Grand Canyon Overflights = 4,000 Jobs - NAPT/AIROS Radio: Memorial Day To Honor Choctaw Code Talkers - Buffy Sainte-Marie Interview

Canyon Overflights A Gold Mine For Former Bennett Freeze Chapter
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent
WINDOW ROCK – If the Navajo Nation can secure favorable air tour routes in the current Grand Canyon overflights rule-making, developments at the former Bennett Freeze chapters of Cameron and Bodaway/Gap could mean up to 4,000 jobs and between $16 million and $30 million annually.

Navajo Nation Vice President Ben Shelly, R. Lamar Whitmer of the Fulcrum Group of Scottsdale, Jack Colorado of Cameron Chapter, LeChee Delegate Tommy Tsosie, and Ivan Gamble of LeChee – Southwest representative to the American Indian Alaskan Native Tourism Association – met with the Resources Committee last week to discuss what the Nation has been missing out on and how that could change.

Whitmer worked with the Hualapai Tribe getting their exception into the Grand Canyon airspace as well as development of the Skywalk. In 2008, the Hualapai Tribe's Grand Canyon West hosted 500,000 visitors and grossed $50 million.

Shelly has requested a tribal consultation meeting in early June with representatives from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar's office, the National Park Service and the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Mr. Shelly has been able to bring all these entities together at this point. With the Resources Committee educated on the matter, we have to create a Navajo preferred alternative at this point to be able to enter the market into the Grand Canyon,” Gamble said.

The Grand Canyon hosts just under 5 million visitors annually, contributing $800 million in direct spending, which supports between 9,000 and 12,000 jobs.

Approximately 4.5 million people visit the Grand Canyon South Rim annually by car, originating primarily from Interstate 40, and 800,000 by air, largely from Las Vegas.

According to Whitmer, the Navajo Nation is uniquely situated to take advantage of the Grand Canyon tourism market at Cameron and Bodaway/Gap.

Cameron has the potential to become the eastern hub into the South Rim for airplane and helicopter air tours, as well as bus tours. Bodaway/Gap has “tremendous long-term potential” through the development of an airport, retail, hotels and restaurants centered around a tram to the canyon floor overlooking the Colorado River.

The National Park Service and the Federal Aviation Administration are poised to announce their preferred alternative of final flight routes for Grand Canyon air tour overflights. It is critical that the Navajo Nation assert its rights to have tour routes established that can be the basis for future development, according to the Fulcrum Group.

Whitmer said the Nation should insist on equal consideration for Navajo as was given to Hualapai and demand an exemption to the cap on the total number of tour flights established by the park service 10 years ago.

In a May 3 letter to Salazar, Vice President Shelly stated that the Nation has met with the park service on numerous occasions regarding the forthcoming rule “only to find out later that important information was not shared with the tribe that would have been significant and critical for us to develop a meaningful response.”

This “selective” manner of dispensing information appears to have been “a chronic and intentional contrivance meant to give a strategic advantage to the NPS under the guise of meaningful consultation ... a practice that has been the norm, not the exception,” Shelly said.

As a result, the Nation is seeking more time for the tribe's leadership to be briefed on the park service's proposals for Grand Canyon overflights before finalization of the alternatives so the Nation can provide an appropriate response.

“It is critical that our voices be heard and our needs (be) considered in earnest,” Shelly said, adding that due to the constraints imposed by the recently lifted Bennett Freeze, which prohibited development for more than 40 years, Navajo has not had the opportunity to entertain the submission of meaningful proposals that could substantially improve the dire and impoverished conditions in those areas of the Western Navajo Agency.

Following the May 18 meeting, Shelly said people in the remote areas are seriously hurting. “Financially, they just don't have any revenue coming in. All they depend on is just the welfare check coming in, and as you know, the welfare check comes in and it is a certain amount. You have your inflation, your gas, your oil – all of this going up.”

Many of the elderlies have told him that they charge food and other items at the trading posts, and when their monthly welfare check comes in, they basically sign it and turn it over to the store owner.

“A lot of them are saying that for a four-week month they only have money in their pocket for one week. The rest of the time, they just don't have any money to deal with. They're in the survival mode. All they look for is 'How am I going to make it? Where can I get food?' And yet we're over here (in Window Rock). We turn our lights on, we turn the water on, we get big fat pay checks. We just don't know what's going on out in the remote areas,” Shelly said.

“When you go out there, you see all of this. They're our people. They're our mothers and fathers, they're our grandpas and grandmas. They're suffering out there and yet we're not paying attention. What do we need to do to get them some revenue so they have a good life? This is where I'm coming from.”

Navajo should be involved in the air route, he said, and should be allowed to provide tour permits which would generate money for the Nation's people. “Yet, here we're playing around with it politically – politics. 'This is my turf, I'd rather have it this way.' To me, it's baloney. We work for the Navajo people. We have a Nation to run. I think it's about time we wake up. If it's a policy that's in our way, let's fix it.”

The Cameron Chapter has been working on its helicopter route for more than six years and even has chosen the helicopter company it wants to work with. “All the environmental clearances have been taken care of, the archaeological clearances, it's just a matter of moving it forward,” Gamble said.

National Public Radio - Memorial Day Program
Greetings. I want to let you know about something you may want to mention on your website or in your blog. Tommorow, on, Memorial Day, NPR will feature on it’s website a slide show of photographs from this book: "America's First Warriors" by Steven Clevenger .
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow

On Tuesday, June 1 at 3:40 pm, ET, Mr. Clevenger will be interviewed on NPR’s Talk of the Nation .

America's First Warriors, Steven Clevenger, a registered member of the Osage tribe, has documented the role of Native American soldiers in the war in Iraq, following them into battle and home again. This book is an evocative collection of rare photographs and personal interviews that records the warrior tradition and war experience.

Sue Goodwin, Executive Producer, Talk of the Nation, National Public Radio 202-513-2340
sgoodwin@npr.org

AIROS' Memorial Day Playlist & Blog
Memorial Day is reserved for the last weekend in May. This year AIROS will feature a playlist to commemorate this holiday with music from Native artists. So this year when the grill is blazing and the food is cooking, remember to log onto AIROS.org.

This Memorial Day, AIROS wants to honor Native warriors who have served their country. In 1918, not yet citizens of the U.S., Choctaw tribal members of the U.S. American Expeditionary Forces were asked to use their Native language as a powerful tool against the German Forces in World War I, setting a precedent for code talking as an effective military weapon and establishing them as America's original Code Talkers.

Another Native American who served in the military and many didn't know is Ely Parker who is an unsung hero. A member of the Seneca Nation, he wrote the Confederate surrender terms in 1865. In fact, Native Americans fought on both sides during the American Revolution. They were employed for scouting and harassment operations.

Some honor songs for our Native warriors on Memorial Day. -"Vietnem Song" (Whitelodge) - Whitelodge Singers -"War Dance Jam" (For Our Elders) - Omaha Whitetail Singers -"Honoring All People" (Straight Up Northern) - Black Eagle Singers -"Akičitá Odowan (Veterans Song)" (Father to Son) - Earlwin B. Bullhead -"Way of Life" (Way of Life) - Lakota Thunder Singers -"Honour Song" (Seven Clans 2nd Annual Pow Wow) - Mandaree Singers -"Carnegie War Mothers' Chapter (Kiowa) Veterans Songs " (American Warriors: Songs for Indian Veterans) -"Lakota (Sioux) Little Bighorn Victory Songs" (American Warriors: Songs for Indian Veterans)

It is with admiration and respect that AIROS dedicates a playlist for Native American veterans who lost their lives in their dedication of service and to those who are proudly with us today on this Memorial Day.

For more information about Native Americans in the armed forces, check out Way of the Warrior from VisionMaker Video. Stay tuned to VisionMaker Video and AIROS.org for more information about a documentary coming soon about the Choctaw Code Talkers.

