When: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012; 1 to 4 p.m. (EST)

Who: Robert Groves, director, U.S. Census BureauNicholas Jones, chief, Racial Statistics Branch, U.S. Census BureauTina Norris, Racial Statistics Branch, U.S. Census Bureau Kevin Gover, director, National Museum of the American IndianClara Pratte, executive director, Navajo Nation Washington OfficeColin Kippen, executive director, National Indian Education AssociationMalia Villegas, director, Policy Research Center, National Congress of American IndiansMellor Willie, executive director, National American Indian Housing Council

Where: National Museum of the American IndianFourth Street & Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. 20560

RSVP to pio@census.gov and please specify if you have an interview request.

Follow @uscensusbureau on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Ustream.

Vicki Glasier Public Information Office 301-763-3030 e-mail: pio@census.gov

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

Contact: Jessica Lackey: President of the Wetlands Preservation Organization, 925.408.3495, jessica.lackey@haskell.edu Kelda Britton: Secretary of the Wetlands Preservation Organization, 707.272.6770, kelda.britton@haskell.edu   Who: Prairie Band Pottawatomie Nation, Wetlands Preservation Organization, Jayhawk Audubon Society, Kansas Sierra Club, Environs at KU, KU Ecojustice, and Save the Wakarusa Wetlands Inc.

What: Oral hearings begin for the Prairie Band Pottawatomie Nation, Wetlands Preservation Organization, Jayhawk Audubon Society, Kansas Sierra Club, Environs at KU, KU Ecojustice and Save The Wakarusa Wetlands Inc. vs. Federal Highway Administration and Kansas Department of Transportation

When: On the morning of January 19th, 2012

Where: Byron White Courthouse: 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado

Battle Over South Lawrence Trafficway Reaches Circuit Court in Denver

Since the Kansas Department of Transportation proposed the South Lawrence Trafficway (SLT) in the mid 1980’s, the status of this project has been contested in court. Most recently the Prairie Band Pottawatomie Nation and supporting plaintiffs (as listed above) filed an appeal with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on the basis of ongoing serious reservations we have about the Environmental Impact Statement process, along with misgivings also echoed by the ruling judge in her statement.

On Thursday, January 19th at Byron White Courthouse in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado, oral hearings for our appeal will begin. David Prager and Bob Eye, attorneys for the plaintiffs, will present their 15 minute argument, followed by the 15 minute argument from the defendants. The three judges will then work on a decision which will hopefully be settled in the next few months.

In Lawrence, approximately ten members from representative plaintiff groups will travel to Denver to attend the hearings.  On Friday January 13th, members of these groups met to assemble statements of support for the appeal. Gary Anderson, President of the Jayhawk Audubon Society stated, “The Jayhawk Audubon Society’s Board of Directors carefully considered the 2010 judge’s comments on the most recent ruling, which found that the EIS requirements had been met for the most part. The Board was extremely disappointed that only certain requirements were considered by the judge for review in the case. The Board continues to feel that all requirements of NEPA need to be followed. If this decision is permitted to stand, a dangerous precedent would be established; therefore, the Board voted overwhelmingly to join the appeal.”

According to Marisol Cortez, Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies at KU and faculty advisor for KU Ecojustice, “This project continues to represent histories of injustice and disrespect to Native communities, to sacred spaces the world over, and to the living beings they contain. This is the kind of situation that many scholars and activists call environmental racism, and as in many of these kinds of cases, we see state and federal agencies cutting regulatory corners to railroad a project they assume is a done deal. We say: it is not, and we call on the entire KU community to stand with us against this injustice.”

Mike Caron of Save The Wakarusa Wetlands Inc. stated, “Federal NEPA standards were put in place explicitly to protect minorities from tyranny of the majority. They are the heart of our nation’s protections against environmental injustices.”

Jessica Lackey and Kelda Britton, President and Secretary of Haskell Indian Nation University’s Wetlands Preservation Organization commented, “As Native Americans we are taught that we are the caretakers of the earth. The students of the WPO have taken it upon themselves to protect the wetlands which the school itself has significant historical ties to. Haskell represents over 150 federally recognized tribes and for many of us our only connection to home while we are away is to be able to correlate to our spirit, animal, and plant relatives in the wetlands.”

For further information on the hearing, on the SLT issue, or on perspectives of plaintiff organizations, please contact Jessica Lackey or Kelda Britton at the numbers listed above.

