Tribal Members Meet On Global Warming
Corinne Purtill
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 4, 2006 12:00 AM
As a child reared in New Mexico's Tesuque Pueblo, Louie Hena played in waist-deep snow in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Less than 50 years later, the snow reaches only to his ankles.
Wahleah Johns, 31, grew up without running water or electricity on the Navajo Reservation. After years of worsening drought, her family now must drive even farther to find water for their personal use and livestock.
Native American communities are witnessing firsthand the effects of a warming planet. Representatives of more than 50 tribes from Alaska to the Mexican border gathered on the Cocopah Reservation near Yuma on Tuesday and Wednesday for what organizers are billing as the first tribal conference on climate change.
They shared information on the signs of global warming observed on reservations across the continent. Tribal leaders will discuss alternative energy and traditional, sustainable ways of life on their reservations. They also will talk about the effects of U.S. climate-change policy on their land and people.
"Native people have a close relationship to the land, culturally, spiritually, economically," said Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Minnesota-based Indigenous Environmental Network and a conference speaker. Climate change, he said, "is becoming a human rights issue."
A Living Threat
For many American Indian tribes, the effects of climate change, the rise in global temperature caused by heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, are not an abstract possibility. They are happening.
"I've seen whole banks of trees (along the Rio Grande) eroded away from a single flooding in the spring," Hena said. "I've seen birds going south when they should be going north."
Extended drought is shrinking water supplies and hammering wildlife on reservations in the Southwest and Midwest. Traditional ceremonies based on seasonal changes have been disrupted by prolonged summers and delayed rainy seasons.
Melting ice in the Arctic Circle is destroying the foundation of Inuits' homes and threatening entire villages with relocation.
A national climate-change assessment published in 2000 said climate change posed health, environmental and economic risks to the more than 565 recognized tribes and Alaska Native communities in the United States.
Adjusting to the environmental changes wrought by global warming takes money and technology, commodities scarce on many reservations, the government report said.
Finding Solutions
In addition to comparing problems, conference participants also will discuss renewable-energy and sustainable-living solutions under way on many reservations.
An increasing number of tribes are taking advantage of their reservations' unique geography to invest in solar and wind energy. Tribes can sell the power generated to local utilities and can sell carbon credits to companies or individuals looking to offset their own carbon emissions. Tribes are also looking to old ways of life for answers to new environmental problems.
In the mid-1990s, Hena started teaching a two-week course on traditional uses of the environment for everything from erosion control to medicine. Native people from across the U.S., Canada and South America have since attended the course. With climate change threatening native lands, traditional survival methods are all the more relevant, Hena said.
A Global Issue
Forming a Native American response to the Bush administration's climate-change policies is one of the conference's goals. North American tribes have started to fight U.S. climate-change policies that they perceive as harmful.
In 2005, an Inuit group filed suit against the U.S. government, claiming that the government's failure to curb greenhouse gases was destroying the Inuits' culture and environment
Last month's U.N. climate-change conference in Nairobi concluded that the planet's poorest people produce the fewest greenhouse gas-causing emissions but are bearing the brunt of global warming's harms. Indigenous rights groups complained that the conference largely overlooked their concerns.
For a member of the Navajo Nation living without running water or electricity, "their carbon footprint is a lot smaller than someone maybe who lives in Phoenix," said Johns, an environmental activist and conference speaker. "How do you communicate that?"
MORE GREAT NEWS FROM INDN'S LIST
INDN’s List candidates continue to shake things up around the country, proving once again that Indians can affect the balance of power and the direction of our nation when they are elected to public office. We are pleased to announce 2 more victorious candidates in the general election one month ago, bringing the number elected to 20.
After weeks of waiting tensely for the final results, Dr. Don Barlow has won his race for the District 6 seat (Spokane, WA) to the Washington House of Representatives, and will become our seventh new Indian to serve in public office.
Representative-elect Barlow became the first Democrat elected in his district since 1938, defeating a tough Republican opponent by less than 300 votes (out of 52,000). His victory represents yet another community that endorses the vision of our Indian candidates and the forward progress they promise to bring to their constituents.
Dr. Barlow, a member of the Ottawa Tribe, has served as president of the Spokane School Board, recognized as best in the state. He is a licensed mental health counselor who understands the importance of educating all our children for a prosperous future and a just society. He promises to reform public education standards and curricula, expand special education opportunities, and promote an environment friendly to entrepreneurs and an innovative economy.