Click here to view and listen to the AIROS playlist and blog for Memorial Day.

Native Sounds: Buffy Sainte-Marie
This month, AIROS.org will feature a podcast interview with Buffy Sainte-Marie. Buffy is an icon with Native media and music. In 1975, Buffy joined the cast of the PBS children's show Sesame Street and appeared on the show for five years.

Buffy's first musical release was in 1964 and since then, she has been recognized for her music and many accomplishments. Buffy recieved a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Up Where We Belong.

During our interview with Buffy, AIROS talked with her about her career and her great accomplishments. Since graduating from college, Buffy has done positive things for Native people through her music. Listen to the interview on the AIROS.org website. Be sure to check out the AIROS live stream for even more great Native American artists.

Interview with Buffy Buffy's MySpace Page Buffy's Official Webpage Some of our Favorite Buffy Songs

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Save San Francisco Peaks From Desecration

Navajo Seeks U.N. Intervention To Protect Sacred Site
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent
WINDOW ROCK – Navajo Nation Council Delegate Thomas Walker and the Human Rights Commission received unanimous approval this week from the Intergovernmental Relations Committee to request intervention by the United Nations in permanently protecting the San Francisco Peaks as a sacred site.

Walker presented the resolution following the committee's approval of two other human rights bills, including a memorandum of agreement between Navajo and the city of Grants, and a resolution opposing Arizona's new immigration law.

“This is a big day for the advocacy of human rights, especially related to Navajo people and indigenous people in the Southwest United States,” Walker said.

“The legislation here is a communication that we want to forward to Professor S. James Anaya, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations, on the human rights violations and fundamental freedoms of Navajos and other indigenous people as it pertains to sacred sites, in this case specifically, the San Francisco Peaks, and how it's about to be desecrated through the use of reclaimed water or dirty water,” he said.

The Navajo Nation and other tribes have sought legal remedy in the federal court system to no avail. Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider Navajo's appeal in “Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Service.”

U.S. District Court Judge Mary H. Murguia will hear oral arguments at 1:30 p.m. June 14 in another lawsuit filed by the Save the Peaks Coalition challenging the proposed use of treated sewer water to make artificial snow at the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort on the San Francisco Peaks.

“The Forest Service failed to adequately consider the impacts of potential human ingestion of snow made from reclaimed sewer water as required by applicable law,” said attorney Howard Shanker. “By approving treated sewage effluent for snow-making without adequate analysis, the government essentially turns the ski area into a test facility with our children as the laboratory rats. That is unconscionable.”

Flagstaff and the Snowbowl entered into an agreement March 20, 2002, for the business to purchase treated, directly delivered reclaimed water from the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

The city of Flagstaff's Water Commission tabled a proposal Thursday to use an alternative supply of stored reclaimed water for snow-making purposes. The Utilities Commission said Flagstaff stored enough reclaimed water underground last year to provide four years' worth of water for snow-making. The connection point would be near Thorpe Park, downstream from the wastewater plant.

But Navajo, the Hopi Tribe and others do not support artificial snow-making on the sacred mountain.

The Navajo Human Rights Commission hosted a human rights “listening session” in Window Rock March 17 during which comments were presented to officials from the U.S. State Department by the Dine Hataalii Association and others regarding sacred sites.

According to Navajo teachings, the Diné descended from the earth, succeeding through five worlds and arrived in the area between the four sacred mountains. Here they lived in harmony with the earth, its plant life, the animals, the air, water, the cosmos and everything else in this environment.

To them, the Holy People ordain the Diné as keeper of the earth; instilling into their lives the sacred prayers and ceremonies for living a balanced life with the natural forces that surround the earth and the universe.

The essence of the Diné Life Way is the intimate relationship between the people and the land, with sacred sites being the foundation. However that foundation is in jeopardy with threats of uranium mining on Mount Taylor in New Mexico and use of reclaimed wastewater at the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff.

The Human Rights Commission, Dine Hataalii Association, the Dine Medicine Man Association and Azee' Bee Nahagha of Dine Nation allege in a statement to the Special Rapporteur that the United States of America violated and continues to violate the human rights and fundamental freedoms to preserve and protect the sacred sites, cultural and religious beliefs and practices of Navajos.

“The Dine have exhausted all of their domestic remedies through the United States judicial process,” they said.

Though Navajo and 12 indigenous nations in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah sued the United States to protect the San Francisco Peaks from economic exploitation and desecration, their claims were rejected.

In the 9th Circuit opinion which stood after the Supreme Court refused to hear Navajo's case, the court held that the only effect of the proposed upgrades on the San Francisco Peaks “is on the plaintiffs' subjective, emotional religious experience.”

While the use of reclaimed wastewater was offensive to the plaintiffs' religious sensibilities, perhaps creating “damaged spiritual feelings,” the court said, it “is not a 'substantial burden' on the free exercise of religion.”

The Human Rights Commission said that “predictably,” the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1987, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 did not protect the San Francisco Peaks or the rights of indigenous peoples to practice their cultural and religious beliefs upon grounds deemed sacred since time immemorial.

The commission alleges the United States has developed inappropriate business practices that adversely affect indigenous peoples and is violating practices established by the charter of the United Nations, including denying Navajo and other tribes the right to free exercise of religion.

The commission and the Dine medicine men and women are asking that their written communication be registered as a formal complaint against the United States.

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Inuit: 'Chill The Drill' On Canadian Arctic

AFP - Moratorium On Offshore Drilling
Canada's northern peoples called for a moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling in the Canadian Arctic until safeguards are in place to avoid a spill like the one soiling the US Gulf Coast.

"Against the backdrop of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Inuit are seeking an immediate pause on drilling in the Beaufort Sea in order to take stock," Inuit leader Mary Simon told the Economic Club of Canada, a leading business forum.

"We also seek a commitment that any future drilling proceed only on the basis of the best safeguards used internationally, and the adoption of supplementary environmental protection measures that address unique Arctic vulnerabilities," she said.

The US Geological Survey estimates the Arctic holds some 90 billion barrels of oil and 44 billion barrels of natural gas, or 30 percent of the world's undiscovered gas reserves.

Environmentalists fear increased commercial activity could spoil the pristine environment as a global race intensifies for the vast energy riches believed to be hidden beneath the seabed.

In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper viewed by AFP, Simon said the Gulf of Mexico spill "underscores the environmental risks and engineering challenges" of offshore drilling.

"In the offshore Arctic, these risks and challenges are compounded greatly," she wrote, "by harsh climatic conditions, the presence of annual multi-year ice, incomplete knowledge bases" and limited infrastructure, including ports.

Simon pressed Harper for a "time-out" on drilling in the Beaufort Sea until strict environmental safeguards are in place.

She also urged a top-up of a Canadian government fund that promptly compensates victims of oil spills, then seeks to recover the amounts paid out to victims from ship or rig owners responsible for the accidents.

BP, which owns the well that has spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank five weeks ago, also has exploration licenses in the Canadian Beaufort Sea.

The Canadian Geological Survey of Canada, meanwhile, was granted approval this week for seismic tests in Lancaster Sound in the Eastern Canadian Arctic in the coming months to explore for oil and gas resources.

Local Inuit, the Nunavut territorial government and Parks Canada -- which has proposed designating Lancaster Sound a national marine conservative area -- oppose the tests.

The area is home to narwhal, beluga and bowhead whales, as well as seals, walrus and polar bears. Each year, hundreds of thousands of sea birds also flock to the area.

Question On Uranium Mines In Saskatchewan
Hello, I am not a Native person, but I teach in a Cree community and founded an opposition group to uranium mining and exploration on Eeyou Itschee with my Cree friends.