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New exhibits will be opening featuring the work of Jodi Webster from the Ho-Chunk and Prairie Band Potawatomi Nations. The other, a group show entitled “Misplaced Generations”, will be a visual/multi-media exhibit that will convey and articulate cultural loss (i.e. dissipating tribal languages, disconnection, devoid of identity, Native diaspora, etc.). Misplaced Generations serves as a catalyst in an effort to revitalize cultural identity in urban communities.

“The Gallery and these events are important for all generations, to learn about our past and to inspire future generations to follow in the footsteps we leave behind”, says Vietnam veteran artist Joe L.Yazzie (Navajo).

Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, $5 for children 6-12, and free for children under 5. Tickets can be purchased at Trickster Gallery or by calling 847-301-2090 Tuesday-Saturday from 10am-5pm.

Tickets will also be available by visiting the American Indian Center of Chicago at 1630 W. Wilson Ave. Chicago.

Trickster Gallery opened in 2005 as an extension of the American Indian Center of Chicago’s Arts Program. The American Indian Center is the oldest urban Indian Center in the country, with Trickster Gallery being the only Native owned and operated arts institution in the state. The Gallery is dedicated to providing space for first-voice arts and features contemporary Native art, augmenting exhibits with film screenings, featured speakers, panel discussions, school tours and educator workshops. Trickster Gallery programs raise public awareness and advance ideals of tolerance and diversity by combating stereotypes and deconstructing predetermined imagery that has long defined Native Americans. They are created by rural and urban-based Native American communities for the larger community. This provides a necessary inclusive platform for cultural exchange as we continue to celebrate Native America in Illinois.

TRICKSTER GALLERY Native American Arts 190 S. Roselle Rd. Schaumburg, IL 60193 trickstergallery@aic-chicago.org 847-301-2090

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WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced his decision to protect the iconic Grand Canyon and its vital watershed from the potential adverse effects of additional uranium and other hardrock mining on over 1 million acres of federal land for the next 20 years. Secretary Salazar’s decision will provide adequate time for monitoring to inform future land use decisions in this treasured area, while allowing currently approved mining operations to continue as well as new operations on valid existing mining claims.

“A withdrawal is the right approach for this priceless American landscape,” Salazar said. “People from all over the country and around the world come to visit the Grand Canyon. Numerous American Indian tribes regard this magnificent icon as a sacred place and millions of people in the Colorado River Basin depend on the river for drinking water, irrigation, industrial and environmental use. We have been entrusted to care for and protect our precious environmental and cultural resources, and we have chosen a responsible path that makes sense for this and future generations.” The Public Land Order to withdraw these acres for 20 years from new mining claims and sites under the 1872 Mining Law, subject to valid existing rights, is authorized by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. A Record of Decision was signed by the Secretary today during a ceremony held at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.

The withdrawal does not prohibit previously approved uranium mining, new projects that could be approved on claims and sites with valid existing rights. The withdrawal would allow other natural resource development in the area, including mineral leasing, geothermal leasing and mineral materials sales, to the extent consistent with the applicable land use plans. Approximately 3,200 mining claims are currently located in the withdrawal area. “The withdrawal maintains the pace of hardrock mining, particularly uranium, near the Grand Canyon,” said Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey, “but also gives the Department a chance to monitor the impacts associated with uranium mining in this area. It preserves the ability of future decision-makers to make thoughtful decisions about managing this area of national environmental and cultural significance based on the best information available.”

During the withdrawal period, the BLM projects that up to 11 uranium mines, including four that are currently approved, could still be developed based on valid pre-existing rights – meaning the jobs supported by mining in the area would increase or remain flat as compared to the current level, according to the BLM’s analysis. By comparison, during the 1980s, nine uranium mines were developed on these lands and five were mined out. Without the withdrawal, there could be 30 uranium mines in the area over the next 20 years, including the four that are currently approved, with as many as six operating at one time, the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) estimates.

The withdrawn area includes 355,874 acres of U.S. Forest Service land on the Kaibab National Forest; 626,678 acres of Bureau of Land Management lands; and 23,993 acres of split estate – where surface lands are held by other owners while subsurface minerals are owned by the federal government. The affected lands, all in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon or Grand Canyon National Park, are located in Mohave and Coconino Counties of Northern Arizona.

“The decision made today by the Secretary will help ensure continued protection of the Grand Canyon watershed and World Heritage designated Grand Canyon National Park,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “As stewards of our national parks, it is incumbent on all of us to continue to preserve our treasured landscapes, today and for future generations.”

Today’s decision is the culmination of more than two years of evaluation during which the BLM analyzed the proposed withdrawal in an EIS prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.

