July « 2011 « ::Native.Strength::

July 31, 2011

First Nations Development Institute Awards Native Youth and Culture Fund Grants

Filed under: Education,Language Preservation,Native Education,News Alerts — Tags: First Nations Development Institute, Tribal Colleges — ICTMN Staff @ 2:00 pm

A total of 23 tribes and Native American nonprofits will share in $400,000 of Native Youth and Culture Fund (NYCF) grants awarded by the First Nations Development Institute (FNDI), which range from $8,000 to $19,400.

According to a press release announcing the awards, NYCF was started in 2002 by FNDI as way to “preserve, strengthen, and/or renew American Indian culture and tradition among tribal youth.” Since its inception 179 grants totaling $2.9 million have been made.

“First Nations firmly believes that Native youth represent the future of Native communities, and that their health and well-being determines the future well-being of Indian Country,” the release says. “The NYCF program invests in tribal youth and gives them a sense of place and tradition in the community, while ensuring the growth of future American Indian leaders.”

2011-2012 Awards are listed below with a brief description of their program:

Arizona

Hopi Credit Association (Keams Canyon, AZ) – Youth Financial Literacy Camp – $10,200

Hopi youth, ages 14-18, will participate in a financial literacy camp provided by the Hopi Credit Association. The camp will include presentations by local community members, whose expertise in their field will be used to enhance the real world learning experience. The presentations will include a cultural view of how money management and savings can be correlated to traditional farming practices.

California

California Indian Museum & Culture Center (Santa Rosa, CA) – Conversational Pomo Documentation Project – $19,400

The California Indian Museum and Culture Center’s project teaches Native youth digital media skills while creating teaching/learning resources to foster speakers of the endangered Pomo languages. Pomo elders and youth will partner to record conversations that will be used to create a distance learning curriculum. Youth will have the opportunity to learn how to edit the master recordings into a web-friendly presentation at a language preservation camp. The project will reach language learners in 21 Pomo tribes.

Round Valley Indian Tribes (Covelo, CA) – Cultural Awareness Program for Tribal Youth – $13,400

The Round Valley Tribes Cultural Awareness Program for Tribal Youth supports the year-long efforts of the tribe’s traditional dance group and summer youth camp. Both efforts focus on instilling the importance of knowing your family and elders, symbolism of regalia, traditional language, partnering with other tribes to support the transmission of traditional culture and to develop leadership skills.

Hawaii

Hawaiian Community Assets, Inc. (Honolulu, HI) – Strengthening Future Generations through Culturally-Relevant Financial Education – $19,400

Strengthening Future Generations is a culturally relevant financial education project for Hawaiian and Native Hawaiian youth ages 13-27 residing in low and moderate income communities. Through training and technical assistance, Hawaiian Community Assets will mentor community members to deliver financial education to youth.

Minnesota

Native Vote Alliance of MN (Cass Lake, MN) – 2nd Annual Youth Civic Camp – $10,000

The 2nd Annual Youth Civic Camp will be hosted at the Ojibwe Language Camp of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. The camp provides an opportunity for youth ages 13-16, to blend traditional civic education and organizing, with renewable energy and localized farming, all with a cultural emphasis.

Montana Alternative Solutions (Polson, MT) – Sharing the Story – $19,400

Sharing the Story, based on the Flathead reservation, centers on bridging intergenerational divides by capturing the stories of tribal members and transforming them into theatre productions. Tribal youth will collect stories and use them to develop story lines. The productions will incorporation both English and Salish language components, which will be created with the assistance of the last fluent tribal elders. The plays presented will include casts from across the reservation and include the history and culture of the Salish people.

Fort Peck Community College (Poplar, MT) – Nakona and Dakota Summer Immersion Programs – $18,100

Fort Peck Community College will host a ten-week summer language immersion program for the Nakota and Dakota languages. The goal of the program is to increase the number of speakers and carriers of traditional knowledge by utilizing a relationship between the elders and younger generations. The students, junior high through college level, will have the opportunity to teach the language once they have become semi-fluent.

New Mexico

Notah Begay III Foundation, Inc. (Bernalillo, NM) – Katishtya’s Health Empowerment Project -$19,400

The Katishtya’s Health Empowerment Project will strengthen San Felipe Pueblo youth to engage themselves, their families, the San Felipe Pueblo community and other local Native communities in a culturally-based obesity and diabetes health education program. The project utilizes Keres language and images to promote healthy lifestyles and will emphasize increased physical activity and healthy eating.