We just had an hearing about an advanced exploration for uranium , north of Mistissini , the largest natural lake in Quebec and sacred to the Crees.

I would like to know how many mines have been properly shut down and decommissionned (tailings securely covered etc) in Saskatchewan.

I thought only Cluff Lake was on the process of being cleaned up. Cannot find those facts so far on Internet.

Thanks a lot,
Élaine Hébert, member of the Mich Cini Coalition (POISONOUS ROCK in Cree)

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Navajo Nation: Repeal Arizona's Anti-Ethnic House Bill 2281- Oil Threatens Louisiana Choctaws

IGR Supports Repeal Of Arizona's Anti-Ethnic Studies Law
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent
WINDOW ROCK – The Intergovernmental Relations Committee, meeting Thursday in special session, voted 7-4 to urge the Arizona Legislature to repeal House Bill 2281 which restricts ethnic studies in state elementary and secondary schools.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Kee Allen Begay is sponsoring the resolution as well as another opposing Arizona's controversial new immigration law.

Begay said that if the Navajo Nation was not protected by federal law in its teaching of ethnic studies, it might find itself in a similar situation, being told that it couldn't teach students about the Long Walk or anything referencing U.S. aggression.

According to the resolution, despite claims to the contrary, the bill promotes “divisiveness, intolerance and resentment.”

Implication that classes that promote respect and instill pride in a student's own, or others' ethnic/cultural and linguistic heritage “are classes that in some way 'promote the overthrow of the United States government' ignores the U.S. patriotism that is predominant not only in the Navajo Nation but throughout Arizona,” the resolution states.

“Arizona HB 2281 is offensive to the patriotism and sacrifice demonstrated by Navajo Nation Code Talkers who utilized their knowledge of their ethnic culture and Navajo language for the benefit of all peoples of the United States of America.”

Further, the resolution states that Arizona public schools should not be required by law to teach intolerance by restricting education opportunities and promoting fear of the unknown and fear of the unlearned.

Instead, “pupils should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals as well as members of diverse, robust ethnic backgrounds that positively contribute to the multicultural, multi-ethnic fabric of Arizona society.”

Begay said the legislation was signed into law May 11 but does not take effect until December, thus giving the Navajo Nation sufficient time to voice its opposition on behalf of Navajo citizens. The Nation was not consulted in enactment of the law, yet it has seven or eight public school districts in Arizona, he said.

Raymond Joe and Leonard Chee both reiterated that the law does afford protection to Native American children.

“I just think this issue is for others, and we should let them worry about this themselves. The reason I say that is the overall political implications that might come with this,” Chee said.

As a member of the IGR task force, they have been working with the governor's office and the Legislature “to build a bridge and also to improve relationships between our tribe and the state government,” he said. “When we come out with legislation and statements like this, such as this committee did with the immigration law, it doesn't help us to build bridges with the state.”

The Navajo Nation is in negotiations with the state of Arizona on its gaming compact. There are fears that those talks could be jeopardized, as well as state funding for Navajo education.

Begay said, however, “If they're going to start breaking off any talks with Navajo because of what we're doing, to me that's going to be pure politics.”

Chee also made reference to Kee's candidacy for the state Legislature, saying that if he was elected, he would be representing Navajo in a Republican-dominated Legislature with a Republican governor who might be re-elected.

“That's been the mistake of Navajo. We always send someone to the Arizona state Legislature that's not always working with the Legislature or the sitting governor. With the state of New Mexico, it's different. If we come out in opposition of state laws that come out like this, we'll continue to be in that situation forever.

“I don't know if I'm trying to be a politician here, but those are some of the realities we live with in the state of Arizona. I'm glad there's provisions in here that protect the Native Americans. Let the other ones that are impacted worry about their own,” Chee said.

Begay reminded the committee that he also is on the state task force with Chee. “I would caution the committee about saying let other people worry about their own,” he responded.

“Whether you're a New Mexico Navajo, an Arizona Navajo, or a Utah Navajo, when we get off the reservation we are citizens of Arizona, and if not, the United States. As elected officials we are there to address these type of issues. We are working with the Arizona governor. They should, likewise, provide that same courtesy to us,” he said.

Delegate Andy Ayze, who is on the Education Committee, said after the vote that he supported Begay's resolution. “I think it would send a message to the Arizona state administration that we are concerned that our children are being affected in certain circumstances.”

However, he also is concerned that the Navajo people could be targeted in some way.

“When I went down to the valley area, meeting with our Navajo children that are living in the area, they feel that it probably would be affecting over 65 percent of them.” That also needs to addressed in the bill, he said.

Oil Threatens French-Speaking Cajuns, Native Choctaw
Greenwala News
MONTEGUT, Louisiana (AFP) - The encroaching Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have sounded the death knell for the vanishing cultures of the last French-speaking Cajun communities and Louisiana native Americans.

Here in the deep Louisiana south, the Cajun people and the French-speaking Choctaw Indians can do nothing but maintain an anxious vigil, angrily accusing US authorities of abandoning them to their fate.

Since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig unleashed a huge oil leak in the Gulf, no barriers have been erected to protect their home on a speck of land off the Louisiana coast called Isle de Jean Charles.

For two weeks, Clifton Hendon has been unable to go out to sea to harvest the oyster beds -- his only source of income.

Fishing has been banned in the area in the wake of the deepsea oil spill that British energy giant BP is still struggling to contain, nearly a month after the rig it leased from Transocean sank.
"I've lost hundreds of dollars," sighed the 63-year-old oysterman, one of the 80 or so last remaining French Indians, as they call themselves, living on Isle de Jean Charles.

His small, flat-bottomed boat lay idle, moored on the canal alongside the mobile home where he has lived since Hurricane Katrina destroyed his house in 2005. US officials have promised him a new home. But so far nothing.

"They have abandoned us," he said with an air of resignation.

Used to being overlooked, the Choctaw Indians were not surprised that military engineers sent to the region after the disaster have refused to erect barriers between the bayous and the sea as they have done further up the coast.

If the huge oil slick arrives here as predicted, nothing will stop it from washing up on Isle de Jean Charles, on the southern tip of Lousiana's vanishing wetlands.

"They told us that this island has nothing of value worth saving," said the island's historian, Christophe Brunet.

Tribal chief Albert Naquin confirmed his concerns, saying: "They forgot us because we are a small community and because we are an Indian community."

Instead, authorities have offered to relocate them on firmer land with the rest of the tribe of some 700 people, after hurricanes and the increasing salinization of the bayou have already caused many to leave.

But in fleeing this narrow strip of land that has fallen victim to coastal erosion and storms for years, the Choctaw know they are abandoning their traditions and the language of Moliere spoken here for over 300 years.

These are the descendants of mixed couples who came together in the 18th and 19th centuries, when French settlers intermarried with Indian women.

"Their culture has already been vanishing, because so many of the younger people aren't getting into fishing and to shrimping the way their parents did because it's just not quite lucrative," said filmmaker Rebecca Ferris, who is making a documentary about the island.

"Isle de Jean Charles is already in a paralyzed place because the wetlands are all disappearing and there is, I think, great risks that this area is gonna to go underwater," she added.
"It could be in August or in 30 years, but if the oil gets in to the wetlands around here, I think it would just accelerate the loss."

Bar owner Theo Chaisson agreed, as he emptied out trout he is still allowed to fish. "If it gets here, it will harm our community," he warned.

The Louisiana Indians and the Cajuns are the last French-speaking communities in the United States. But for decades, French has been losing ground.

In 2000, only about 200,000 Louisianans spoke French at home -- 50,000 less than 10 years earlier. "I think Isle de Jean Charles, of all (Indian) communities, is probably gonna be the first one to go," said Ferris.

"We're French Indians," chief Naquin said proudly. "When I started the school, I couldn't speak English.

"I use the French language just when I'm in the island. Basically our culture is the same than the Cajun."