Numerous cooperating agencies, tribes, counties and stakeholders were fully engaged in this process, which included an extensive public involvement period which generated more than 350,000 comments, including input from more than 90 countries. Substantive comments, including those on the economic impact discussion, were addressed in the Final EIS, released on October 27, 2011 for a final 30-day review period.

Information on the withdrawal is at http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/mining/timeout.html or can be obtained by calling (602) 417-9504.

FLANDREAU, S.D. (AP) — It seems an unlikely concept: teenagers forgoing the immediacy of a McDonald’s Big Mac to don an apron, grab a meat patty and learn how to cook their own lower-fat version in the kitchen.

But for a group of students at the Flandreau Indian School in South Dakota, they’re doing just that while learning about bison, an animal considered sacred in their Native American culture.

The students are part of a pilot project started by the Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe and South Dakota State University researchers to restore the cultural significance of the animal, also called buffalo, and consumption of its meat among community members, particularly young people. Through cooking demonstrations and educational outreach opportunities, the students are learning that there are healthier, tasty options that also connect them to their ancestors more than any prepackaged meat or drive-thru order could.

“You can’t go to Hy-Vee and just pick up ground buffalo to actually get the spiritual connection. I think that’s kind of been lost,” said Geriann Headrick, acting food service manager at the Flandreau Indian School, referring to a regional supermarket chain.

The school began preparing school meals with fresh bison meat last year as part of the pilot project.

Nearly 20 professors across five departments at SDSU are involved in the project, which they hope will be used as a model among other tribes trying to revive the demand for bison.

Although bison tastes a bit different — some think it has a sweeter, richer flavor than beef — Flandreau Indian School senior Dillon Blackbird said he prefers school meals served with bison because it’s “real meat.”

One of more than 30 students from the Flandreau Indian School to take part in cooking workshops with bison as the main ingredient, Blackbird said he now knows how to whip up his own dishes with bison, which has less fat and fewer calories than beef.

“I make basic stuff: tacos, enchiladas, spaghetti, lasagna,” Blackbird said.

SDSU researchers want other teenagers to follow Blackbird’s lead, creating a market within the tribe for the next 40 to 50 years and changing the way members think about the animal.

Like many American Indian tribes, the Flandreau Santee Sioux maintains its own herd as a tie to its ancestors who relied on bison for survival. Established in 1990 with 12 heifer calves and one bull calf acquired from Custer State Park in western South Dakota, the herd swelled to about 250 animals by the spring of 2009.

But the herd has become more ceremonial than necessity, and when it began costing too much money, tribal officials considered selling the animals until SDSU researchers pitched the idea for a new market via the hearty appetites of teenagers.

“Like all Americans, Native Americans are used to eating traditional American foods. Even though the bison means something to them culturally more than the average American, they are used to eating chicken legs and cooking hamburgers,” said SDSU economics professor Scott Fausti. “What we’re trying to do, of course, is to lessen the financial burden upon the tribe by further integrating bison into the community, (allowing) the bison to provide greater resources to the community by using it as a substitute protein source.”

The Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe has since culled the herd to fewer than 50 animals as it works to regrow them organically — without hormones or pesticides — which Fausti said is more attuned to traditional American Indian beliefs. Ideally, the herd will return to 160 to 180 organically grown bison, supplying 30 to 40 animals each year for the community.

Until the Flandreau program is self-sustaining, the InterTribal Buffalo Council, a cooperative of more than 50 tribes created in the early 1990s to re-establish bison herds, is donating the animal meat to the Flandreau School. Officials also are hoping to get more money for the project through grants.

Once the herd is re-established, the hope is that other tribal entities, including the diabetic program, will choose to use the meat over buying from commercial pork, beef and chicken vendors, Fausti said. The tribe also may sell to outside sources as well.

It’s been a battle to create a continuous stream of demand for the meat as a protein source due to fluctuating prices, Fausti said, noting that one non-American Indian cooperative in North Dakota went bankrupt several years ago, leaving thousands of dollars’ worth of the meat in storage. Prices for bison meat, regardless of cut, were stable in December, the most recent month available, after recent spikes, according to the USDA.

Other tribes have tried similar methods to revitalize their herds: Students at the Southern Ute tribal school rely on bison for their meat, and Ponca tribal members with diabetes can get a prescription for the animal meat — a good option because it’s lower in fat and cholesterol.

But the Flandreau tribe is believed to be the first creating a self-sustaining commercial market from production to consumption, said Jim Stone, executive director of the InterTribal Buffalo Council.