Santa Fe Indian School (Santa Fe, NM) – Brave Girls – $15,650

The Brave Girls project is housed at the Leadership Institute in the Santa Fe Indian School. The project will empower, educate and encourage youth development in order to prevent at-risk activities in the future. The girls will learn important life skills to make positive decisions, avoid risky behaviors and promote overall well-being.

Tewa Women United (Santa Cruz, NM) – A’Gin Girls Empowerment Program – $19,400

The goal of the A’Gin Girls Empowerment Program is to promote cultural values by developing a culturally appropriate approach to address teen sexual violence, substance abuse, pregnancy and HIV/STDS prevention using peer support, intergenerational sharing and mentoring. The program will focus on young women, ages 12-17 years old, in the six Tewa speaking communities located in Rio Arriba/Northern Santa Fe counties.

North Carolina

Sacred Pathways Inc. (Pembroke, NC) – Hear Our Voices – $19,400

The project focuses on preserving and reviving cultural practices, beliefs and values though youth personal development, leadership and empowerment, entrepreneurship training and an oral history project. Sacred Pathways will engage the community in each of the components to provide support to youth.

North Dakota

Marketplace of Ideas (Bismarck, ND) – Marketplace for Kids Entrepreneurial Activities – $19,400

Marketplace for Kids Entrepreneurial Activities is a model program to be expanded in the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Spirit Lake reservations. Students from elementary through middle school, supplied with an overview of entrepreneurship, will envision opening their own art gallery and gift shop. The students will be able to create artwork to sell in their shop, as well as learn how to promote, and manage the shop.

Oklahoma Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation (Shawnee, OK) – Mamishkwezewen Project – $19,350

The Mamishkwezewen (Renew in Strength) Program is a year-long project that focuses on strengthening leadership, renewing assets and preserving the culture, language and heritage of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Youth will participate in a five-day intensive camp and monthly mentoring and training sessions in leadership, economic development and financial education.

South Dakota Lakota Language Consortium (Pierre, SD) – Teacher’s and Caregiver’s Guide to the Lakota Berenstain Bears – $14,550

The Lakota Berenstain Bears Project is intended to communicate traditional Lakota values (patience, generosity, compassion) in a modern storytelling medium and help inspire a new generation of young people to speak the Lakota language and develop new ways to express themselves. The series will make the language more accessible to tribal members through modern media.

Native American Community Board (Lake Andes, SD) – Yankton Sioux Language and Heritage Preservation Program – $19,400

The Yankton Sioux Language and Heritage Preservation Program documents the Dakota language, cultural heritage and traditional knowledge and produce fluent, young Dakota speakers. It serves children, ages 3-12, and families on the Yankton Sioux reservation through a six-week summer Dakota language immersion program that focuses on school readiness.

Washington

Cowlitz Indian Tribe (Longview, WA) – Lifting Youth, Bridging Generations – $19,350

The Cowlitz Tribe’s youth department will sponsor youth participation in four tribal events to cultivate intergenerational connections, encourage healthy behaviors, develop leadership skills and strengthen the Cowlitz tribal community. The events include the annual Intertribal Canoe Journey, the Cowlitz Kids Summer Camp, the Cowlitz Huckleberry Camp and the Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association Conference.

Longhouse Media (Seattle, WA) – Clearwater – $19,400

Students in the Clearwater media training program based in the Suquamish Tribal School will complete a full-length film project on environmental changes and the effects on the Suquamish people. The inspiration for the film came from creating awareness of how ocean acidification affects the tribal people of Puget Sound, as well as an opportunity to train youth in media-based job skills.

Lummi CEDAR Project (Bellingham, WA) – Native Youth Leadership Canoe Journey Program – $19,400

The Native Youth Leadership Canoe Journey Program works to empower high-risk youth through their youth lead and adult-supported leadership training curriculum. The program is comprised of weekly leadership and cultural workshops and participation in the annual inter-tribal canoe journey.

Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association (Covington, WA) – 17th Annual Gathering & 2011 Youth Community Weaving Program – $8,000

Pacific Northwest youth will have the opportunity to learn basket weaving from master weavers during the 17th Annual Gathering of Basketweavers 2011 Youth Community Weaving Program. Students will learn about gathering, basketry techniques, and cultural aspects of the art while engaging in meaningful dialog with the instructors.