The oil spill risks speeding up the death of the French language here, said singer Zachary Richard, who has fought for the survival of Francophone Louisiana. If the shrimpers are forced to shut down, that will spell the end of French in the bayous.

"The shrimpers are the last bastions of the French language because French is passed on on the boats. The young boys learn to fish using a French vocabulary," Richard said.

"We will see French disappear along a certain part of the Louisiana coast."

Filmmaker Glen Pitre, dubbed the father of Cajun cinema, predicted that for this unique place in America's deep south, the gathering oil slick forming off the coast "could be the last nail in the coffin."
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse.

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monica@beforeitsnews.com
I am actively looking for ethnic farming, food and agriculture blogs.
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Comprehensive Contamination Cleanup Needed - SMSC: Soybean Oil To Biodiesel

Churchrock Community Turns To Peacemaking For Contamination Solution
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

CHURCHROCK – The Red Water Pond Road Community Association was founded in April 2007, two days after Navajo Nation officials said some families would have to move temporarily while U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers removed radioactive soil from around their homes.

Three years later, emergency removal of 6,500 cubic yards of radium-contaminated soil from residents' yards is complete and the interim removal of an additional 100,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil is nearly done.

However, cleanup of another 900,000 cubic yards at nearby Northeast Churchrock Mine is in a holding pattern while federal and tribal environmental agencies determine how to move forward.

The enormity of the problem has gotten even bigger as U.S. EPA Region 9 officials debate a comprehensive cleanup that would include the former Kerr-McGee Quivira Mine adjacent to Northeast Churchrock, and newly discovered radioactive contamination a foot deep on Red Water Pond Road itself.

Residents raised objections last August to EPA's proposed cleanup plan, which called for Northeast Churchrock waste to be disposed of on top of an existing unlined cell at the former United Nuclear Corp. uranium mill, a federal Superfund site, fearing the weight of the waste could cause further problems.

Until Thursday evening, most of the cleanup talk had been fairly technical, with little mention of cultural and traditional values from the Dine perspective, other than a casual mention of protecting sacred sites and plants. Enter Philmer Bluehouse, a traditional peacemaker-medicine practitioner.

“We know that we had a series of meetings in the past and we know that those meetings did not really come to some kind of a fruition. Because of the lack of coming to a consensus, I was hired to come here to try to assist this community, EPA and others who are here. My role is to guide everybody to make those decisions as a commitment to clean up the mess,” Bluehouse said during a meeting at Churchrock Chapter House.

Residents have met with federal officials numerous times since 2007 without reaching a decision on how the cleanup will proceed.

Usually at the community meetings, EPA outlines its proposal and spends the rest of the evening fielding questions from the community. But last week, EPA officials spent a good deal of the evening listening, as Bluehouse introduced them to Navajo traditional thinking.

“At the place of creation, at the place of empty, there was positive and negative energy. How do we apply that in our current state of affairs? Anger, mistrust, these are the negative energies. Negative energy is the place we begin,” Bluehouse told them.

“Because they come from a different culture, it's difficult to transition that kind of knowledge into analytical, critical, linear thinking,” he said. “Ours out here is more of a healing thinking and a circular thinking, and a combination also of linear thinking. It's just a matter of learning to communicate with each other. We want to heal and get things done,” he said.

Teddy Nez, president of the community association, estimates that there are 250 to 300 people living within 2 miles of Northeast Churchrock Mine site and the UNC mill.

“Some of our families live within 500 feet of the Northeast Churchrock Mine, the U.S. EPA's highest priority uranium mine on the Navajo Nation,” Nez said. Extended family members have lived in the area for seven generations, in the areas of Red Water Pond Road, Pipeline Road, and Old Churchrock Mine Road.

Residents who worked in the mines are impacted by various types of illnesses, but they're not the only ones affected. Nez says many community members suffer from environmentally induced post-traumatic stress syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder simply from living near abandoned uranium mines.

As an “environmental justice” community, residents want to be at the table for all decisions affecting them. They are asking EPA to require General Electric remove all contaminated materials from the mine site and dispose of it off-site. They want Quivira Mine, now owned by Rio Algom, assessed and cleaned up as well.

Residents are requesting EPA come up with cost estimates for replacing homes now located in the step-out area north of Northeast Churchrock Mine with new homes built about 1 to 1-1/2 miles west, toward the mouth of the canyon. They say the homes should be replaced before reclamation of the mine begins to avoid exposing residents to contamination from excavation and construction activities.

They also want the current alignment of Pipeline Road abandoned and a new alignment constructed. Nez said the road now runs through the UNC tailings area and residents come into direct contact with contamination.

“To heal this land, to heal the people, that's what my mission is,” Bluehouse said. “The players that need to do that are here – U.S. EPA, Navajo Nation EPA, the community and the corporations. My job is just to bring those healing qualities out and get it done.

“All too often people get into disagreements and everybody just leaves with negative energy. Here, we're trying to leave with good energy and say, 'This is what we're going to do, and this is how we're going to do it.'”

At the end of Thursday's meeting, the one definitive accomplishment was scheduling another meeting for July 10.

But as Bluehouse and agency officials were walking out of the chapter house toward their vehicles, Luis Garcia-Bakarich, EPA community involvement coordinator, pointed excitedly to a tall tree overhanging the chapter, its branches illumined by street lights against the night sky.

A huge hawk, accompanied by two smaller birds, landed in the tree as Garcia-Bakarich watched. Everyone stopped in their tracks and shared a positive moment – one which Bluehouse said could have many different interpretations.

The SMSC Biodiesel Project: From French Fries To Shuttles
by Yessa Lehto,
Communications Specialist
tessa.lehto@shakopeedakota.org

Prior Lake, MN – An innovative project undertaken by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community recycles soybean oil used to fry chicken, french fries, and other foods into biodiesel. After the used oil from the nine SMSC restaurant kitchens is converted into biodiesel, it is used to fuel shuttle buses which transport guests and employees between properties around the Community. The project celebrated its one year anniversary April 29, 2010.

The SMSC Gaming Enterprise Property Maintenance Fleet Services Department oversees the biodiesel project along with the SMSC Department of Land and Natural Resources. Since it became operational it has processed 4,500 gallons of oil into 3,655 gallons of biodiesel; and 16,394 gallons of biodiesel blended with regular diesel fuel was pumped into SMSC vehicles during the first year.

The idea was sparked in 2005 when fuel prices began to rise after Hurricane Katrina. SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks promoted the concept, talking with various staff about his vision for utilizing green technology to operate tribal vehicles. In the fall of October 2007, various SMSC staff began looking at ways to bring the idea to fruition. Although it took time to research the possibilities, by the spring of 2009, the SMSC was ready to begin producing biodiesel.

Today, used oil is gathered from the restaurants using a collection unit designed by Satellite Industries of Plymouth, Minnesota. The collection unit is fitted onto the back of a pickup truck detailed for this project. Oil is collected once a week from restaurants at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, every other week from Little Six Restaurant, and once a month from the Tipi Restaurant.

After the oil is collected, it’s tested to determine its moisture and free fatty acids contents. If the oil passes those tests, 100 gallons is pumped into the BioPro 380 processor at a time. Twenty gallons of methanol (wood alcohol) and small amounts of potassium chloride and sulfuric acid are added to the machine.

Very little interaction is needed until vinegar is added late in the process. Forty-eight hours later approximately 95 gallons of biodiesel and 25 gallons of glycerin have been produced. The glycerin is currently drained out and composted at the SMSC Compost Site. Other uses for glycerin are being explored since it can have medical, pharmaceutical, and personal uses.

“The biodiesel project fits in nicely with our priority of taking care of the earth and other ‘green’ SMSC initiatives,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks. “We hope as we settle into the project, we will be able to use up all the oil and train more staff so that we can better use this unexpected energy resource.”

