Native Village
Youth and Education News
April 6, 2005 Issue 150 Volume 3
"Whoever designed [NCLB] wasn't thinking anything
about the history of Indian education. We feel an effective education is one that's defined primarily by the goals of
the community. But [education in the US] is still a strongly assimilative system ... and in my opinion, No Child Left
Behind is just another one of those roadblocks." Denis Viri, Arizona State University's Center for Indian
Education.
RED LAKE TEEN: NOT
ALONE IN HIS DESPAIR
Minnesota: The recent murders at Red Lake Indian Reservation highlight the
high rates of suicide, violence, depression, and pregnancy among American Indian teenagers. The numbers for the Red Lake
Indian Reservation are staggering.
A 2004 state survey
of 56 Red Lake ninth-graders showed that:
*81%
of girls and 43% of boys had considered suicide--300% of the
national rate;
*Almost
50% of the girls tried to kill themselves, while 20% of boys
said the same--300% of the national rate.
Nationwide figures show that
American Indian teenagers:
*Commit
suicide at 300% of the national rate;
*Are
involved in alcohol-related arrests at 300% of the national rate;
*Die
in alcohol-related incidents at 1,700% of the national rate.
*Native
Americans are also third-highest in teen pregnancies, behind
Hispanics and blacks.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-shoot27.html
UNITY
Youth Declare Red Lake Tragedy As a Call to Action
Oklahoma: The tragic shooting deaths on the Red Lake Band of Chippewa
Indian reservation has prompted the nation’s largest, oldest and most well-known Native youth organization to respond.
The United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. (UNITY), has issued a call to action for communities concerned about their
young people. “Although we are shocked at the evolving tragedy at Red Lake, we are well aware that this situation
could occur in any community, at any time,” said Dan Terrio and Misty Airington, co-presidents of the National UNITY
Council.
Read UNITY's Declaration: http://216.109.157.86/press_release/UNITY%20Youth%20Declare%20Red%20Lake%20Tragedy%20As%20a%20Call%20to%20Action.htm
nativenewsonline.org
Trauma, Turmoil can Last
for Years, Experts Advise
Minnesota: Students, teachers and psychologists say it may take
years to calm the turbulent emotions that left 10 dead at Red Lake High School on the Red Lake Reservation. Within 48
hours after the shootings, students and teachers received counseling. The focus was on talking to one another and taking
steps toward returning them to normalcy. For the children, the greatest help will come from native rituals and teachings
focused on respect and love, said Wanda Baxter, Ojibwe culture and language teacher, "When we talk to the
children about our traditional ways, about our life as natives and how to talk to one another, they listen," she
said. While grief pours forth at tribal and religious ceremonies, the physical healing continues for three students
hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
Star Tribune
Red Lake prepares to
return to school
Minnesota: Personnel from Red Lake High School gathered on the
Bemidji State campus to help surviving staff members get on with life. But getting the kids to return to the school will
take time. Red Lake Principal Chris Dunshee says it's understandable that some kids don't want to return.
"There's been times when I don't feel like I can walk back into the building right now and I'm still struggling
with that myself, and a lot of the kids and a lot of the staff were much more immediately involved with things than even
I was, so I can certainly identify with those feelings that they're having," he said. Dunshee says he has no idea
how long it will take before kids in Red Lake will be comfortable in their school. Right now he's working to
address some of the simpler questions students are asking. "We will have a plan in place for you. You will
graduate. We will have a prom for you this year. So needs will be addressed for them." Dunshee
says school officials will continue to meet and develop strategies to help the community recover. In the meantime,
the State will not require students to take state tests this spring, and all are exempt from fulfilling testing mandates
required by the No Child Left Behind act.
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/31_rehab_redlaketeachers/
Security concerns keep Red
Lake schools closed
Minnesota: Concerns for student safety have prompted Red Lake elementary
schools to remain closed until April 11, and to delay deciding when to resume high school and middle school classes.
"Indications are that there are more kids involved than were down there at the school ... We need to identify
positively that there is nobody else," Red Lake Police Capt. Dewayne Dow told the Red Lake School Board. Tribal
Chairman Floyd Jourdain, whose son, Louis, is in custody, said the tribe would help the board in any way possible. But
he said he didn't expect "a soul to set foot in that school this year." Alternate sites include the adjoining
middle school or a vacant Bemidji School District school about 16 miles south of the reservation. Neither Jourdain nor
high school Principal Chris Dunshee expressed a preference.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5326032.html
Others Aware of Red Lake
Plans, Officials Say
Tribal and federal officials believe up to 20 teenagers may have know
about plans for the shooting spree resulting in 10 deaths on the Red Lake Indian reservation. The FBI believes that as
many as four students -- including gunman Jeff Weise and Louis Jourdain, a classmate arrested last week -- were
directly involved in planning the attack, and well over a dozen others may have heard about the plot. FBI agents plan to
perform forensic analysis on 30 to 40 computers taken from the high school computer laboratory. Investigators and
school officials believe much of the discussion and planning among Weise and his friends occurred through e-mails
and instant messages. .
nativenewsonline.org
Tribal chair wins praise
for leadership
The youngest tribal chairman elected in Red Lake Nation's history, Floyd
"Buck" Jourdain, 40, was a virtual unknown throughout Minnesota and the world. But that changed after the
shootings inside Red Lake Senior High School, the deadliest since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. What the
world has since seen is an articulate man with admirable poise and a reverential presence during what he called the
tribe's "darkest day." There was no grandstanding, no sign of scripted sound bites. He never said
"I." It was either "we" or the "community." It was evident he was speaking from the heart.