Makah Cultural and Research Center (Neah Bay, WA) – Traditional Gathering for All Ages Day Camps – $19,300

The Makah Cultural and Research Center will host the Traditional Gathering for All Ages Day Camps project. Makah families will learn the traditional knowledge and skills to gather and use the natural resources of the area to promote the continuation of Makah cultural practices, sustainable use and healthier lifestyles. Youth employees will have the opportunity to gain traditional knowledge, as well as experience in research, documentation, preparing presentations and delivering presentations.

Potlatch Fund (Seattle, WA) – 2011 InterTribal Canoe Journey – $19,400

InterTribal Canoe Journey is an important cultural renaissance event within the tribal communities of the northwest coast, allowing Indian people to retain and increase their knowledge of coastal values and languages. Native youth, who have participated in the Canoe Journey, will participate in the grant process and assist in planning the annual funder’s tour. The project will provide leadership and development skills for Native youth, as well as professional development as the participants learn about philanthropy, successful grant applications and grantmaking.

Suquamish Tribe (Suquamish, WA) – Suquamish Youth Traditional Plant Garden Summer Internship Project – $19,400

Suquamish Gardens Summer Youth program is service learning project connecting Suquamish youth, elders, community, and culture while providing traditional and organic foods to elders and families. The youth will learn about life skills, organic gardening, awareness and understanding of traditional and contemporary Suquamish food systems and how food security impacts the Suquamish tribal community.

Wisconsin

College of the Menominee Nation (Keshena, WI) – Leadership in Crisis – $19,300

A brief documentary on “Leadership in Crisis” in the era of the Termination Act will be produced by College of the Menominee Nation. Tribal youth, ages 16 to 18, will learn interview techniques, how to handle video equipment, editing of film, and how to make copies of the final product. Tribal elders will be interviewed to describe how community members assumed leadership roles to address the loss of self-identity, language and culture during the Termination Act.

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South Dakota Indian Schools, Communities Promote Healthy Living through Relay For Life

Filed under: Health & Wellness,News Alerts — Tags: American Cancer Society, Relay for Life — Charlotte Hofer @ 1:00 pm

Charlotte Hofer is a public relations manager for the South Dakota-based American Cancer Society and a member of the Native American Journalists Association.

One in three American Indian children is overweight or obese by the age of five, according to the White House. Obesity and lack of exercise are major risk factors for cancer, and the American Cancer Society and American Indian communities are teaming up to do something about it.

The Society is working with communities in South Dakota and around the nation to introduce messages on the importance of healthy diet and exercise through Relay For Life events. Relay For Life is a family-friendly celebration—with activities, games, music, dancing and walking the track—as a way to honor survivors and to introduce messages on health and wellness into schools and communities.

And it’s really caught on with kids at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Todd County, South Dakota.

For the past four years, school children from 5 area schools in Todd County have organized a “mini-relay” for the American Cancer Society. The mini-relay is put on for the youth of their community—a celebration that introduces awareness of the benefits of health and wellness. Each year the event is growing; this year there were 330 participants, and included 41 members of the National Honor Society.

“The 4th and 5th graders who participated in the mini-relay became aware of what cancer can do to families and were given the chance to raise money for those affected by cancer. Also, the relay was an educational opportunity to learn about healthy lifestyles,” said Rhonda Cherry, National Honor Society advisor at Todd County High School and a co-founder of the mini-relay.

The mini-relay isn’t the only relay in the community, either. If kids are taking cancer prevention seriously in Todd County, so are adults. ACS community relay “Rockin’ on the Rez” began in 2008 when Todd County and the Rosebud Indian Reservation decided they wanted to do their part to help fight cancer. And “Rockin’ on the Rez”—complete with drum groups, cultural music and food—was born.

“Research shows that Native Americans have lower cancer survival rates. ‘Rockin’ on the Rez’ is an event that has created awareness about how people can reduce their risk from cancer—through healthy food choices, being physically active, and getting screenings,” said Roberta Cahill, Yankton Sioux member and ACS staff person in Pierre, South Dakota.

This year “Rockin’ on the Rez” drew 425 people, including people from Todd and Mellette Counties.

“It was our best relay yet,” said Cahill. “The relay is an uplifting fundraising event that brings the community together to fight this horrible disease. We recognize and celebrate survivors and their caregivers—they spread the message of HOPE for others.”

Funds from the mini-relay and Rockin’ on the Rez community relay support the American Cancer Society—in such areas as research to find cures, services and programs for survivors.

To join Relay Nation and find a Relay for Life event in your area—or to start one—visit the American Cancer Society’s website at www.cancer.org or call 1.800.227.2345.

Never been to a Relay For Life?