Not all of the used cooking oil is needed for biodiesel in the winter. The cold weather requires the blending of up to 80% petroleum diesel with the biodiesel. To make use of the excess oil, the SMSC burns it in a boiler in the Public Works Building on Dakotah Parkway to generate heat. A similar system burns used motor oil to heat the Fleet Operations Bay in a different part of the same building.

Biodiesel By The Numbers:
- 18,000 gallons of waste cooking oil is produced by the nine SMSC kitchens each year.

- Up to 1,080 gallons of biodiesel is produced each month.

- 26 vehicles, including 5 shuttle buses, run on biodiesel currently.

- The biodiesel facility is 364 square feet.

- Twenty gallons of methanol (wood alcohol) is added to the machine along with smaller amounts of potassium chloride and a small amount of sulfuric acid. Vinegar is also used late in the process.

- 100 gallons of oil are processed with approximately 20 gallons of chemicals at a time which yields approximately 95 gallons of biodiesel and 25 gallons of glycerin in 48 hours.

- It takes 24 hours to produce just the glycerin.

- 16,394 gallons of biodiesel was pumped into vehicles from April 29, 2009, through April 29, 2010.

- A 400 gallon truck-mounted tank is used by staff for collecting waste cooking oil and transporting it to the biodiesel facility.

- Oil is collected once a week from restaurants at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, every other week from Little Six Restaurant, and once a month from the Tipi Restaurant.

- In the SMSC blend, including the 5% Minnesota state mandate, usage is 20% biodiesel in the winter, and 50/50 in the summer. Plans are to work up to 100% for the shuttle buses.

- Biodiesel is tested to see if it’s clean/pure, using 3 ml of the new biodiesel and 27 ml of methanol for what’s called the 3/27 test to check for a complete reaction.

- U.S. biodiesel reduces lifecycle carbon emissions by 60-80%, depending on the source, making it the best carbon reduction tool of any liquid fuel commercially available.

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE, OPINION PIECE, COMMENTS to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.
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Navajos: Arizona Law Creates Serious Problems - NAPT: 7Th Generation Fund

Welcome to 'Apartheid Arizona' – Navajos say new law raises serious concerns.
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

WINDOW ROCK – In less than a month, Arizona has gone from being referred to as the “Grand Canyon State” to “Apartheid Arizona,” with calls for boycotts from cities across the nation and threats of lawsuits from Tucson to Flagstaff.

The Navajo Nation is not far behind with a resolution approved Monday, 9-1, by the Intergovernmental Relations Committee expressing opposition to Arizona Senate Bill 1070 for “unlawfully infringing on the constitutional, civil and human rights of indigenous peoples in Arizona.”

That bill and another resolution in progress opposing House Bill 2281, which outlawed the Tucson school district's ethnic studies program, are expected to come before the Navajo Nation Council during a special session. Both measures are sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Kee Allen Begay Jr.

Begay wants the full weight of Council behind the resolutions, he told IGR. “That will send a message to our governor and the state of Arizona.

“We are part of the Arizona state citizens, but yet we are also a dependent nation,” he said. “Some of these laws passed at the Arizona government level, most of the time the tribes are never consulted in reference to what, how and who it will affect in our area, or us as Navajos.

“The main focus, if it was going to be a strong bill, should have been focused on the border issues,” he said. “This is an international issue.”

The bill would have allowed police to ask anyone for proof of U.S. residency based solely on an officer's suspicion, but Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed an amendment changing that, according to Public Safety Chairman Raymond Joe.

“You've got to have 'probable cause' before you search and arrest – that's the key word, probable cause,” Joe said. Now, officers can check a person's status only if they have been detained or arrested for another reason.

It is best if the Navajo Nation “stay neutral” on the issue because it could affect them either way, he added. “Some of our own kids are instructors at the Arizona Law Enforcement Training Center.”

But Delegate Alice Benally said she is very concerned about Arizona's new immigration law.

“I have family living in the Phoenix area. This question has come up. One of my brothers lives down there with his family. Our in-laws down there are American citizens, Hispanic young men. Our grandchildren look Hispanic. My brother looks like a Hispanic, and he has gone through this very experience.

“He has been picked up by the border patrol – and this was before the Senate bill surfaced. His wife had to produce all kinds of documents. We had to produce documents. How many of our people are going to experience this?”

Benally said the Navajo people need to be prepared for such occasions because they don't go around carrying their personal documents with them.

“I don't carry my Census card. I don't even carry my Social Security card with me. How many of our people are going to get in trouble, and who will they contact? Who will be there to help them?”

Begay said that while Navajos do have a Census number, “we don't have any document to say that we are Navajo. We don't have any other documents to say that we are U.S. citizens.”

Joe said the law was set in place for a reason. “Nowhere does it say it's targeting Native Americans. It's targeting immigration.” He added that when he was in law enforcement, in four hours at a roadblock they detected 190 illegal aliens, including one on the federal “Most Wanted” list.

“Even though they catch Native Americans, they ain't going to ship them to Mexico. They're going to bring them back to Navajo Nation. I do not support this legislation,” Joe said.

“We have illegal immigrants coming onto the reservation. Are we saying open the borders? A good example, there are two Iraqis north of Dilkon. They're undocumented – but we allow them. Right now, we have some drop houses on the Navajo Nation. Are we going to say, 'Bring all your illegal immigrants and drop them off, there's a safe place here'? Is that the message we're giving? I don't think so.”

Delegate Andy Ayze said he suspects that Navajos and other indigenous people will be unfairly targeted.

Begay agreed, adding that Navajos with names such as Martinez or Nakai, police will question automatically.

“Navajos and other indigenous people will be unfairly targeted again, no question about it, because of the tone of their skin. I think the state of Arizona needs to step up in helping solve some of these issues. There is a better way to resolve this, I think, rather than blanketing everybody that goes through the state of Arizona.”

Leonard Gorman of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission said Native Americans in the state of Arizona hold the highest number of stops on state highways, according to a three-year study conducted by the University of Cincinnati.

Though Native Americans make up only 4.8 percent of the population, they have the highest number of arrests, he said, followed by blacks, Hispanics and whites.

“We're also the most searched when stopped. This is without the law being passed. This has been in existence for the past couple of decades. So the fact of the matter is Native Americans are being profiled, if you will, on the highways in the state of Arizona. We have the highest numbers.”

Because of skin color, he said, it is a strong probability that Navajos will be stopped and asked questions when traveling in southern Arizona. In Maricopa County, there are between 17,000 and 20,000 Navajos, Gorman said. If they're driving on the highway and they're in a traffic stop, not only the driver of the vehicle, but the occupants can be questioned.

“The grandma riding in that vehicle that doesn't speak English and doesn't have a form of identification, the possibility of having to verify that is going to be a big issue,” he said.

The concern from the Human Rights Office and the question they raised with the governor's office is: How is this bill going to protect, enhance and promote the human rights of the Navajo people and Native Americans?

“There was no answer. They didn't know that was a concern by the Navajo Nation. That was the response,” he said.

Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development
Deadline June 1

Founded in 1977, the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development emerged from a call from Indigenous communities in the America. The Seventh Generation Fund is dedicated to promoting and maintaining the uniqueness of Native peoples and the sovereignty of Tribal Nations.

Submit your proposal today!For more information on how to apply, visit:
http://www.7genfund.org/

Here's a highlight of some of the questions that you will need to answer in submitting your proposal:

-Briefly describe your community and your organization or project.

-Include a list of your Board of Directors or Advisory Board, your staff or community representatives, tribal affiliations (if any) and contact information.

-Describe the needs, issues and concerns of your community.

-What are the social, cultural, environmental or other justice issues your organization is working on?

-What do you hope to accomplish with the help of this grant?