Additionally, we are thrilled to announce the results of a Pennsylvania recount that worked in our favor, where Barbara McIlvaine Smith won her House seat by just 23 votes after counting military and absentee ballots. She is the eighth new Indian we elected this cycle to serve in public office. Her election reminds us just why every single vote counts: thanks to her victory, Democrats will take control of the State House for the first time in 12 years!
A member of the Sac and Fox Tribe of Oklahoma, Barbara McIlvaine Smith understands the needs of her West Chester constituents. As a school teacher, McIlvaine Smith knows what it takes to give children the tools they need to succeed, and she appreciates the importance of healthcare and the environment in ensuring them a prosperous future. She will use her experience in the classroom, as an activist, and as a small business owner to promote a sustainable and vigorous economy for years to come.
Barbara and Dr. Barlow are excellent examples of the visionaries that lie within Indian Country, and their victories changed the trends of more than 80 years combined. Both care deeply about children and all those who need a helping hand. “Don and Barbara’s caring spirits are walking proof that Indians share many of the same values as the Democratic Party,” said Kalyn Free.
We look forward to watching Dr. Barlow, Representative John McCoy and Senator Claudia Kauffman work together for all Washingtonians, and to Barbara McIlvaine Smith working in a Democratic House to affect positive change for the entire state of Pennsylvania. We know they will represent Indian Country and their state with honor and integrity.
To read more about our 20 successful candidates, visit their profiles at our endorsed candidates page. INDN’s List continues to seek your support as we work to make 2008 an even bigger year for Indians and Democrats across the country, contribute now to sustain our work and give us the immediate resources we need.
kalyn@indnslist.org
http://www.Indnslist.org
NAJA ACCEPTING PROPOSALS FOR '07 CONVENTION
The Native American Journalists Association is currently accepting workshop proposals for the 23rd Annual Convention June 8-10 in Denver.
Proposals will only be accepted online. To sumbit a proposal, go to http://www.naja.com/programs/convention/panel_proposal/.
Deadline is Dec. 31.
For more information, please email us at info@naja.com with "Workshop Proposals" in the subject line or call us at 605-677-5282.
TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.
Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 4, 2006 12:00 AM
As a child reared in New Mexico's Tesuque Pueblo, Louie Hena played in waist-deep snow in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Less than 50 years later, the snow reaches only to his ankles.
Wahleah Johns, 31, grew up without running water or electricity on the Navajo Reservation. After years of worsening drought, her family now must drive even farther to find water for their personal use and livestock.
Native American communities are witnessing firsthand the effects of a warming planet. Representatives of more than 50 tribes from Alaska to the Mexican border gathered on the Cocopah Reservation near Yuma on Tuesday and Wednesday for what organizers are billing as the first tribal conference on climate change.
They shared information on the signs of global warming observed on reservations across the continent. Tribal leaders will discuss alternative energy and traditional, sustainable ways of life on their reservations. They also will talk about the effects of U.S. climate-change policy on their land and people.
"Native people have a close relationship to the land, culturally, spiritually, economically," said Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Minnesota-based Indigenous Environmental Network and a conference speaker. Climate change, he said, "is becoming a human rights issue."
A Living Threat
For many American Indian tribes, the effects of climate change, the rise in global temperature caused by heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, are not an abstract possibility. They are happening.
"I've seen whole banks of trees (along the Rio Grande) eroded away from a single flooding in the spring," Hena said. "I've seen birds going south when they should be going north."
Extended drought is shrinking water supplies and hammering wildlife on reservations in the Southwest and Midwest. Traditional ceremonies based on seasonal changes have been disrupted by prolonged summers and delayed rainy seasons.
Melting ice in the Arctic Circle is destroying the foundation of Inuits' homes and threatening entire villages with relocation.
A national climate-change assessment published in 2000 said climate change posed health, environmental and economic risks to the more than 565 recognized tribes and Alaska Native communities in the United States.
Adjusting to the environmental changes wrought by global warming takes money and technology, commodities scarce on many reservations, the government report said.
Finding Solutions
In addition to comparing problems, conference participants also will discuss renewable-energy and sustainable-living solutions under way on many reservations.
An increasing number of tribes are taking advantage of their reservations' unique geography to invest in solar and wind energy. Tribes can sell the power generated to local utilities and can sell carbon credits to companies or individuals looking to offset their own carbon emissions. Tribes are also looking to old ways of life for answers to new environmental problems.