Find out what all the excitement’s about. Check out this VIDEO “Rockin’ on the Rez 2011” Todd County on Animoto:

http://animoto.com/play/Cpqy3Z5DAwQ0V5nkiyADsA

About the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society fights for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping you stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early, helping you get well by being there for you during and after a diagnosis, by finding cures through groundbreaking discovery and fighting back through public policy. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing about $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

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Bitumen Extraction Explained (in Animation), and Jon Stewart Targets Oil Sands

Filed under: Arts & Entertainment,Business,Canada,Environment,News Alerts,Video — Tags: Alberta Oil Sands, Energy, Oil, Oil Sands — ICTMN Staff @ 12:00 pm

First, an animated video detailing the process and scope of what is called the largest industrial project in history, the Alberta Oil Sands. When you’re done informing yourself, lighten up with Jon Stewart’s Daily Show take on Canada and the Tar Sands.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Watch “The Dunk Inventor” Kenny Dobbs Defy Gravity

Filed under: News Alerts,Sports — Tags: Basketball, Choctaw, Kenny Dobbs — ICTMN Staff @ 11:30 am

You may have heard of Kenny from our feature article on him here.

But because we can’t get enough of this high flying, gravity defying, kid inspiring (too many rhymes here?) super star, we’re going to roll out some of his best dunking videos of all-time. Yes, there are so many we need a few posts to do it.

So, without further ado, here’s a selection of some of our favorite Kenny Dobbs dunk videos:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Lacrosse Auditions Take Place in Syracuse for American Indian Movie Crooked Arrows

Filed under: Arts & Entertainment,News Alerts,Sports,Video — Tags: Lacrosse — ICTMN Staff @ 11:30 am

Click here to view the embedded video.

The creators of the film Crooked Arrows, a film about an American Indian named Joe Logan who is tasked to coach his reservation’s high school lacrosse team in order to prove to his father that he’s ready to lead his people, held a try out for spots in the film.

American Indian athletes from all over came to Syracuse to try out for the film. We wanted to give you a little peek at the action. Check back later for more information about the film.

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Speaking Out to Indian Country About Identity Theft

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: Identity Theft, Social Security — Kimberly Yellow Robe @ 5:36 am

When listening to Tribal Elders and community members across Indian Country, together we learned about how individuals can become victims of identity theft.

Have you ever lost your wallet? Tribal ID Card? How about losing personal documents containing your Social Security Number? Having conducted various presentations to tribal communities about identity theft, I have learned that losing these documents can turn into a nightmare.

Identity thieves can be very clever using your personally identifying information to commit fraud and other crimes. It is estimated as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Identity thieves can open new credit card accounts in your name, open cell phone accounts, and even get a driver’s license or official ID card issued in your name. Resolving the issue is time-consuming as well as costly to repair damage done to a good name and credit record.

Be careful with your Social Security card and number

Show your card to your employer when you start a job so your records are correct. Provide your Social Security number to your financial institution(s) for tax reporting purposes. Keep your card and any other document that shows your Social Security number on it in a safe place. DO NOT routinely carry your card or other documents that display your number.

If you have your Social Security number printed on your Tribal ID card of the Certificate of Indian Blood (CIB), ask your tribal enrollment department if an alternate number can be used. This is important since we use this documentation instead of the traditional forms of documentation such as State issued ID cards or driver’s licenses.

If a telemarketer calls you and insists you provide your Social Security Number, bank account information, or credit card numbers, you do NOT have to provide this information. There are scams out there that could lead to you becoming a victim of identity theft.

Did you know that each year you are able to request a free credit report from the three Credit Bureaus? You can do it at annualcreditreport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228. Checking your credit report on a regular basis will allow you to detect Identity theft before too much damage has been done. By doing this, you will also find out what credit has been issued in your name and any overdue debts you might not have incurred.

For more information, read our publication, “Identity Theft and Your Social Security Number.” If you think you have been a victim of identity theft, contact your Tribal Police Department to file a report and use the Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft kit to correct the situation.

Remember, protect your Social Security Number and any other documents containing your number such as your Tribal ID Card, Certificate of Indian Blood, Medicare Card or other tribal issued documents.