-Tell us about your reservation, aboriginal territories, reserve, rancheria, urban Indian community, or wherever your project or organization exists.

Describe your project in detail - what specific community organizing activities and strategies to engage your community members do you propose to meet your objectives?

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE, OPINION PIECE, COMMENTS to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

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July 19th: Navajo Nation 'Horse Day' - SMSC Donated Defibrillators Save Lives

'Horse Day' - To Honor Spirit Of The Horse
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent
WINDOW ROCK – July 19, the first day of the Navajo Nation Council summer session, could become a day set aside to honor a living link to the history of the Navajo Nation – the horse.

Delegate Young Jeff Tom recently received approval from the Resources Committee for a resolution which would proclaim the first day of summer session as “Dine Shi Lii Baa Hashniih Day,” or Navajo Nation Horse Day. The resolution would need Council approval, which could happen if there is a special session between now and July.

Each year, a number of Council delegates mount up and ride across the Navajo Nation, usually in grueling summer heat, to take part in the summer session. In doing so, they stop at various chapters along the way, listen to the concerns of the people, and carry those concerns with them to Window Rock, where, ideally, they are dealt with.

The annual ride, started by Tonalea Delegate Leslie Dele, has become a tradition, honoring Navajo Nation leaders past and present. The ride especially is in recognition of those leaders who rode horses to Council sessions from the 1920s through the 1950s, in all types of weather.

“I thought about this very, very hard because one of the things is when you are driving, you see a lot of horses on the road – open range – and out on the ranch, too, you see a lot of horses that are not branded. Maybe with this one it will remind the people, us, that we have horses and how we need to take care of them,” Tom said.

According to the resolution, without horses the economy, history and character of the Navajo Nation would be profoundly different. A Navajo Nation Horse Day would encourage the elders to teach the younger generation about the horse stories and horse songs in traditional Navajo culture.

Boyd Brodie of Pinedale asked Tom to sponsor the legislation. In an exhibit attached to the resolution, Brodie related a personal story and the reason he for his request to honor the horse.

About 18 years ago, Brodie said, he quit drinking. A week later, right out of the blue, he was given a white horse with a saddle, bridle, and horse-riding equipment. He turned his spare time to “Starting Colts” for anyone needing help with their horses and began what is now known as Triple “B” Ranch, Colt Starting and Horsemanship, which is still in operation.

“If it weren't for the horses, I would have never met legendary horsemen (and) women like Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Dennis and Debra Reis, Pat and Linda Parelli, Chris and Barbara Cox and many, many more who helped me along the way to improve my understanding of horses,” he said.

His ambition to work with horses took him from California to Kentucky, and Texas to Montana, where he participated in equine clinics, attended lectures and seminars, and competed in the Extreme Mustang Challenge.

On one of those trips he began talking with the Reises and listened to a discussion about their vision to recognize and honor the horse for its contribution to mankind. From that, Brodie developed a desire to establish a Navajo Nation Day of the Horse.

“Mr. Reis was telling me that all this natural horsemanship stuff came about when the new settlers were moving westward,” he said. They had seen Indians riding their horses bareback, without bridles or saddles. Spanish explorers also wrote in their journals about the outstanding display of horsemanship they came across when they saw the Indians ride horses.

“The horse is an animal which creates a common bond among all people of this world. They are written about in the Bible. They are even in our Creation stories. They are sung about in our ceremony songs,” Brodie said, adding that he envisions the annual Council ride as a time to link culture and history.

“What an opportunity to teach our young Dine about the Navajo cultures they are losing because they are not taught to them. Our young Dine can learn how the Creator created us and the animals to live where we live today. The Grazing/Land Board members can invite elder members of the community to tell horse stories at the local chapter houses,” he said, while promoting livestock wellness.

“Our young Dine can gain information on how the Navajo Nation seal was developed using symbols from the horse hoof pattern,” he said.

He encouraged the Nation's leaders and its people to be mindful of the contributions of the horse.
“It seems like the only time we hear something about the horse is when it gets hit on the highway or when its trespassing,” he said.

SMSC Donates 58 More Defibrillators - Programs Works To Save 48 Lives
by Tessa Lehto
Communications Specialist
tessa.lehto@shakopeedakota.org

Prior Lake, MN – Each year 250,000 Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest before they reach a hospital. Bystanders or emergency personnel can save many of these lives using CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED).

At least eight lives have already been saved by law enforcement officers or emergency medical personnel using defibrillators donated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Mdewakanton LIFE Program. Another 40 lives have been saved by Mdewakanton Emergency Services and trained SMSC First Responders using AEDs on the reservation over the past eight years.

“Providing defibrillation on-site with an AED increases survival rates for ventricular fibrillation (VF) cardiac arrest. In places where AED programs provide immediate CPR and deliver the first shock within three minutes after collapse, reported survival rates from VF cardiac arrest are as high as 74%. Currently only about 5% of all sudden cardiac arrest victims survive in places where no AED programs have been established to provide prompt CPR and defibrillation,” according to the American Heart Association AED Implementation Guide.

“Saves” are defined as successfully treating ventricular fibrillation with CPR and an AED to bring back a heart rhythm for a patient who is then delivered to a hospital.

The SMSC has given away 640 AEDs since the program began in 2004 and facilitated the low cost purchase of an additional 20 units. The SMSC announces the recent approval of the donation of 58 more AEDs to Minnesota organizations and departments.

The Mdewakanton Emergency Services Department administers the Mdewakanton LIFE Program which provides defibrillators to organizations including law enforcement programs, charitable groups, and schools.

SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks commented on the AEDs recently approved for donation, “While we hope that these AEDs won’t ever be needed, if they are, it is our hope that they will be used to save lives. We are happy that law enforcement officers have been able to use AEDs we donated successfully.”

Dramatic “Saves”According to Lieutenant Eric Roeske, the Minnesota State Patrol has had four AED saves which are attributable to the Mdewakanton LIFE Program. As part of a program to equip all State Patrol cars with the devices, the SMSC donated funding for 200 AEDs to the state. In Scott County, there have been four additional saves using AEDs donated by the SMSC. Over the years, the SMSC has donated 28 AEDs to the Scott County Sheriff’s Department. Using the AEDs kept in their patrol cars, in each of these incidents, the officers applied a shock with the AED which was successful in resuscitating the patient.

Mdewakanton Emergency Services and First Responders at the SMSC Gaming Enterprise have also used an AED to successfully resuscitate at least 40 patients on the reservation over the past eight years, the most recent in March 2010 at Little Six Casino, according to SMSC Director of Emergency Services Jim Muelken. AEDs are located in 27 locations around the reservation and its enterprises. All Gaming Enterprise Security officers receive First Responder training before they begin their first shift.

“We are fortunate that we have trained First Responders in many locations who know how to handle emergency situations. That plus a quick response time here on the reservation has saved lives,” said Muelken.

“We saw the program working on the reservation and wanted to extend it to help others,” said Chairman Crooks. Twin Cities Metropolitan Area: 45 AEDs DonatedSeven AEDs were approved for the Chaska Police Department. The Department provides services for a population of more than 22,400 covering 14.3 square miles. During daytime hours, Chaska has a population of about 50,000. The Department responds to over 1,000 medical calls each year with an average of 10-30 cardiac arrests a year. With response times of two to three minutes, the Chaska Police Department has saved several patients from cardiac arrest situations over the past five years.

Four AEDs were approved for the Shakopee Fire Department. The units will be added to their fire engines so that all responding units will have at least one AED aboard. The department provides services for the 33,000 residents of Shakopee as well as Jackson and Louisville Townships. A portion of the SMSC reservation lies in Shakopee.

