Native Village
Youth and Education News
November 17, 2004, Issue 142 Volume 4
"The role of food is important, but it's gotten to the point where we become gluttons.... We could spend a lot more time really thinking about what's going on in our world and giving more thanks." Flying Eagle, chief of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
Global warming real,
already altering climate
Global warming is not a possibility -- it's a serious reality that's
transforming sensitive parts of the globe. Two recent reports say Earth's climate has warmed by about 1 degree since
1900. In the Arctic, which is most affected by carbon dioxide, many regions have experienced a rise of 4 - 7 degrees in
the last 50 years. That warmth has reduced snowfall, melted mountain glaciers and shrunk the Arctic Ocean's summer sea
ice cover. Huge areas of Alaskan permafrost are thawing into soggy bog. In the mainland United States,
spring arrives two weeks earlier than it did 50 years ago, and tropical bird species have appeared in Florida and along
the Gulf Coast. Scientists say these changes should be taken as a "very clear signal" that climate change will
have significant effects in coming decades. The two reports which have raised this alarm are Global Climate Change
by the Pew Center, and the Arctic report-by the Arctic Council. The Bush administration argues that not enough is known
about climate change to justify major efforts at forestalling or preventing future warming.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-warm14.html
Alaska's
tundra now releasing carbon dioxide
Alaska: Scientists have found evidence that the North has now become a
source of atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide. A new study from the Pew Center on Global Climate change says the Arctic
tundra is no longer absorbing carbon dioxide, but is rather releasing it. Scientists have estimated that Arctic soils
have accumulated up to 33% of the entire earth's organic carbon. "For many thousands of years Alaska has sucked up
quite a lot of carbon from the atmosphere and put it into long-term storage as part of the frozen tundra," said
Camille Parmesan of the University of Texas. "The carbon bank has now turned into a carbon exhaust."
Download report: http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-in-depth/all_reports/observedimpacts/index.cfm
http://north.cbc.ca/
Bush Stifles Global
Warming Evidence, Scientist Alleges
James E. Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
in New York, says the Bush administration is trying to stifle scientific evidence of the dangers of global warming in an
effort to keep the public uninformed. "In my more than three decades in government, I have never seen anything
approaching the degree to which information flow from scientists to the public has been screened and controlled as it is
now," Hansen told a University of Iowa audience. Hanson twice briefed a task force headed by Vice President Dick
Cheney on global warming but says the administration wants to hear only scientific results that "fit predetermined,
inflexible positions." Evidence raising concerns about the dangers of climate change is often dismissed as
not being of sufficient interest to the public. He also said reports that outline potential dangers of global warming
are edited to make the problem appear less serious. "This process is in direct opposition to the most fundamental
precepts of science," he said. "This, I believe, is a recipe for environmental disaster."
Associated Press
Scientists uncover
possible new species of human
Scientists working on Flores Island have uncovered the bones of a human
dwarf species marooned for eons while modern man rapidly colonized the rest of the planet. This hobbit-sized creature
appears to have lived as recently as 18,000 years ago on the remote Indonesian island. It was a kind of tropical Lost
World populated by giant lizards and miniature elephants. Near one skeleton were stone tools and animal remains,
including teeth from a young Stegodon, or prehistoric dwarf elephant, as well as fish, birds and rodents. Some of the
bones were charred, suggesting they were cooked. Just how this primitive, remnant species managed to hang on and whether
it crossed paths with modern humans is uncertain. Geologic evidence suggests a massive volcanic eruption sealed its fate
some 12,000 years ago, along with other unusual species on the island.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/10/27/dwarf.cavewoman.ap/
Extent Of
Great Lakes Alien Invasion Revealed
A new nonnative species is introduced to the Great Lakes every eight
months, according to the National Wildlife Federation. Invasive species are wreaking havoc at both ends of the
food chain by out-competing predatory fish for food and habitat while depleting lower organisms. Carried into the Great
Lakes by ships, invasive species often have no natural enemies to limit their reproduction. Of the 162 aquatic exotics
that have entered the Great Lakes, the most infamous include:
YThe
predatory sea lamprey: an eel-like fish that attaches to other fish and drains them of blood and bodily fluids. An adult
lamprey can kill up to 40 pounds of fish in a 12- to 20-month period.
YThe
round goby: an aggressive fish that empties the nests of smallmouth bass by consuming the eggs. To offset the population
decline of bass, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources restricted anglers from catching the fish in Lake Erie during
May and June.
YZebra
and quagga mussels: mollusks that reproduce rapidly and consume incredible amounts of microscopic plants and animals,
depriving native species of food. Researchers also blame these mussels for toxic algal blooms that foul drinking-water
supplies.
http://www.nwf.org/enviroaction/index.cfm?articleId=372&issueId=38
Gray wolf found in
northern Lower Peninsula
Michigan: Michigan biologists have confirmed that a gray wolf has appeared
in Presque Isle County. It's the first wolf in Michigan's Lower Peninsula since wolves began returning to Michigan
15 years ago. The 70-pound female, part of a wolf pack in the central Upper Peninsula, had been fitted with a
radio-tracking collar last November, and was last detected Feb. 26 in Mackinac County. The wolf was still wearing the
collar when it was found Oct. 23 in a coyote trap and killed by a trapper who mistook it for a coyote. Once found
in all 83 Michigan counties, the last recorded wolf in the Lower Peninsula was in 1910. They began naturally returning
to the UP via Canada and Wisconsin in the late 1980s. Today, Michigan's Upper Peninsula is home to at least 360 wolves.
