and vouched for the companies’ track records in treating their employees well.

Jared Larrabee, general manager for Tesoro, said the resolution opposing the project is premature because the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council hasn’t completed its environmental review.

“The resolution is making a predetermination without having all of the facts, in our view,” he said. “The resolution contains several inaccuracies and assertions that haven’t been validated by the forthcoming Environmental Impact Statement.”

He and other Tesoro representatives supported the resolution that would support the city intervening in the state’s environmental review process. But they urged the council to delay its vote opposing the project or to reconsider it altogether.

Todd Coleman, director of Port of Vancouver, criticized the city’s resolution and said it would damage the port’s ability to do business.

“You can’t have it both ways,” he told the board. “You can’t have a thriving port and all the things that come with that success and then attempt to choose between cargo. A vote for this resolution is a vote against this community’s ability to attract private sector business.”

Submerged Wave Energy Generator On Track For Deployment Near Astoria

By Tom Banse

May 30, 2014 nwnewsnetwork.com

An engineering company based in Salem, Oregon, says it is close to deploying the first submerged wave power generator on the West Coast. M3 Wave Energy Systems plans a temporary deployment late this summer in shallow water off the northern Oregon Coast.

The concept here relies on wave pressure passing over acrylic pillows on the sea floor. That pressure compresses air in the pillows, which is then used to spin an electric turbine.

Mike Morrow, M3 Wave’s CEO, said the initial open water deployment will be a self-contained, 7′ x 30′ rectangle on the seafloor off of Camp Rilea near Astoria.

“It is smaller scale so it is not going to generate a huge amount of power,” he said. “It would be enough to power a small sensor array or marker beacon.”

The demonstration is planned to last two to six weeks starting this August or September. Longer term, Morrow foresees manufacturing larger devices in Oregon. The devices would probably be exported to power off-the-grid outposts or coastal communities with high electricity costs such as Pacific islands or in Alaska.

Morrow said government grants and private investors are financing the commercialization of this technology.

The steady, powerful pounding of the ocean surf along with supportive state governments attracted a plethora of energy developers to the Pacific Northwest over the past decade. But one-by-one, project developers have thrown in the towel as their funding ran low or West Coast utilities proved unwilling to commit to this type of renewable electricity at above-market rates.

M3 Wave has managed to survive the shakeout in the ocean renewable energy sector.

“One of the key things about M3 and our technology is that it does fit on the [sea] bottom. We took a very different philosophy,” Morrow explained. “There’s less energy on the bottom available — that’s just simple laws of physics — but we think it will be easier and more cost effective to harness that energy.”

Earlier this spring, New Jersey-based Ocean Power Technologies canceled its plans to deploy an array of ten wave energy buoys, which would have floated on the ocean surface near Reedsport, Oregon. A Scottish wave energy developer, Aquamarine Power, closed its Oregon office in 2011 citing uncertainty about seabed leases.

One of the other survivors in the ocean energy space regionally is Seattle-based Principle Power. It recently won a federal grant to test wind energy generation using turbines placed atop redesigned offshore drilling platforms. Principle Power is currently seeking permission to deploy such floating windmills offshore of Coos Bay, Oregon.

Renewable Energy Takes Root In Northwest Indian Country

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon is home to the Northwest’s first wind turbine on tribal lands. The turbine will generate 25 percent of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute's power.Courtney Flatt — The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon is home to the Northwest’s first wind turbine on tribal lands. The turbine will generate 25 percent of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute’s power.
Courtney Flatt

By Courtney Flatt, Northwest Public Radio

PENDLETON, Ore. — You can spot one of the Eastern Oregon’s newest renewable energy projects from Interstate 84. It doesn’t look like other wind projects east of the Cascades.

A single wind turbine rises over the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

The turbine blades gain momentum as the wind picks up. The tribes’ executive director, Dave Tovey, said this cultural institute turned out to be the perfect spot for the first turbine erected in Northwest Indian Country. The place where the tribes broke ground for the cultural institute is notoriously windy.