Four AEDs were approved for the Mala Strana Health Care Campus in New Prague. The AEDs will be located in each of the four units: one each for secured memory care, the east side, the west side, and the assisted living apartments. The units are served by a staff of 170 employees of whom 52% are 40 or older and 30% are 50 or older. At any given time, the campus can be home to as many as 124 people from the New Prague and surrounding communities. Of the skilled nursing home residents, all are age 74 or older with 91% who are aged 80 or older. The average age of tenants residing in assisted living is approximately 87. All persons residing on the campus are at high risk for ventricular fibrillation.

Four AEDs were approved for the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office to deploy in their front line patrol vehicles for response to suspected cardiac arrests. They have first responder responsibility for all medical calls within the county, covering 625 square miles and a population of 30,000.

Three AEDs were approved for the New Prague School System (ISD #721) for deployment in gymnasiums in the district. ISD #721 includes 3, 684 students from New Prague, Lonsdale, Veseli, Elko-New Market, and Webster.

Two AEDs EachCottage Grove Emergency Medical Services received two AEDs for use in non-paramedic police and fire chief squad cars. The department consists of full and part time employees with a total of about 90 members, the majority of whom come from the police department. They provide services to a population of 45,000 in Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park, Newport, and Grey Cloud Township.

Eagle Lake Fire and Rescue received two AEDs to use on their rescue truck and on their pumper truck. They are a 25 member team of firefighters, first responders, and EMTs who respond to 100 medicals a year and 20 fires. They estimate usage of the AED at about five times per year and have saved lives using an AED in the past. They serve a population of about 5,000 in two townships and the city of Eagle Lake in Blue Earth County which includes the busy U.S. Highway 14 through the area which has many traffic accidents.

Ellsworth Fire and Rescue received two AEDs for their all volunteer department which serves about 1,200 people. One AED was deployed to Ellsworth Public School for use during school activities and athletic functions. The other was deployed to a church attended by several of the first responders. In both instances having the AEDs on site will allow a quicker response time to a cardiac emergency since Ellsworth lies in a remote area.

Support Fire Services of Burnsville received two AEDs for use while providing wildland fire and EMS response to tribal, city, state, and federal agencies on an “as needed” basis. The AEDs are being used to equip their two wildland fire engines which are used most often in remote areas during disaster situations such as Hurricane Katrina and forest fires in the west.

Waconia Fire Department was approved for two AEDs for use in Carver County which covers 37 square miles with a population of more than 10,000. They respond to about 300 calls per year with about 55% of them medically related. In their service area are two nursing homes, a supervised living care facility, a three story senior citizen complex and a four story senior citizen apartment complex.

One AED EachBigelow Fire Department received an AED for first response use for their 70 square mile territory which is mainly farming and industrial. They serve a population of about 2,500.

The C.A.R.E. Clinic in Red Wing was approved for one AED. It is a free clinic which provides treatment of acute illnesses and follow-up care for chronic diseases as well as preventative health care, prescription assistance, and referrals for needed specialty care. Patients are uninsured Goodhue County residents living at or below 200% of the poverty level, largely migrant and immigrant families. The AED will be used in the event of a cardiac event at the C.A.R.E. Clinic.

Church of St. Mary in Shakopee, Minnesota, was approved for one AED. Over 800 families regularly attend services at the Church with three services on Sundays, one on Saturday, and several others during the week.

Mentor Volunteer Fire and Rescue was approved for one AED. Located 17 miles from the nearest ambulance, the first responder group serves an 84 square mile area with about 800 people. The AED will be kept at the community center which is at a central location so it is readily accessible.

New Prague Fire Department received an AED for their new fire station and education building that hosts public meetings and classes. Their department serves parts of Scott, LeSueur, and Rice Counties.

Sanford Hospice received an AED for staff, family members, and visitors of terminally ill patients at Sunset Cottage in Worthington. Family members who usually stay with patients are often experiencing a very emotional time as it is an end of life experience for their loved one so cardiac arrest is a very real possibility.

Schoolcraft Learning Community in Bemidji, Minnesota, was approved for one AED. It is a public charter school focused on expeditionary learning. Students and teachers organize their learning around focal ideas and become self-directed learners of that subject. The school serves a diverse group of families including American Indian (13%), special needs (20%, and economically challenged (48% free or reduced lunch) families.

Scott County Community Development Agency, Shakopee, Minnesota, received an AED for use in their building. They provide services to Scott County residents with low to moderate incomes. A paramedic from Mdewakanton Emergency Services also conducted an in-service training for their entire staff on how and when to use an AED.

St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Shakopee, Minnesota, received an AED for use in the church. Weekend attendance is 1,500 people with many others using the facility throughout the week for activities.

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 11-01 (St. Paul), the all-volunteer, civilian component of the US Coast Guard, received one AED. The AED will be used by a tour patrol boat when patrolling the river and otherwise maintained at the radio station on Water Street in St. Paul. Their operational area includes 42 miles of the Mississippi River between North Minneapolis and Hastings and 10 miles of the Minnesota River, from its confluence with the Mississippi to the Interstate 35W Bridge. They serve a population which is primarily recreational boaters who can vary from several hundred to over a thousand people any weekend between May and early October.

The Vermilion Lake Fire Department was approved for one AED which will be mounted in their Number One unit, which is typically the first vehicle on scene for an emergency. The department is the primary responder for fire emergencies in their township as well as about a dozen neighboring townships through mutual aid agreements. They are also the primary responder for fire emergencies for lands and enterprises owned by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa at the junction of Highway 169 and County Road 77 and are a mutual aid responder for the Vermilion Reservation.

Waterville Fire Department received an AED which they placed at a local facility for developmentally disabled clients. Their coverage area is 45 square miles with a population of about 2,500, expanding to 4,500 during the summer months. They provide services to three senior apartment buildings, one assisted living facility, a nursing home, and three facilities for developmentally disabled clients.

Worthington Fire Department received an AED for use by their 36 members; they did not previously have one. Covering about 60 square miles with a population of about 13,000, the department also operates an ambulance service and has mutual aid agreements with nine other fire departments and two first responder groups.

Tribal:
13 AEDs DonatedFive AEDs were approved for the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa in northeastern Minnesota on the shores of Lake Superior. The AEDs will be mounted in their new daycare/Headstart building; the community building used for Reservation Tribal Council meetings, staff and community education sessions, and other community functions; churches; and the fitness center.

Four AEDs were donated to White Earth Boys & Girls Club for sites in their Naytahwaush, Pine Point, Rice Lake, and White Earth clubs. Each of these sites has a gymnasium. Three of them have an elderly nutrition service which is enjoyed by local elders many of whom also walk in the gym for daily exercise. None of the sites previously had an AED, though the staff are trained in CPR.

Two AEDs were donated to the Leech Lake Child Welfare Department which promotes the preservation of families through family services, foster care, adoption, and guardianship programs employing 40 staff members. One AED is mounted at the Leech Lake Child Welfare office in Cass Lake which serves the 200 square mile reservation and the other at the Twin Cities office on Franklin Avenue which serves over a thousand enrolled tribal members.

Two AEDs were approved for the Mille Lacs Reservation Department of Public Safety Emergency Medical Services in Onamia. The reservation has 56 first responders and six Emergency Medical Technicians who work within the four districts which lie more than 60 miles apart. The AEDs are needed due to increased growth and additional facilities being used for tribal government operations which lack AED coverage.

Background:
A shock from an AED is the best way to prevent permanent damage or death if delivered in the first few minutes after collapse from sudden cardiac arrest. For many years the SMSC has used defibrillators on the reservation. Mdewakanton Emergency Services and Mystic Lake Casino Hotel Security officers receive training in the use of AEDs.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death among adults in the United States. It can also affect children and teenagers. When someone collapses from sudden cardiac arrest, damage to the brain and other vital organs begins in as little as four minutes. Often the heart does not stop completely but goes into ventricular fibrillation, in which the heart quivers rapidly but does not pump blood. This is where an AED can help by restoring a normal heartbeat.