"My sense of him is that he did not get into tribal
politics just to kind of feed on his own thing. He is young, honest, committed, energetic, dynamic and has the
community's best interests at heart and is working hard to make a difference," said Steven Hirsh, executive
director of the Center for Reducing Rural Violence.
"He is very innovative and open-minded, and he has
dealt with this tragedy with pride and sensitivity. He has done it with a recognition that he has to balance the right
of the world to hear about the need of his people with the need for privacy for his people at this time," said
Minnesota U.S. attorney Tom Heffelfinger,
"It's not about him at all. It's about his people.
He is probably one of the great, young leaders that we have in this state. He lives by example, and I
respect the man immensely," said Karri Plowman, executive director of the Minnesota American Indian Chamber
of Commerce.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/11246401.htm
Native Americans Criticize
Bush's Silence
Minnesota: Native Americans across the country were angry and frustrated
by President Bush's delayed response to the school shootings on the Red Lake Reservation. Three days after ten
people died, grief-stricken American Indians complained that the White House has offered little sympathy for the
tribe. "I hoped [President Bush] would say something," said Victoria Graves, a cultural educator at Red
Lake Elementary School. "It's important that there's acknowledgment of the tragedy. It's important he sees
the tribes are out here. We need help." Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress
of American Indians, finally called the White House to inquire about Bush's silence. Spokeswoman Dana Perino said that
the President was following the case through the FBI and the Justice Department and would dedicate part of his Saturday
radio address to the Red Lake tragedy.
The Washington Post
Birch
& You
Minnesota: Birch bark has been used to make baskets and canoes, but a
company in Duluth is marketing a new product made from it. NaturNorth Technologies has patented a process to
extract large quantities of a chemical, betulin, that gives birch bark its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal qualities.
Native American healers have been using birch bark for years, and some of them are worried about the future
supply. "You see the logging trucks go by, and they're just whacking down everything," says Skip
Sandman, a traditional healer for the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe. Sandman says in the Ojibwe creation story, each
plant and animal promised to help people in some way, and birch trees offered their healing qualities. He
says it's important to use them respectfully, and not for profit, but only to help people."They think it's only a
tree. But when the trees are gone, then what do we do?"
IndigenousNewsNetwork
Hopes of girl drowned by
cousin in 2001 create cultural bridge from S.D. town to Ohio
South Dakota: Weeks before she was murdered, Lakota Rose Madison, 17, had
a vision of a bridge connecting her hometown of Little Eagle to Dayton, Ohio. The bridge, she told family and friends,
delivered troubled and curious reservation youths to a Dayton safe house. She hoped the vision would lead to a
real cultural exchange that would bring young people she had met in Ohio to the reservation. Lakota' s vision was
realized when a group of about 30 people from the University of Dayton and other parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania arrived
in Little Eagle. A few were Madison's friends; others were followers of the youth sobriety movement started in her
name. All came to help. "We're just here trying to achieve what she hasn't because of her death," said
Anita Lukey, a Cincinnati native and freshman at the University of Dayton. The visitors came to lay a figurative
foundation for a safe house on Standing Rock and spread the news that a Lakota Rose peace house will be dedicated at the
end of April in Dubois, Pa.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050324/NEWS/503240334/1001&template=printart
Tribe Suing University
Researcher Over Misused Blood Samples
Arizona: The Havasupai Tribe is suing Therese Markow and other university
researchers, claiming that blood samples taken from tribal members for diabetes testing were misused. Tribal members say
those samples were later used to learn about schizophrenia and genetics among tribal members. Markow, who now
directs the University of Arizona's Center for Insect Science, said she was only trying to understand "the
biological underpinnings of the health issues of the Havasupai." The tribe and 72 tribal members are
including the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the Arizona Board of Regents and Stanford University in
the suit. Combined, the suits are asking for $60,000,000 in damages
Associated Press & Local Wire
Nine States Sue Gov't Over
Mercury Rules
New Jersey: Nine states have filed a lawsuit against the federal
government for failing to protect children and expectant mothers from dangerous mercury emissions from power plants.
The lawsuit says new regulations announced by the Environmental Protection do not satisfy the Clear Air Act
requirements. "EPA's emissions trading plan will allow some power plants to actually increase mercury
emissions, creating hot spots of mercury deposition and threatening communities," said New Jersey Attorney General
Peter Harvey. "It's an anti-human health position. The EPA is putting private profit ahead of public health,
and it's a mistake." The nine states involved in the suit are California, Connecticut, Maine,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Vermont.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0330-06.htm
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