“A lot of our elders would just shake their heads as say, ‘You guys know, the wind always blows up there.’ We always thought, like Indian tribes, and like we do with so many other things here, we turn a seeming disadvantage into an advantage, or even an opportunity,” Tovey said.

Many Northwest tribes have been exploring ways to get more of their electricity from renewable sources that don’t pollute, like coal-fired power plants do, or harm fish — a concern when it comes to hydroelectric dams.

David Mullon is the chief counsel for the National Congress of American Indians, based in Washington, D.C. He said renewable energy is one way tribes can protect natural resources.

“A major portion of the tribal population is located on the reservation homelands. Protecting and conserving the resources on those very small places is an important consideration,” Mullon said.

There are plenty of examples in Northwest Indian Country: Idaho’s Nez Perce Tribe and Washington’s Yakama Nation are looking into generating electricity by burning woody debris in biomass plants. The Colville Tribes in Eastern Washington get energy from biomass and solar panels, too.

In Oregon, the turbine at the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute will generate about 25 percent of the building’s electricity.

Jess Nowland helps manage the building, which serves as a gathering place and museum for the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla tribes.

Before putting up the wind turbine, the tribes were working on conservation at the center. Nowland said they’ve reduced its energy consumption by about 70 percent, saving more than $700,000.

“The reality is that there are buildings everywhere that you can achieve this kind of savings on,” Nowland said.

This wind turbine is the beginning of renewable energy on the Umatilla reservation. Next up: the tribes plans to install solar panels at the cultural institute.

Master carver explores art of war during Anchorage talks

By MIKE DUNHAM

mdunham@adn.comJune 1, 2014

As an artist, collaborator and conservator, Tlingit master carver Tommy Joseph has been involved with many of the most important totem projects in Alaska over the past 20 years.

The short list includes the Indian River History Pole carved with Wayne Price, the Kiks.adi Memorial Pole and the much-photographed “Holding Hands” Centennial Pole, all in Sitka National Historical Park.

But the soft-spoken artist will address the brutal arts of war at the Anchorage Museum on Thursday, specifically the battle armor and weapons of the Tlingit Indians. It’s a subject he’s devoted special attention to over the last few years.

Master carver Tommy Joseph works on a helmet at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, Friday May 30, 2014. Known for his totems, he has recently done research on Tlingit armour.Master Carver Tommy Joseph from Sitka is in town doing workshops at the southeast site at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. He'll give a talk at the Anchorage Museum on June 5. He's famous for his totems, but has done a lot of research on Tlingit armor, which will be the subject of his talk. He's working on a helmet right now. ANNE RAUP — Anchorage Daily News — Master carver Tommy Joseph works on a helmet at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, Friday May 30, 2014. Known for his totems, he has recently done research on Tlingit armour.Master Carver Tommy Joseph from Sitka is in town doing workshops at the southeast site at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. He’ll give a talk at the Anchorage Museum on June 5. He’s famous for his totems, but has done a lot of research on Tlingit armor, which will be the subject of his talk. He’s working on a helmet right now. ANNE RAUP — Anchorage Daily News

Joseph’s totems can be found in England, New Zealand, at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh and in front of the Department of Veterans Affairs homeless shelter at Benson Boulevard and C Street in Anchorage.

One of the recent generation of artists finding new ways to explore totemic forms, he often incorporates unexpected or modern elements in his work. On a pole for the Family Justice Center in Sitka, there are young people wearing contemporary clothing. A rainbow is featured on the “Good Life” pole created for Sitka’s Pacific High School. A camera shutter can be discerned on the pole honoring the late Japanese photographer Michio Hoshino. Multicolored hands decorate his Census Pole, created to encourage participation in the 2010 U.S. census and which traveled across the state.

It may seem like a leap to go from items now considered ornamental — bowls, blankets, totem poles — to devices meant for killing. But before contact, Native Alaskans expected all tools to be both functional and decorated. War equipment was considered especially important and was especially well-decorated.