Kimberly Yellow Robe(Rosebud Sioux) works for the Social Security Administration, San Francisco Region. She is the American Indian Public Affairs Specialist and coordinates outreach and education programs for American Indians and tribal communities. If you have questions about Social Security feel free to contact her at Kimberly.Yellow.Robe@ssa.gov

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Canoe Families Play Starring Role in Study of Salish Sea Conditions

Filed under: Canada,Environment,News Alerts — Tags: Canoe, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Squamish Nation, Squaxin Island Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community — Kara Briggs and Brent Merrill @ 12:22 am

Reprinted with permissions from the Coast Salish Gathering News

Canoe families from Western Washington and British Columbia participated in the fourth year of a unique study of water quality in the Salish Sea during their paddle to Swinomish.

Partnering with the U.S. Geological Survey, the canoes were outfitted with measuring equipment small enough to be held in one hand and strong enough to be towed hundreds of miles behind the canoes. The tools, called YSI multiparameter water quality sondes, send signals to Google Maps with near real-time information about water conditions.

Canoe families who participated in the study during the Canoe Journey were from the Squaxin Island Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and Sauk-Suiattle Tribe from Western Washington and the Squamish First Nation and Musgamagw Tribe of British Columbia.

The 2011 summer’s cool start was reflected in initial results from South Salish Sea, where temperatures of surface waters averaged 12.3º C (54.1º F). In 2009, temperatures of surface water averaged 18.6º C (65.5º F). In 2008 and 2010, the average water temperature in the same area was 14.4º C (58º F).

“Our canoes work best for this project because they don’t use motors, they can cover a large area and they don’t churn up the water,” said Northwest Indian Fish Commission Chairman Billy Frank Jr. “This is just the right kind of vehicle to gather this kind of information.”

Samples taken by motorized boats can be tainted by exhaust, fuel remnants and propeller turbulence.

While traveling their ancestral highway, canoe families simultaneously measure many conditions, including surface-water temperature, conductivity, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity, producing multiple water-property profiles every 10 seconds across the Salish Sea.

Scientists travel in canoes with pullers and skippers, so they can work together to collect observational data. In these interactions, indigenous knowledge is integrated with modern science to improve everyone’s understanding of the Salish Sea’s natural history. The perspectives are ones that science alone cannot offer.

The exchanges made between scientists and Coast Salish culture bearers, with their traditional knowledge from their communities, increases the overall understanding of conservation and stewardship in the Salish Sea.

Among canoe families, even those not participating in this year’s study, water conditions are a continuous topic of conversation. At Seattle’s Alki Beach on Wednesday, July 20, puller Todd Wescott of the Puyallup Tribe was among those who observed a lot of red algae on the six-hour pull from the Port of Tacoma.

“The USGS appreciates the wonderful partnership with Coast Salish and encourages everyone to visit the Tribal Journey landings and website to follow our progress,” said scientist Eric Grossman of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Results are posted in near real-time on Google Maps.

Four years of results map patterns of ocean mixing and river runoff, which strongly affect habitats and ecosystems where the Coast Salish peoples have lived for millennia.

Deteriorating water quality from land use (runoff of toxics, excess sediments, nutrients) and change in ocean conditions (warming, ocean acidification) threaten Salish Sea fish and shellfish, and the habitats that support them.

“There are few comprehensive studies of nearshore ecosystems along the thousands of miles of Salish Sea shoreline that the Tribal Journey travels, and its salmon, forage fish, crab, clams and oysters rely upon,” said Grossman.

This is only one of many studies that are needed to expand the understanding of how land use and climate change are affecting the amazing Salish Sea ecosystem, he said.

Participants in the Coast Salish-U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Tribal Journey Water Quality Project were recognized recently with the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Partners in Conservation Award.

The award recognizes the strength of collaborative activities, such as the USGS partnership with the Coast Salish Western Washington Tribes and British Columbia First Nations.

“The Salish Sea Ecosystem sustains our indigenous life way as People of the Salmon and Shoreline,” said Chairman of the Swinomish Tribe Brian Cladoosby. “We say in our Lands, ‘When the Tide is out, the Table is set.’ Our way of life depends upon a healthy ecosystem that stretches from the mountains to the tidelands. Through the partnerships and project, we have a stronger science and policy capacity to protect the human health of our people, our culture, and aboriginal and treaty rights of our Nations.”

This study is one of the things that can make the Paddle to Swinomish even more relevant to all the people who live in the Salish Sea watershed.

“As we are paddling, we are renewing our cultures and connections,” Frank said. “We are also contributing important information to the fight to clean up Puget Sound and protect our coastal waters.”

View the Salish Sea Tribal Journey Water Quality Study on Google Maps at www.usgs.gov/coastsalish.