http://www.freep.com/sports/outdoors/wolf26e_20041026.htm
Buffalo to be moved from
Catalina Island to South Dakota
California: Nearly half the buffalo herd that runs free on Santa Catalina
Island will be rounded up and shipped to a Lakota reservation in South Dakota next month. The move will return the
animals to their ancestral home and easing ecological pressure on the island. The island's buffalo, descendants of
14 brought there for a movie in the 1920s, are a favorite with tourists and island residents. But since 1972, some
have been removed every few years to keep the herd from growing so large that island plants are ravaged and the buffalo
begin to starve. Currently, about 250 buffalo live on the island.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/nation/10179963.htm
Buffalo Quarantine Comment
Period Extended until 5 PM on November 24th
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the USDA plan to capture, quarantine,
and slaughter up to 200 Yellowstone buffalo calves in the next two years. They plan to test a hypothesis
about the effectiveness of brucellosis serologic tests. The Buffalo Field Campaign, who protects
America's only continuously wild buffalo herd, is gathering public comments at their web site to protect the herd. http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/legislative/quarantine.html.
Animal Planet to Air
Documentary on the Yellowstone Buffalo
The Yellowstone buffalo will be featured in an Animal Planet special to be
aired this on Thursday, November 18, at 8pm and 11pm EST. The program will include information
on the natural history of America's only continuously wild herd as well as news of the buffalo's current plight and an
interview with Mike Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign.
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
Marionettes share Makah
Tribe wisdom
Washington: "Q'we-ti: Tales of the Makah Tribe" is a
special collaboration between the Makah tribe of Neah Bay and the Northwest Puppet Center. Q'we-ti consists of
seven legends of the Makah people. "When we do a story outside of our culture, we really try hard to work with
someone of that culture," explains Chris Carter from the center. "The best thing that came out of this show is
the connection with the Makah tribe, and many years later [we're] still close friends." "Q'we-ti"
(pronounced "kwa-tee") is told with elaborately carved marionettes of yellow cedar by Northwest sculptor Duane
Pasco. The Carters spent a year traveling back and forth between Seattle and Neah Bay, listening to five storytellers
and showing the elders the puppets in progress. Each time, the elders would suggest a small detail that would make the
puppets more authentic. "They wanted us to do it first for their children, so we could perform it for the
young people in their tribe to know these stories," Carter said. "And they also wanted us to share it with the
kids of the whole state. They wanted their culture known by all the people."
Northwest Puppet Center: www.nwpuppet.org
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
Stolen
Taos Art Located On EBay
New Mexico: A painting valued at $38,000 was found on EBay by the art
dealer from whom it was stolen. Robert L. Parsons, owner of Robert L. Parsons Fine Art gallery in Taos, alerted police
in time to prevent the scheduled sale of the piece the next day. Police say the incident may be a valuable
lead in an ongoing investigation of other art thefts in Taos and Santa Fe over the last 18 months. The painting,
E.I. Couse's 'Return of the War Party,' was being sold on E-Bay by a California antique and fine art auction house which
did not realize the painting was stolen.
Albuquerque Journal
Iqaluit teens point
cameras at southern ignorance
Nunavut: Guests at Iqaluit's Astro Theatre recently watched films created
by aboriginal youth groups. The film exhibition called Tauqsijiit, or "people sharing," involved young Inuit
and Aboriginal artists and mentors faced with the questions: "Who am I and what does it mean to be young and from
an indigenous group in today's society?"
Among the films:
*Sivunivut,
which means "Towards our future," shows youth asking people in Toronto questions about Canadian Inuit. Asked
whether Inuit still lived in igloos, random Toronto residents answered "yes." But then they got stumped when
one youth asked: "If the North doesn't have trees, how do we make houses?" The point was to get southerners
thinking about an area and culture they knew little about.
*A young
group of Inuit girls from Ottawa named YUMI (for "young, urban, modern Inuit") filmed calm, quiet images
from the North with pictures of harried urban life. At the end of the video, Cynthia Pitseolak delivers the
group's message: "We all share the same past, but today's our own choice."
*Another
video, produced by De-Ba-Jeh-Mu-Jig, shows three aboriginal characters from the past, present and future watching
television. They get a taste of what TV would look like if the dominant population of Canada was native. The programs
included trapping raccoons in the city, a commercial for "bear grease hair gel," a weather segment telling
viewers about a rain dance performance, and a version of Canadian Idol that features Ojibway singing.
http://www.nunatsiaq.com/
Book details history of
Native Americans in America's pastime
The American Indian Integration of Baseball is a new book by Dr. Jeffrey
Powers-Beck. The American Indian Integration of Baseball “describes the experiences and contributions of American
Indians as they courageously tried to make their place in America’s national game during the first half of the
twentieth century.” (Book's dust cover) “This book is about Indians in organized baseball at all levels, not
just the Major Leagues,” said Joseph B. Oxendine in the book's forward. Before Jackie Robinson’s became the first
black major-league baseball player in 1947, Louis Sockalexis of Penobscot lineage debuted in the big leagues in
1897. American Indians have had a presence in professional baseball ever since. Unfortunately, that presence has not
always been respected-- Native athletes have faced racism and prejudice throughout their careers. “It tells many
stories that have never been told about baseball in the federal boarding schools for American Indians, such as Carlisle
Indian School in Pennsylvania and Haskell Institute of Lawrence, Kansas,” said Powers-Beck. The American Indian
Integration of Baseball work is the first book on the subject.
http://nativetimes.com/
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