In the mid-1990s, Hena started teaching a two-week course on traditional uses of the environment for everything from erosion control to medicine. Native people from across the U.S., Canada and South America have since attended the course. With climate change threatening native lands, traditional survival methods are all the more relevant, Hena said.
A Global Issue
Forming a Native American response to the Bush administration's climate-change policies is one of the conference's goals. North American tribes have started to fight U.S. climate-change policies that they perceive as harmful.
In 2005, an Inuit group filed suit against the U.S. government, claiming that the government's failure to curb greenhouse gases was destroying the Inuits' culture and environment
Last month's U.N. climate-change conference in Nairobi concluded that the planet's poorest people produce the fewest greenhouse gas-causing emissions but are bearing the brunt of global warming's harms. Indigenous rights groups complained that the conference largely overlooked their concerns.
For a member of the Navajo Nation living without running water or electricity, "their carbon footprint is a lot smaller than someone maybe who lives in Phoenix," said Johns, an environmental activist and conference speaker. "How do you communicate that?"
MORE GREAT NEWS FROM INDN'S LIST
INDN’s List candidates continue to shake things up around the country, proving once again that Indians can affect the balance of power and the direction of our nation when they are elected to public office. We are pleased to announce 2 more victorious candidates in the general election one month ago, bringing the number elected to 20.
After weeks of waiting tensely for the final results, Dr. Don Barlow has won his race for the District 6 seat (Spokane, WA) to the Washington House of Representatives, and will become our seventh new Indian to serve in public office.
Representative-elect Barlow became the first Democrat elected in his district since 1938, defeating a tough Republican opponent by less than 300 votes (out of 52,000). His victory represents yet another community that endorses the vision of our Indian candidates and the forward progress they promise to bring to their constituents.
Dr. Barlow, a member of the Ottawa Tribe, has served as president of the Spokane School Board, recognized as best in the state. He is a licensed mental health counselor who understands the importance of educating all our children for a prosperous future and a just society. He promises to reform public education standards and curricula, expand special education opportunities, and promote an environment friendly to entrepreneurs and an innovative economy.
Additionally, we are thrilled to announce the results of a Pennsylvania recount that worked in our favor, where Barbara McIlvaine Smith won her House seat by just 23 votes after counting military and absentee ballots. She is the eighth new Indian we elected this cycle to serve in public office. Her election reminds us just why every single vote counts: thanks to her victory, Democrats will take control of the State House for the first time in 12 years!
A member of the Sac and Fox Tribe of Oklahoma, Barbara McIlvaine Smith understands the needs of her West Chester constituents. As a school teacher, McIlvaine Smith knows what it takes to give children the tools they need to succeed, and she appreciates the importance of healthcare and the environment in ensuring them a prosperous future. She will use her experience in the classroom, as an activist, and as a small business owner to promote a sustainable and vigorous economy for years to come.
Barbara and Dr. Barlow are excellent examples of the visionaries that lie within Indian Country, and their victories changed the trends of more than 80 years combined. Both care deeply about children and all those who need a helping hand. “Don and Barbara’s caring spirits are walking proof that Indians share many of the same values as the Democratic Party,” said Kalyn Free.
We look forward to watching Dr. Barlow, Representative John McCoy and Senator Claudia Kauffman work together for all Washingtonians, and to Barbara McIlvaine Smith working in a Democratic House to affect positive change for the entire state of Pennsylvania. We know they will represent Indian Country and their state with honor and integrity.
To read more about our 20 successful candidates, visit their profiles at our endorsed candidates page. INDN’s List continues to seek your support as we work to make 2008 an even bigger year for Indians and Democrats across the country, contribute now to sustain our work and give us the immediate resources we need.
kalyn@indnslist.org
http://www.Indnslist.org
NAJA ACCEPTING PROPOSALS FOR '07 CONVENTION
The Native American Journalists Association is currently accepting workshop proposals for the 23rd Annual Convention June 8-10 in Denver.
Proposals will only be accepted online. To sumbit a proposal, go to http://www.naja.com/programs/convention/panel_proposal/.
Deadline is Dec. 31.
For more information, please email us at info@naja.com with "Workshop Proposals" in the subject line or call us at 605-677-5282.
TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.
Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.
posted by Bobbie Hart O'Neill @ 7:04 PM
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