Fausti said other tribes can look to the Flandreau model of incorporating organically grown bison into popular dishes as a way to create their own markets and cultural-restoration programs.

Della Flute, for one, agrees. The Flandreau Indian School kitchen aide chose to cook Christmas dinner for her mother and 20-year-old son with bison meat over other protein sources. Flute believes consuming more bison will help young people reconnect with their roots.

“I think a lot of us strayed far from (the culture),” said Flute, 41. “I think reservations would improve.”

Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x2103872714#ixzz1ipV8JId4

On Dec. 2, 2011, during the Third Annual White House Tribal Nation’s Conference, President Obama signed Executive Order 13592 establishing the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education (Initiative). The mission of the Initiative is to help expand educational opportunities and improve educational outcomes for all American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students, including opportunities to learn their Native languages, cultures, and histories and receive complete and competitive educations that prepare them for college, careers, and productive and satisfying lives.

Among other mandates, the Executive Order directs that “To facilitate a new partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of the Interior, to improve AI/AN education, the Executive Director shall work with the BIE Director and develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two Departments that will take advantage of both Departments’ expertise, resources, and facilities. The MOU shall be completed within 120 days of the date of this order. Among other things, the MOU shall address how the Departments will collaborate in carrying out the policy set out in section 1 of this order.”

Accordingly, Secretary of Education Duncan and Secretary of Interior Salazar have organized these Tribal Leader Education Roundtables regarding the Initiative’s strategic efforts to engage tribal and community leaders, Indian education stakeholders, and the public on the development of the MOU and Tribal Leaders’ Education Task Force. Additional roundtables may be scheduled and held at a later date.

To submit written comments on Indian education or education matters more generally, email info@indianeducation.org.

To view other Indian education resources:

Tribal Leaders Speak: The State of Indian Education, 2010 – Report

Executive Order 13592

Information on the National Advisory Council on Indian Education (NACIE)

On January 9, 2012 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, CA will hear arguments in a legal battle that may decide the ecological integrity of Arizona’s San Francisco Peaks, a mountain near Flagstaff, AZ held sacred by over 13 Native American nations.

The Save the Peaks Coalition is planning a Caravan from Flagstaff, AZ to San Francisco where they will be contesting the environmental & human health impacts of wastewater snowmaking.

The Save the Peaks Coalition are fighting the United States Forest Service in a legal battle to protect children from hazardous endocrine disruptors and to protect this sacred site from desecration. On January 9th, 2012 The Save the Peaks Coalition et al vs. the United States Forest Service will be heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, CA.

The case argues that under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, the Forest Service failed to adequately consider the impacts associated with ingestion of snow made from reclaimed sewer water in its Environmental Impact Statement.

The Forest Service approved reclaimed sewer water for the use of snowmaking at a local Northern Arizona ski resort in 2004. The reclaimed sewer water in question is from Flagstaff’s Rio de Flag Sewage Plant that has proven to contain harmful bacteria, and endocrine disruptors such as pharmaceuticals and hormones amongst other known toxins.

Schedule of Events:

Sunday January 8, 2012; 6PM – 9PM. Evening dinner, welcoming reception, & discussion on environmental injustice impacts and how they affect sacred sites. The Women’s Building; San Francisco, CA RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/195603233865761/

Monday January 9, 2012: 7AM: Sunrise Prayer Vigil Ceremonial gathering at a park located near the courthouse in downtown SF- TBA! Stay posted by visiting here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/195603233865761/

8AM: Protect Sacred Sites, Defend Human Rights March from the nearby park going to the James R.Browning US Courthouse – 9th Circuit; 95 Seventh Street; San Francisco, CA

9AM: Rally & Prayers outside the Courthouse.

9:30AM: Court Hearing. The Save the Peaks Coalition et al vs. the United States Forest Service.

10:15 – 11:00 (Estimated) Press Conference on the steps of the 9th Circuit courthouse afterwards.

Read full article on NARF Blog

Moreover, our intention is to educate participants about the Medicine Wheel. A lot of people, including Haskell students, have no idea what Haskell’s Medicine Wheel is. Some people don’t even know it exist; others have heard about it but are unclear as to its exact location. We believe it is important to inform those who are uninformed. This will protect our holy site. We will also show people it is used for prayer; safeguarding it from desecration.

Address 155 Indian Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66046 Phone (480) 258-2930

Free tour every Saturday at 9 am!!

Contact

Millicent M. Pepion
Phone: (480) 258-2930
Email: Minipah@msn.com
Millicent.Pepion@haskell.edu

More information on the Discover Haskell Medicine Wheel Facebook Page