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July 30, 2011

A Chat With One of the Smokin’ Fish Filmmakers

Filed under: Arts & Entertainment,News Alerts,Video — Tags: Cory Mann, Documentary Film, Luke Griswold-Tergis, Smokin' Fish, Tlingit — Kelly Koepke @ 9:35 pm

Smokin’ Fish tells the story of Cory Mann, a Tlingit entrepreneur who decides to spend a summer at his family’s fish camp in Alaska. Reconnecting with his roots proves challenging, enlightening, and more than a little bit humorous at times—the film’s vignettes explore Tlingit culture as well as the simplest truths of family life. Smokin’ Fish has been selected as the closing film of the Native Cinema Showcase, which takes place in Santa Fe concurrent with the Santa Fe Indian Market. We spoke with the film’s producer and co-director, Luke Griswold-Tergis about this insider view of Tlingit culture and personal history.

Indian Country Today Media Network: Can you tell us about the film and how it became reality?
Luke Griswold-Tergis: It’s the story of Cory Mann going up to his family’s fish camp. He spends the summer smoking fish while trying to run a business. It’s about the demands of the modern world and how they intersect with a traditional way of life in the fish camp.

Who is Cory Mann?
Cory is a Tlingit man who sells scarves with Tlingit designs. He also runs a small tour company. When he was three, he hitchhiked with his aunt from San Diego to Alaska. He grew up in Haines, Alaska but thought he was Mexican before he got to Alaska. He was raised by his great-grandmother, grandmother and other women in his family. His great-grandmother supplied the whole community with smoked fish. Cory had never seen snow, or been around other indigenous peoples before he moved to Alaska, so he had to cope with that. We tried to squeeze in as much culture, history and tradition as we could into the film, but we just brushed the surface.

These fish are smokin'!

How did you become involved in the project?
I met Cory ten years ago when I was hitch hiking through Southeast Alaska. His roommate invited me to sleep on their floor. I got to talking with Cory about his concern about the loss of history from the Tlingit elders. We thought it would be a cool opportunity to video tape some oral histories. Video equipment is cheap, and we thought we could just start doing it. About six years ago, Cory’s grandmother died, and he was inspired to do something more because of her. The initial version of the film was just an oral history project. We thought we could shoot in summer and edit in fall, and by winter be in film festivals. Now six years later, the film is just finished and being distributed. Neither one of us had been to film school or studied media, so we had no idea how much time, money, and effort it takes to make a film.

How did the documentary film evolve?
The first funding came through my grandpa, who purchased the video camera because I wrote a grant proposal and he was willing to take the risk. He’s into culture and traditional history. The first major funding came from Native American Public Telecommunications and Native Networks, which is part of the PBS minority consortium. We applied several times, and they liked what they saw, but it was obvious to them that we didn’t know what we were doing. They kept encouraging us to work on it and put us in contact with Jed Riffe, from Berkley, who put together a professional budget and other logistics. Jed connected us with Maureen Gosling who became the editor and made huge contribution. She was really important in taking project to next level and helping us with good story telling.

What do you want viewers to take away from the film?
We both, Cory and I, want others to learn more about Tlingit culture and history. Of course, we had to simplify it and not take on all of Tlingit history. There’s too much to tackle in this ancient culture. Cory definitely sees the absurdity in life, and so we wanted this to be a comedy, too. Cory always asks why Native films are always depressing. And much Native media falls into stereotypes. There’s a lot of diversity and humor in Cory’s life and family, so it made sense to make something positive and funny. Sure, there’s a little bit of heavy content, but overall the film has a positive outlook. Many people in Cory’s community have positive outlooks, and the film reflects the beauty of that.

Visit www.smokingfishmovie.com for more information.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Embrace World Breastfeeding Week and its Role in Taking Back Native Culture

Filed under: Health & Wellness,News Alerts — Tags: Breastfeeding, Motherhood, World Breastfeeding Week — Rob Capriccioso @ 2:00 pm

The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA)—a global network of individuals and organizations concerned with the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding worldwide—announced August 1-7 as World Breastfeeding Week, celebrated in 170 countries across the globe.

The old saying “breast is best” is taking on a new significance for some American Indian mothers, who see that breast-feeding is not only a responsible course for raising healthy babies, but also a culturally significant one.