In 2009, the SMSC donated 64 AEDs to local fire and police departments, schools, and other organizations. In previous years the SMSC has donated defibrillators to local schools, tribes, fire departments, nursing homes, the Minnesota State Patrol, and other organizations.

To ApplyPriority is given to American Indian tribes in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, first responding agencies, and governmental agencies. Although the SMSC receives many worthy requests, currently, because of the large volume of need, requests from agencies serving less than 50 clients, churches outside of Scott County, and non-profit organizations outside of the five-state area are not eligible for consideration.

Organizations which meet the above criteria and are in need of an AED may send a written request to the Mdewakanton LIFE Program, Mdewakanton Emergency Services, 2330 Sioux Trail NW, Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372. Inquiries may be made to 952-233-1077. A downloadable application form is also available at http://www.mdfire.org/.

About Mdewakanton Emergency Services and the SMSC Mdewakanton Emergency Services, a full-time, professional fire department staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is owned and operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota. Each month the department responds to an average of 200 calls and conducts an average of 60 patient transports in its ambulances.

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Uranium Contamination: Not Much Progress In 30 Years - SMSC Offers Organic Foods

Residents Question Scope of Cleanup Plan
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

GRANTS – Larry Carver has lived in Murray Acres since 1964. He says residents there believe they are the most affected by water problems due to uranium contamination, which they attribute largely to the former Homestake Mill.

He had several questions for federal and state officials gathered Tuesday evening in Grants regarding a five-year plan they are working on to clean up legacy uranium waste in the Grants Mining District, but mostly he wanted to know, “How is it going to speed up the cleanup of the water and the health hazards out here? “It's been 30 since we started this in 1975 and really, I can't see a whole lot of progress in that 30 years,” he said.

Donna Bahar of New Mexico Environment Department's Ground Water Quality Bureau said she couldn't specifically address when and how the plan will speed cleanup, but at least now all of the agencies are at the table.

“We're talking to each other and part of the plan is pooling resources, setting priorities and hopefully starting to address the immediate health threat and working down the line. When I first started to be involved in this discussion it was just EPA and NMED,” she said.

Johnnie Head, who also lives near Homestake and is a member of the Bluewater Valley Downstream Alliance, asked about tests the agencies are conducting on wells north of Homestake.

“We have studies and samples that were taken in 1958 and 1962 that show two wells that were fine at that time, before Homestake Mill became part of what are now contaminated areas. So we know that at that time, just north of Homestake, there was good water.”

Head said it is her understanding that the agencies will be conducting urine sampling from some of the residents living in the study area. “It's too bad that couldn't have been done 30 years ago. I don't know how quickly uranium comes and goes through a person's body ... and I'm not sure anybody is drinking from the wells that had been in the past.”

Thanks to the efforts of the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Department, she said, 12 people who previously had been drinking what was considered “bad water,” have now been hooked up to alternate systems. “I don't know if maybe the pipes that brought that bad water into a house would continue to put that into your system ... but that's something I would be concerned about.”

Head also questioned whether residents living near Homestake could use water from their wells for other purposes. “We're ready to do gardens this year. We've been at this 30 years – we should have good water by now. We'd like to use our wells to raise our gardens instead of paying Milan the water bill that we're paying.

“No one has said, 'Your water is good now. Thanks to Homestake's efforts for the last 35 to 40 years, you can now use your well.' I'm concerned about that. I believe in my heart – and I've talked to a lot of people about this – the only way you're going to ever, ever clean up the mess that we live around is to move that big pile, because that's a continual source of contamination,” she said.

Paul Robinson, research director for Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque told agency representatives that the scope of the problem the five-year plan is attempting to address is very narrow and the plan they are sculpting leaves a lot of things off the table.

“The idea that this scope of issues can be identified, much less addressed, without a comprehensive budget, I think, is giving the community less than it deserves.” He said the agencies also are not taking the time to build a public communication and fact-finding program that invests in the people.

“People that live in the communities want to be involved in the cleanup,” he said, adding that a one month comment period on a five-year plan is “token community involvement. ... If you want serious comments on a five-year document, you need to treat the people more seriously.” He suggested they open a permanent office in Grants. “There's plenty of office space available.”

John Meyer of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 6 in Dallas agreed that funding is one of the hurdles they have to overcome with the five-year plan. “Nobody got any additional funding to do this. It wasn't a directive given to us with a budget.

“It was a challenge given to all these agencies to find a way to deal with these issues within our existing budgets and programs, and that makes it difficult. We know that the only way we're going to have any meaningful impact is if we all work in tandem to get it done. Even if we had an extremely large budget, there are some problems that are just going to take a long time to address.”

Meyer said just because it's called a five-year plan doesn't mean they are done at the end of five years. “That's not the case at all.” It's a five-year plan because that is as far into the future as they felt comfortable projecting their current work. “I hope as we get further and further into this, we are able to put more things on a time-line that deal with addressing the problem rather than defining it.”

Petuch Gilbert from Acoma Pueblo said one of his concerns is how the cleanup is going to work in tandem with new uranium permits that are ongoing.

“The community here, all of us, have to somehow decide whether we are going to be pro-uranium mining or anti-uranium mining, and the only way for people to make up their minds is through information.”

New Shakopee Enterprise: Organic Foods And A Community Garden
by Tessa Lahto,
Communications Specialist
tessa.lehto@shakopeedakota.org

Prior Lake, MN – Next fall local residents will be able to purchase local, organic, and natural foods on the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community with the opening of the new Community operated natural food store. Also underway is an organic garden which is being planted for the first time this spring. In its first season, it will be planted, maintained, and harvested by volunteer Community members and staff. Depending on the level of success a small farmers market may be held in the community. Community member and Wellness Program Assistant Lori Watso, formerly the tribal Secretary/Treasurer is spearheading the project.

“A natural foods store is perfectly in line with our philosophy of protecting and preserving the environment for future generations. The organic garden we started is another example of how we are continuing to take care of the earth as Dakota people,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks. “By not using pesticides and other harmful chemicals, we will not only grow healthy foods but we will also leave a legacy of a healthy planet for future generations.”

The new enterprise will open by November 1, 2010, in the building behind the Dakota Mall and near Mystic Lake Casino Hotel. As part of the project, the SMSC will work to have the building LEED certified like its mirror image building, now occupied by South Metro Federal Credit Union. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.

The new Community enterprise will focus on natural as well as locally produced foods, to serve the southern suburbs market. The 7,900 square foot building will offer meat, breads, dairy, frozen foods, personal care items, and more. A bulk product section will offer rice, beans, grains, and dried fruits. But fresh produce will be the focus.

“We plan to focus on foods which are grown locally and are natural or organic. Clean foods, those produced without the use of chemicals or antibiotics, are much healthier not only for people, but also for the earth,” said Lori.

“Local foods save on transportation costs, fuels, emissions, and all that it takes to get it here. If you choose organic foods because it supports the environment, then purchasing foods that have travelled long distances is shooting yourself in the foot. It also loses its freshness by being picked early, and its nutritional value can also be compromised by a long journey,” said Lori.

Freshly prepared dishes will be available at the deli and prepared meal area for takeout with daily lunch specials. Cafe seating and a demonstration food preparation area will be a focal point used to provide classes about healthy and clean eating.

“The first year or two this endeavor will be highly focused on education. There’s lots of information to be shared about healthy, clean foods. It could be that we need to start with some foods that are more familiar to people but our plan is to focus on organic, natural locally grown foods,” said Lori. “As people become more comfortable with real food and understand the potential harmful effects of processed foods -we hope to encourage more plant based options.”

“Our goal is improved health,” said Lori. “This will definitely be a benefit for Community members, SMSC employees, and the larger community.”

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