Native Village 

Youth and Education News

October 29, 2003  Issue 121 Volume 4

"The American Indian has only one country to defend, and when you're picked on, the American Indian never turns his back." 
Ernest Childers Muscogee (Creek), Congressional Medal of Honor

Solar Storm Hits Earth
A giant eruption of gas on the sun reached the Earth's upper atmosphere on October 24. It interfered with high-frequency airline communications but causing no major problems, federal officials said. The  storm, called a ''coronal mass ejection,'' is a mass of solar gas that raced toward Earth at 2,000,000 mph. The usual cycle for such a storm is every 11 years, but this one was expected to hit three years ago. Experts expect the storm to last for two weeks. 
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20031023133109990005&_mpc=news%2e10%2e10

Tribes Mine New Opportunities in Energy Projects
In North Dakota, a $100,000,000 oil refinery is planned on the Three Affiliated Tribes reservation...
In Washington State, the Tulalip Tribes are looking at building a plant that would produce electricity from cattle waste...
In Colorado, the Southern Ute tribe will pay each tribal elder $55,000 this year, largely from the money it makes from gas drilling. 
Across the United States, Indian tribes are getting into the energy business.  According to some estimates, Indian land has more than 10% of the nation's onshore natural gas reserves. About 1/3 of the coal in the West lies on tribal land. And tribal land holds great potential for wind-power projects.  If passed, a new Congressional energy bill would provide tribes with government assistance, including up to $2,000,000,000 in federal loan guarantees.  The bill would also give tribes a freer hand to strike deals with energy companies, such as oil and mining interests
LA Times

Deal Could end Trinity River Dispute, Restore Flows for Salmon
The Westlands Water District, CA, presented a settlement offer to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Hoopa Valley Indian tribe. The tribe claims the district siphons too much water from the Trinity River to feed farmers and doesn't leave enough to ensure the survival of salmon and its culture. Westlands said its proposal would restore a significant amount of water down the Trinity but less than an Interior Department plan called for in 2000. The Trinity River, which originates in Northern California's Trinity Alps and flows into the Klamath River, has been diverted for decades to service a fast-growing population. 
The Associated Press State & Local Wire

FOREST KEEPERS
In the rich forest near Neopit, WI, the spirit and  culture of Native American people live in the shadowy depths of the trees. The Menominee have cared for this forest for centuries.  "The survival and the maintenance of the Menominee as a people is directly related to the forest that we have," said Alan Caldwell, director of the Menominee Cultural Institute. "Because of this connection...with the forest, we have been able to maintain our cultural and spiritual values."  The tribe's oral history includes direction from early chiefs about how to cut the forest: "Start with the rising sun, and work toward the setting sun, but take only the mature trees, the sick trees, and the trees that have fallen. When you reach the end of the reservation, turn and cut from the setting sun to the rising sun and the trees will last forever." It is, according to Marshall Pecore, the tribe's chief forester, a very early definition of sustainable forestry - the practice of logging in such a way that it remains productive and healthy far into the future.  On a recent flight of the space shuttle, one astronaut noted the rectangular block of green Menominee forest in north central Wisconsin. It looked, the astronaut said, like a "jewel." The forest is so visible from space that satellites use the forest edges to focus their cameras.
http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/local/58199.php

Children gather in Santa Fe to remember native traditions 
More than 100 American Indian children gathered at Santa Fe’s Wheelwright Museum for the All Children’s Powwow. The annual event brings kids together with older generations to strengthen American Indian traditions. Dancers ranged in age from toddlers to 15-year-olds. All proceeds from the event go into prizes for the kids, who are judged on presentation, authenticity, and the design of their regalia.
http://kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=5330&cat=NMTOPSTORIES

WSU student paper's drawings called offensive
Minority students and faculty members were angered by a recent drawing in The Daily Evergreen, the student newspaper at Washington State University. An illustration, included in an article about Indian Mascots, showed a  football helmet with an unflattering drawing of a black man. "People are supposed to have a negative reaction to it," newspaper editor Grant Purdum told protesters. Stephen Norris, a black student who wrote the mascot story, saw the illustration before it was printed and thought it made a point. "This picture, it's something that we would never see," Norris said. "Why is it that when Native Americans are mascots, people don't consider them offensive images?  It's not about black or Native Americans. "It's that we're all discriminated against"
http://www.tribnet.com/news/local/story/4182029p-4195277c.html

Tribes Celebrate Unveiling of Sacagawea Statue in Capitol
A new statue of Sakakawea graces the Capitol Rotunda in Bismark, North Dakota. The 11-foot-tall bronze statue depicts Sacagawea carrying her son, Jean Baptiste, on her back. It bears the name "Sakakawea" -- the spelling preferred by North Dakota and her tribe, the Hidatsa. "Today, Sakakawea's long, 200-year journey has come to an end," said Tex Hall, chairman of Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nations, during a ceremony dedicating the statue. The statue is a replica of one erected in 1910 on the grounds of the North Dakota Capitol. It is the first of an American Indian woman to be added to the Statuary Hall collection, which dates to the 1860s.
H-Amind Listserv

Seneca Nation hosts premiere Indian boxers
Less than a year old, the Seneca Nation Boxing Club (SNBC) is a presence in Western New York.  In early October, the club hosted the Native American Boxing Team as it trained for the 24th annual Tammere Tournament in Tampere, Finland.  "This is the first time that [the Native American] team has been invited to Finland - they usually invite the American Olympic Team," said SNBC founder Mike Tome. Last June, Tome took five of his protégés to the Native American boxing championships at Peshawbestown, Mich. and brought home three national titles and two runners-up, drawing praise from USA Boxing. 
http://www.indiancountry.com/?1065631948 

Coalition Laments the Invisibility of Asians, Native Americans on TV  
The Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition tracks how well ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are honoring a 1999 agreement to increase diversity to better reflect a multicultural society.  Last year, several  organizations issued one combined grade to each network, under the umbrella of the Multi-Ethnic Coalition, which also includes the NAACP. Of the four networks, CBS,  landed at the bottom with an overall grade of D-  Network grades were based on several categories, including the number of minority  writers, producers, directors and entertainment executives, actors, and  commitment to diversity initiatives.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-diversity14oct14,1,7962337,print.story
The Sixth Annual Native American Music Awards 
The Sixth Annual Native American Music Awards will be held Saturday, November 15th, 2003 at the Isleta Casino Resort Showroom in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Volume 3   

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