Recent awareness of the importance of breast-feeding and the role it plays in Native culture stems from a new call by the surgeon general to make nursing easier for mothers. At a press briefing in Washington in January, Dr. Regina Benjamin explained that her new initiative will highlight the need for greater cultural support for nursing in the home, at work, and in everyday life. “One of the most highly effective preventive measures a mother can take to protect her child and her own health is to breast-feed,” Benjamin said. Scientific studies have shown that breast milk helps bolster a child’s immune system, protects against obesity in babies, reduces the risk of seizures, pneumonia, diarrhea, ear infections and asthma. It is also correlated with a lowered risk of ovarian and breast cancer in mothers.

The latest national data indicates that 75 percent of new mothers start out breast-feeding, but only 43 percent are still doing it six months later. And only 13 percent are exclusively nursing at the six-month point, meaning the vast majority of women have begun supplementing with formula by that time, and missing out on the health benefits of nursing. Benjamin, who would like to increase that number, said her aim is for all women who feel comfortable exclusively breast-feeding to be given the tools and support to do so.

None of this data surprises Rosebud Bear, the lactation counselor for the American Indian Health and Family Services center in Detroit. She works to educate and support Native mothers and their children. Concrete data on a national level is not available, but several regional studies indicate that Natives are less likely than their non-Native peers to breast-feed. Bear has heard a range of reasons, including a lack of designated areas at work and school to do so comfortably, and a hostile work environment. “Being an ‘urban Indian’ as well as a mom, I do see how it might be easier to not breast-feed when you live in the city,” she said. She said many moms she has worked with have had every intention of exclusively breast-feeding, but when the realities of life set in (including nurses who heavily push formula at the hospital), sometimes the best intentions get set aside.

Sebelius (left) and Benjamin are urging mothers to go natural.

Obstacles created by an employer are one of the main areas being addressed by the surgeon general, but Bear said it’s not just the job that holds back some Indian moms. Bear and her Indian peers in the field believe the lower breast-feeding rates among Native women is yet another mark of colonization. After all, before colonization and the many changes in society that came along with it (baby formula included), Indian moms didn’t face the same kinds of barriers to breast-feeding that they do today. “We have gotten away from our grassroots,” she said.

Many American women have been pushed away from their natural breast-feeding roots, according to federal officials. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius hit on this point in a report accompanying the surgeon general’s call to action, noting that, “for much of the last century, America’s mothers were given poor advice and were discouraged from breast-feeding, to the point that [it] became an unusual choice in this country.” That problem, Bear said, has been compounded for low-income women and those with less education—two more consequences of colonization that have tended to hit Native women disproportionately.

To combat these effects, some Native moms have become breast-feeding advocates. They believe it’s not only an excellent way to provide a healthy meal for their babies, but also a way to take back their Native identities. Kris Rhodes, director of the American Indian Cancer Foundation and a former researcher at the University of Minnesota, said there is a yearning among Native women for a stronger tribal and spiritual connection. In her research she has found that mothers who practiced traditional teachings are breast-feeding more than women who are not practicing these ways. “There is a connection,” Rhodes said. “Breast-feeding is a way for Native women to connect with their indigenous roots and raise their babies in a way that strengthens mom and baby in many ways, from the start.” One study by Rhodes published in Maternal and Child Health Journal in 2008 found that the women who were most connected with traditional tribal ways were 16 times more likely to breast-feed their babies.

Bear said that even though the importance of breast-feeding has been forgotten by some Native women, she’s seeing it make a strong comeback. “We need basic education not only for women but for the men in their lives, along with grandmas and aunties,” she said. “A new nursing mom needs support not just from her health-care providers but from the people she’s closest to.” Danielle Le Bon Gort, a maternal counselor at the Center for American Indian Resources in Duluth, Minnesota, said that in her community, having Indian women serve as doulas and breast-feeding peer counselors has helped women learn how breast-feeding would work for their family on a level that holds cultural significance to them. “Women in urban areas seem to especially benefit from our doula program, as often they do not have as strong of social supports as women residing on the reservation, where family ties are close at hand,” Le Bon Gort said.

Rhodes also said Native moms should be encouraged when they see that the federal government now views breast-feeding as important. She noted that federal and state governments provide support and education to many Indian women on breast-feeding, most often through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program for low-income women. “Many people associate the WIC program with free formula, but there are extra food benefits through WIC for breast-feeding moms,” Rhodes said.

At the same time, some tribes are doing amazing work promoting and supporting breast-feeding. Rhodes’ tribe, the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe, promotes breast-feeding as the healthy and traditional thing to do, and offers incentives to breast-feeding moms. In 2010, the USDA awarded the Navajo Nation $50,000 “for doing an exceptional job in promoting and supporting breast-feeding among mothers,” according to a press release. A group of tribal citizens was credited with the success, having started the Navajo Nation Breastfeeding Coalition to educate businesses on ways to support working moms who nurse, like offering dedicated rooms for pumping.