Joseph said he started to “seriously research” Tlingit battle gear in 2004, the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Sitka between the Russians, led by Alexander Baranof, and the Kiks.adi clan, led by Chief Katlian.

“There wasn’t a whole lot available online or in books,” Joseph said. “So I decided to do the research myself.”

He began with the collections at the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka, where the raven-shaped battle helmet worn by Katlian in the fight against the Russians is kept, and the Alaska State Museum in Juneau. He got a grant to explore the holdings at the Burke Museum in Seattle. Then a Smithsonian fellowship that let him look over items held in several East Coast museums.

An award from USA Artists let him travel to Europe, where he visited the British Museum, several Russian museums and “I’m not sure how many museums in Paris.” He photographed the pieces, examined them and “picked ’em apart in my mind.”

With an individual artist grant from the Rasmuson Foundation, he re-created the weapons and armor he’d studied and mounted a solo show at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau last year. “Rainforest Warriors” featured six mannequins in full battle gear along with assorted artifacts and paintings.

The traditional war equipment in Southeast Alaska bears a striking resemblance to that worn by the ancient Greeks as described in Homer’s “Iliad.” Fighting was close and hand-to-hand, with copper knives the primary tool. The blades jutted forward and backward, Joseph said, and were held in the middle. In place of a second blade, some of the knives had a blunt pummel, often carved in the form of an animal head.

Other weapons included copper-tipped spears, war clubs with heavy bone heads and nasty-looking, laboriously carved jade spikes up to 16 inches long.

“They were like a miner’s pick,” he said, “for whacking skulls.”

Wood and leather served for armor. The most prominent piece — the one most commonly displayed in museums — was the helmet, often decorated with a human or animal face. It came down to the eyebrows. A bentwood neck collar was attached to the rear of the helmet and held in place with a mouthpiece clinched in the teeth.

The body was protected with the heaviest of hides — moose, bear or sea lion, sometimes in multiple layers. Joseph has seen examples with hides as much as a half-inch thick. “It was like our modern day Kevlar,” he said. Vertical wooden slats were strapped to the leather, typically in top and bottom halves, some reaching halfway down the warrior’s legs, which could also be guarded with slat leggings.

Musket balls could bounce off such armor, Joseph said.

Joseph said some of what he discovered in his research came as a surprise.

“We were told that war helmets were always, always made from a spruce burl,” he said. The rock-hard knot is difficult to split even with a maul. “But I found some that were made from straight grain — and some were maple,” a non-Alaska wood that would have been acquired via trade with tribes in present-day British Columbia or Washington.

“One that really surprised me was made of red cedar,” he said. “That’s a soft wood.”

The maker of a cedar helmet covered it with animal hide, however, to reinforce it, much as modern plastic-foam bike helmets are sometimes covered with a light nylon skin.

Joseph was born in Ketchikan in 1964 and has lived in Sitka for most of his life. He said he became interested in traditional art when a carver presented a workshop on making halibut hooks for his third-grade class.

Last week it was Joseph who was teaching apprentices how to make such hooks at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. He was also working on a new war helmet at the center’s Southeast site.

After his talk about battle gear this week, he’ll stay in Anchorage to do conservation work on one of his poles that recently came into the museum’s possession.

He doesn’t often come to Anchorage. Only coincidental gaps in timing with various other projects permitted him to make an extended visit this year. Among other things, his Sitka studio, Raindance Gallery, is slated for expansion, in part to accommodate the popular workshops he conducts there.

And yes, if you need a Tlingit war helmet, you can buy one at the gallery. Though his in-depth study of Tlingit weapons is only about a decade old, they’ve been an object of artistic interest for some time.

The Kiks.adi pole, for instance, carved in 1999, has a frog at its base, the clan symbol of the Tlingit leader Katlian. The frog appears to be holding a raven in its lap.

A closer look shows that it’s a replica of Katlian’s helmet.

Reach Mike Dunham at mdunham@adn.com or 257-4332.

Month: June 2014