Rhodes said that, on the individual level, “The most important thing we can do is point out the benefits to moms: The baby bond is stronger; the health benefits are immediate and long-lasting for both mom and baby; the cost savings are huge. The time savings in preparing and washing bottles also was something I valued. It is important that mom has someone she can count on for advice, support and cheerleading.” She added, “I breast-fed each of my children until they were 1½, and they are wonderfully healthy. In fact, my 15-year-old son has never needed an antibiotic.”

Le Bon Gort told her favorite story, involving a Native teen mother: “I walked in for our visit and she was nursing her daughter on the couch. I commented on how beautiful it was to see her nursing her baby so comfortably and how the love she had for her daughter was almost palpable in the room. She looked up at me and said very seriously, in a voice older than her 15 years, ‘I can give her something no one else can.’ ”

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Program Teaches School Kids About Waterways, First Nation Ways

Filed under: Canada,Education,Environment,News Alerts — Tags: Squamish River Watershed Society — Sarah E. Smith @ 2:00 pm

Reprinted with permissions from the Coast Salish Gathering News

SQUAMISH, B.C.—An innovative education program is introducing Squamish First Nation kids and their non-Native classmates to the richness of plant and animal life along the waterways of their lush corner of Coast Salish territory in British Columbia.

Last school year, 500 children in 24 classes from kindergarten to seventh grade learned about the life adventures of salmon, the magic of traditional medicinal plants and the duties of humans as stewards of the land and water.

The Squamish Rivers and Estuary Education program, a partnership between local schools, an environmental nonprofit and Squamish First Nation, provides a curriculum that incorporates the ancient aboriginal culture of the area. The program began in 2006 with eight classes from three schools participating.

“It couldn’t have come at a better time because the school board in Squamish had just had a meeting where they said our (First Nations) students were failing the science program miserably, right from elementary to high school,” said Linda Williams, membership services officer at Squamish First Nation. “The board and superintendent told the principals to do whatever it takes to get our students doing better in science.”

The program’s emphasis on outdoor, hands-on activities that bring science and environmental learning alive makes it extra enticing to students.

“They are really excited to get out of the classroom,” Williams said. “…First Nations people are really strong visual learners so that (outdoor education) strengthens the book learning.”

During the outdoor school, kids rotate among stations where they identify and release fish; plant grasses, shrubs and trees; map the shoreline; learn to recognize invasive plants; and sharpen their five senses.

The activities and the setting invite First Nations children take a leadership role in sharing with their classmates the unique knowledge about the land and water that has been handed down through their families for generations.

“Our children have been gillnet fishing with their parents and aunts and uncles, so when they are out in the field, they become the leaders,” said Randy Lewis, environmental coordinator for the Squamish First Nation.

“The non-Native kids study our traditions and go, ‘Wow, this is cool.’ And when our kids are out in the field, they become the explainers on the ground. They’re seeing their culture, they’re witnessing their knowledge being taught in the schools,” said Lewis, who is president of the Squamish River Watershed Society. “They’re not ashamed to be an Indian—they’re saying, ‘Yes, I’m an indigenous person.’”

Lewis has witnessed other intangible benefits stemming from the children’s exposure to the program. For example, when a biologist worked with one group, the kids asked about her salary, and were awed to learn she could make more than $1,000 a day as a consultant. They listened with new interest as she told of the academic path—starting with math and science in grade school—that positioned her for such a career. “They said, ‘I want to be a biologist. I want to be a registered professional forester,’” Lewis said.

The cost of the Rivers and Estuary Education program, shouldered among several public, nonprofit and private entities, was $47,000 for the past school year. Fundraising is always a challenge, said Edith Tobe of the Squamish River Watershed Society, and the program could serve more students if it had more financial support.

In developing the curriculum, which is available on CD and via downloads, the watershed society’s education specialist, DG Blair Whitehead, collaborated with teachers from local schools. The lessons include a classroom component, designed to prepare students for the outdoor segment.

Teacher’s guides and lessons can be found at the District of Squamish website.

“The schoolchildren and their families now look at our streams, wetlands and estuaries in a new light, and recognize how important these areas are to fish, wildlife and a healthy ecosystem,” Tobe said.

Contact the Squamish River Watershed Society at 60-898-9171, or by e-mail at srws@shaw.ca.

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